$12 an hour?!

Nurses LPN/LVN

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I used to work at a nursing home in Food Services (supervising staff cafeteria), and I went back to visit and get my face out there again. My aunt is an LPN there, and I went upstairs to say hello to her and I overheard two ladies on the elevator talking about the "sucky" paychecks they just received and thank God for the upcoming holiday pay. I told one lady I was starting my LPN program in a matter of weeks and she gave me a sympathetic look and said "You may as well get a management position at McDonald's or spend the next year at RBI getting your medical assistant certification. You'll make more." Word for word. (BTW, RBI [Rochester Business Institute] is a business college that accepts EVERYONE and certifies ANYONE). I asked the lady if she were serious and the other lady said "Unless you get in here or at St. John's Home you will be making about $12 an hour with minimal diffs, and it's not much more here to be honest."

I am mortified. I thought for sure we made closer to $17. That additional $5 an hour could really help this family get from under the "poverty line".

Any insight? Could this be true? :nono:

Specializes in LTC.

I'm starting with a base pay of $12, plus shift differential. My DON said that's a little more than I would get if I hadn't worked as a CNA at the same facility for a while. This is a small town and I didn't expect more than that here (although there are homes in small towns that pay much more than that). But I'm only a 5 minute drive from work, so I won't complain for now. I think a hospital in a larger city an hour drive away starts LPNs at about $10.50 an hour.

Specializes in Pediatrics.
Just curious, but what do nursing assistants, or 'student' nurses (working as NAs) make in your area? The reason I ask, is because I noticed that you plan to get your Associates degree within a year after you graduate. Why are you bothering with the LPN? I am often curious as to why people take that road, rather than just going to RN school. Also, where I live, the only place a new LPN can get a job is in a nursing home. You could work as a NA/Student while you go to school, since the pay for LPNs is so poor.

Mostly it is necessity. It is not feasible for me to go the traditional route because it would take me 3+ years to even get into the AS program. As a wife and mother, I don't have that type of time. I can work as an LPN and gain clinical experience, and I believe that most people who do start as LPNs and build on that experience make excellent nurses. They know how to relate to LPNs and CNAs when they do finally become RNs, because they know how it feels to be in that role, along with all the things that come with the title of CNA/LPN. With an LPN, there are a couple of bridge programs I can attend after I graduate, most of them are accelerated. Also, I can choose to do distance route if I land a good job.

I can work in LTC, Assisted Living, Hospitals, Home Health, schools, doctor's offices ect.

I am proud to be an LPN student, even if the pay is not wonderful. This is where God will have me to be, and I truly believe I will be a great nurse no matter what letters I have behind my name.

Specializes in Pediatrics.
I value the CNAs as well, but I disagree about them not being rewarded enough financially. It is not about the work, it is about the level of ultimate responsibility. They do not have it. They are not licensed and are not held liable for poor patient outcomes - not even if they do not report abnormals to the nurse, because the nurse has ultimate responsibility to know the patient's condition.

Yes, they are valuable. Yes, they are helpful. Yes, they are knowledgeable. But I think they are appropriately compensated for their level of education and responsibility. JMO.

I agree with you 100%. It certainly has to do with their level of education and responsibiity. I don't mean any disrespest when i say this, but they don't have to think too much when they do their job. It is strictly task-oriented. While they may be taught these things, they are not responsible to know what a normal BP in a 2 yr old is, or that a screaming child's BP will be elevated, or that a cuff that is too small yields a false reading. I consider it a courtesy when they report these things to me.

Specializes in Pediatrics.

I can understand if it will take you longer to get into an RN program, but I am always very cautious of these "accelerated" programs. I don't always think they get you out as quickly as you want. And considering it sounds like you will need to work, that may slow you down too. Also, I've heard what some of these LPN programs cost in my area, and its just as much (if not more) than community college AAS programs.

By no means am I judging your decision, I was just curious, and i know from experience that things are not always as good as they seem. And it's great that you actually have more options than downstate LPNs do. Good luck to you

Okay I am not a CNA but in Louisiana they have to hold a lic.to work.In fact they also have to attend the technical college or take a CNA course at a medical school or be trained working with a program through a nursing home.

Sadly many are charged five to six thousand dollars.

Okay I am not a CNA but in Louisiana they have to hold a lic.to work.In fact they also have to attend the technical college or take a CNA course at a medical school or be trained working with a program through a nursing home.

Sadly many are charged five to six thousand dollars.

It is a certification, not a license. This is according to the Louisiana state board of nursing (I just went to the site to look it up). Their are technical academic programs for certification, but the certification is not considered a license. It is a small, but important distinction.

Also, according to lahealthcareers.com they do not HAVE to take the course. It states assistants are often trained on the job. But academic preparation allows them to be certified - which means that they could, in theory, work without the certification.

5-6K? That is crazy! I do not doubt it, but it is still crazy.

Hi RN4ICU,

Sadly some are sucked into programs and pay up to five thousand or more to become CNA certified.Most places will not hire them without the certification.

Also I have known of nursing homes to give jobs to ladies who are known to have a felony record and lead them along with a promise of taking the classes for certification and after three month probationary period is over ditch them with the excuse that they did not know that the person had a felony.One sad way to get labour in an area known to be short handed.I know this because it happened to a lady who was incarcerated here in La and I told her that they would not keep using her....oh no she knew better until firing day that is.

I will be paying 4 to 5 hundred bucks for a CNA class. Nursing homes only teach welfare recepients and receive money from a government grant. I was told I would make 14 an hour and I just laughed because I know I will be lucky if it is 8 an hour and might be less. Jobs are non existent here. I will have to drive a couple hundred miles a day to take this class. I have a partial medical assistant degree and certification in medical coding and no job in sight. Also my first degree is in elementary ed and no jobs in that either. People in my county and all the counties surrounding are desparate for jobs. There are so many people trying to get into nursing schools it is impossible to get in. Even the private colleges cost a ton and only move through 1 percent of the students who apply. There are not enough programs. Salaries are all to do with the cost of living and the availability of workers in that job. Tons of nurses in your area without work and the pay scale declines. It is just a fact of life. By the way the unemployment problem may not have reached your area of the country yet but it is spreading from the midwest out - it is only a matter of time before it reaches your area.

I have no employment fears being a nurse.Especially with the cajun diet here in Louisiana.Diabetes and heart disease top out here.Not to mention cancer with all the chemicals dumped off the Gulf Coast.Wanna see a bad beach? Come to South Louisiana and I can take you to one where when you leave you'll have to throw your shoes away.Sad but true.

I've got to put my two cents worth in.

Starting med/surg in 1993, I made $7.09 base pay in the Delta area of Arkansas and after 3 1/2 years, my salary was $7.67.

Next, across the bridge from Memphis in eastern Arkansas, agency paid $12.00 med/surg, specialty units 14/hr. I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. (1997). I was hired on staff at this hospital later and made 11.50 hour, 1.50 shift diff for nights.

In 2001, I worked agency in Florida making $23 an hour. My eyes really opened up then to the possibility that maybe I could make some good money as an LPN and no longer be a Low Paid Nurse.

Lastly, I moved here to Texas. Work staff now at an extended care hospital--average pt. stay 3 months--base pay is 18.56 an hr., plus $8/hr weekend plan pay, plus $3/hr night shift diff, plus 15% extra for not taking benefits. Altogether, I average almost $32 an hour as a staff nurse. I can finally take care of my family well and live comfortably. You can also count on them giving you a 3% annual raise. I started off here at 17.50 an hour, but if I would have known how to negotiate I could have made even more. That's another thing--NEGOTIATE for good pay if you know you have the skills to back it up!

I've learned some valuable lessons the hard way. For the best pay, it's location, location, location. The pay at my first job was horrible but I didn't know any better. But it was the best place as far as getting experience in all areas of the hospital because I was willing to float and that flexibility has been an asset to me as a nurse. :p

Specializes in Home care, assisted living.

When I was working in LTC as a CNA I made $6.00 an hour. (This was back in 1995.) The nurses made $12.00 an hour. By the way, this is in north Georgia. I can't believe some RN's make $12/hr. That's ludicrous. Why go to school? I make $8.00/hr. now in mtro Atlanta as an unlicensed nursing assistant in an ALF (I didn't renew my certification). No extra pay for working 11-7, or being shift supervisor/med tech. It would make sense to me, though, for LPN's to make several dollars more per hour than I do, and RN's even more. But $12?!? :eek: Some CNA's in the nursing homes make that much. Perhaps it's time the nursing pay scale was updated.

By the way, kiyasmom, congratulations on becoming a Christian!

And ddc101, I wouldn't doubt it when you talk about the "cajun diet"! LOL All that jumbalaya, the crawfish boils, po-boys...aw geez, now I miss Louisiana. But I don't miss the humidity!

.......Lastly, I moved here to Texas. Work staff now at an extended care hospital--average pt. stay 3 months--base pay is 18.56 an hr., plus $8/hr weekend plan pay, plus $3/hr night shift diff, plus 15% extra for not taking benefits. Altogether, I average almost $32 an hour as a staff nurse.

I live in Texas. The LPNs where I work start at $11.50/her. That's right, $11.50.

As an RN, my wages are good for the area, but I negotiated my butt off for that.

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