Salary rate for nurse with 10 years critical care experience

1. I am a nurse who has worked 7 years in LDRP and antepartum, and 3 years in the emergency department. I have alot of skills and clinical knowledge that would make me a valued staff member, yet somehow I keep getting shortchanged in the salary department. I currently only make $21.50/hr, and am struggling to make ends meet for my family.
   I am applying for several different positions, and was wondering if anyone could tell me the going rate for a nurse with 10 years of experience, all critical care. I don't want to seem prideful or puffed up, but I'm also tired of being sold short.
   Any help is greatly appreciated!

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2. 

   About 17nursey

   Joined: Jul '11; Posts: 3

   5 Comments

   Comment
3. 
   Aug 1, '11

   dang! you are getting raped.. $21/hr is more like what i see new grads make not 10 yr vets. it may be the culture of your facility. i would certainly find out what other facilities pay nurses with your time and exp. and compare. i have just over 7yrs and pull just a few cents over $30/hr. in north ms.
4. 
   Aug 1, '11

   http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_ms.htm#29-0000 says $26.49 is the median hourly for MS, that is going to be greatly affected by tour location and type of facility.
   
   You might try http://www.salary.com/mysalary.asp
5. 
   Aug 9, '11

   Thank you! I appreciate your input and your support. I am currently seeking jobs within the Hattiesburg area. If anyone knows of any positions available, I'd love to hear about them! $26-$28/hr would be a dream!!!
6. 
   Aug 10, '11

   I was in the same position last year working at Regional West in Nebraska. I was making $22/hour after 6 years of working there. One of my friends told me about travel nursing and initially I didn't want to do it because I have a family but I agreed to talk to a recruiter anyway. You have to have at least 2 years of floor experience. I found out that travel nurses actually do make a lot more money because they are not taxed on there entire paycheck and I can still live at home and be considered a traveler. I thought this was too good to be true so I asked around and the only stipulation to receive the tax benefits was I had to work just 50 miles away from my permanent address. I was already driving 45 minutes to get to work so another 15 wouldn't kill me, so I tried it. I went from making $740 net/week to $1000 take home per week! That was 4 years ago and since then I've been "traveling" ever since. I have a multi-state license so I'm able to work in the 22 other compact states and I just recently got my California license so I can make some real money. The agency that I use has contracts in literally every state and I almost got to go to Hawaii for a 13 week assignment! Unfortunately, I didn't have the experience they were looking for! I've heard terrible stories about some travel agencies so you have to be careful to pick a nice, honest, reputable recruiter.

   Last edit by sirI on Aug 10, '11
7. 
   Aug 10, '11

   Who do you use, and how do you handle family while traveling when you go out of state?

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