Loved my first week as a private duty nurse!

[Lorie P.]

i have to let it be known, i loved my first week as a private duty nurse!

after only one day of training, i had my routine down and could not belive how well it went. i had had time to sit and talk with my pt, make him laugh, talk more than he has in the past 2 months!

i also got to teach mom a few things about pt's g tube, how to keep his rick of gi distress down!

i will be working with this pt and family 3 evenings a week for 6 hours each night.

i get to be home with my family every night and not have to leave when they get to go to sleep!

i do believe i have found my calling, after 5 years on a very busy med/surge floor, it feels sooooooo great not to have to rush, listen to co-workers, i can actually leave work on time!!

wow, i just can't get over how well it is going and just wanted to share my with all nurses!

[iwanna]

Wow, I would be estatic if I could make $19 hr. I am an LPN, and my part of the world is the lower paying side. I live on the PA/OH border. When I interviewed for LTC in PA the pay rate was $13 starting. In OH, I think LTC starts about $15-16 an hr. The hospital is $14 hr. So, my guesstimate would be about $12-14 with Maxim.

[Lorie P.]

wow, i would be estatic if i could make $19 hr. i am an lpn, and my part of the world is the lower paying side. i live on the pa/oh border. when i interviewed for ltc in pa the pay rate was $13 starting. in oh, i think ltc starts about $15-16 an hr. the hospital is $14 hr. so, my guesstimate would be about $12-14 with maxim.

i live in the deep south and in this area lpn's at snf make 10.50-12.00 starting pay and the same at hospitals. about the most a lpn makes is 13.00-14.00 and that is with 5+ yrs experience. one might make 15.00-16.00 including shift difs if you work night shifts, which means more pts and more work!

so yes i am very happy to make what i make now! also anything over 40hrs i get over time pay and i get in anywhere from 50-60hrs a week. my current client is authorized 70hrs a week and i can work all 70 if i want too.

also with maxim here pays depends on your experience and the pt's case.

good luck!

[iwanna]

I guess that every Maxim agency is so different in the pay rates. I get that pay rates differ in what type of nursing you are in. I was making $16 an hr. for LPN psych hospital job, but that was after being there for four years. I started at $12 hr. I interviewed at LTC in PA and starting rate was $13 hr.

I have five years experience in Mental Health. I have not med-surg experience. But, I did work geri-psych. So, I guess for Maxim, it would be considered entry level, since I have no med-surg experience.

Oh well, I will see. I am looking at the whole picture here. I can take less pay for awhile, as I am on disability for several months. I will continue to receive what I get, if I work at least 24 hrs. a week. Also, I am applying at a local nursing home. I know that it would be very rough, but I feel that I would learn more skills. I think that it really depends on your "nursing team". When I worked geri-psych, we had a great team and all worked together. I just hope the place that I am applying to, has a good team. As I am in remission mode of my illness(sarcoidosis), I need to get plenty of rest to stay this way. Meanwhile, I am checking out Maxim.

Nursehobbit, you are saying that you are getting paid more than you were in the hospital or LTC? I thought that Maxim paid less than other areas of nursing. Or, is this a case where they are all different?

[Lorie P.]

nursehobbit, you are saying that you are getting paid more than you were in the hospital or ltc? i thought that maxim paid less than other areas of nursing. or, is this a case where they are all different?

yes! iam making more with maxim than i ever did with ltc or hospital nursing. one of the many reasons i left those areas.

new grad lpn"s here only start out at 10.50 in the local hospitals and those that have 3+ yrs only start out at the rate of 14-16.00. usually they have to start on night shifts and might make 17.00 at the most with shift difs.

since you only want to work about 24hrs a week, pdn seems the way to go.

pm me and we can discuss more!

[khaye_rn]

happy for you...:yeah:as for my case, im enjoying my work as a pdn as well, for i can manage my sched, unlike in the hospitals... but im working 12 hours/shift, 5 days a week.... and the family doesn't pay us well... lower than the usual or standard fee for pdn... im looking for possible openings right now... :)

[fkpecina]

Lori P

Where are you in texas? im from the rgv and the pay for PD is around 17-20/hr depending on case (vent pt) and differentials. Is that around what you're getting? You don't need to share specifics if you don't want to, but just a ballpark figure.