Austin RN salary throughout career?

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Specializes in NICU.

Hi all! I currently live in Austin and would love to start and raise a family here but I want to know what to expect if I stay here. I've read that new grads make around $21/hr, but what have yall experienced after 2-3 years, 5 years, 10 years? I'm comfortable with the cost of living here and will have my BSN. Also how often to do you get pay raises and how can I move up quickly? I'm also considering going to midwifery school after nursing school but I'm not sure if its a good investment living in Austin. Thoughts? I appreciate all your help and thank you in advance! I'm looking forward to joining the nursing front in central Texas!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

I am not in the Austin area so I am unable to provide you with specific information but there is a lot of very well documented evidence on salary compression for nurses. Overall, nursing salaries have not keept pace with inflation for the last 20 years or so. Annual "raises" average only 3%. The only thing that can change this environment is 'market forces' - e.g., a shortage of nurses will drive up salaries as employers compete for applicants. Obviously, this is not going to happen for a very long time.

Unfortunate fact: it is not unusual for hospitals to find themselves in a position of being forced to make across-the-board increases for incumbent nursing staff after they discover that they are offering new grads an hourly wage that is higher than what they are paying experienced staff - whose annual raises were less than inflation over the last few years.

This is what a lot of people don't understand when they compare the (relatively) high starting salaries of new grad nurses to others who enter the workforce with bachelor's degrees. In a few years, those 'other' careers will begin to have salaries that are much higher than nurses... and the gap gets wider as years go by.

The picture is pretty bleak unless you start marching up the career ladder to higher level positions.

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Specializes in NICU.

Sounds promising! :blackeye:

This is the career I belong in so I will roll with the punches! In order to "march up the career ladder" so to speak, do you accomplish this with just more schooling or is it a seniority thing or are there ways to go above and beyond and move quicker than those I started with?

Thanks!

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Specializes in NICU.

Any thoughts on how midwifery goes over in Austin or of good stepping stones along the way? I'll be getting my BSN, then getting my MSN in nurse-midwifery or dual study CNM-FNP.

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