$25-$30 bucks an hour is peanuts!!

Nurses Career Support

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Someone said nurses get good pay-$25-30 an hour???? In the pharmaceutical world, where they employ lots of nurses I would say for a senior person $40-55 and up is more the norm.

Why so pharmacists and Physical Therapists command $75K right out of school--they used to make LESS than nurses.

Grace Oz, I did not mean to imply that nursing is solely a female profession. There are threads going on right now about the plight of male nurses.

Regarding salaries, we need to care. There are those who will say nursing is about caring and not money. Where are our nursing leaders on this issue? Salary is important. It allows us to lead the life we want to outside of work with our families. Evidently employers know that nurses are not a force when it comes to business issues and making demands, because they continue to get away with low wages. Nurses are among the largest groups in hospitals. It is difficult to get through nursing school and expensive. We deserve a professional compensation. How come auto workers, plumbers, carpenters, steel workers make more than nurses, with less education? Because they have banded together and demanded decent wages and benefits. We nurses can do the same. Instead of our nursing leaders turning out theories of nursing that no one pays attention to, I'd like to see some strong leadership in the area of nursing administration. Theres a nursing shortage, for goodness sake. Surely that should put us in a better bargaining position.

I will get off my soapbox now. Coming from the business world back to nursing has been a rewarding experience in terms of looking after patients and making a difference. We still have a long way to go when it comes to business matters and leadership.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

I did not say that I did not care about money. I said that I do not care about 75,000 a year.

While I am well compensated now as a nurse, I have raised a child (not my own), attended Nursing school and worked full time on 25,000 or less a year. It was not easy but I managed. Money is not the be all and end all to life.

I have also found that jobs in Nursing that pay that well (75,000) sometimes involve working in heinous conditions and heinous hours frequently for heinous employers.

Not all of us are all that focused on money and some are happy with our pay. Some of us are more worried about conditions where we work and the care of patients and the values of the company that we work for.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

sorry, double post

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We can collectively improve working conditions and the salary situation. Often it is the poor working conditions and attitudes that prompt nurses to leave the profession. It takes leadership and committment to make changes. No money is not the be all and end all-but in many areas of the country it is difficult to manage on $25,000 a year. Perhaps my position is jaded, because in the business world I was making over $100,000 a year and bonuses. To be fair, I also have an MBA. And many nurses were making great salaries of over $60,000 a year. In the pharmaceutical world, they value nursing experience. It is too bad that same experience is not valued in nursing circles. Maybe you wonder why I left--It is because I could not travel and for health reasons I cannot work 5 days a week in my field. And I missed being a nurse. It has been a pleasure discussing this issue with you.

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My husband has a PhD in engineering. He went to school for 11 years, full time. This includes time lost due to a change of major.

I went to school FULL TIME for SIX years and have an AAS degree in nursing. I never had a change of major.

I got my AAS the same year he got his Master's. He tells me that from what he has observed (amount of work/reading required, time in class, etc) he thinks his Master's in Engineering was at about the same level of difficulty as my AAS/Nursing degree.

However, an AAS/RN makes about the same money as some engineers w/ a Bachelor's or Master's degree.

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Originally posted by caroladybelle

Not all of us are all that focused on money and some are happy with our pay. Some of us are more worried about conditions where we work and the care of patients and the values of the company that we work for.

I agree. I want to make a good salary, just like everyone else.

However, working conditions and the true values exhibited by an employer are what's most important to me.

I once told a boss that I would accept a 50% cut in pay in exchange for 50% fewer pts to care for. She looked at me like I was nuts.

Some people just don't get it.

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Originally posted by caroladybelle

I personally could care less about being paid $75,000 or more a year. What I would like is a decent schedule, management that has some vague idea about how to improve morale and manage staff, and a public/MD population that does not heap abuse on us on a daily basis.

Again, I agree wholeheartedly.

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Maybe I'm just naive, but I don't think 30$ an hour is bad at all. Everyone thinks they have the hardest job in the world. I am sure every plumber, carpenter, cop, firefighter, computer programmer and fast food worker all complain about their wages. Nursing is challenging, but I don't think it's such a horrible or difficult job that I would feel cheated making a base wage of 60K a year.

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I was'nt trying to be disrespectful to someones profession.I have a friend who's going to college to be a Pharmacist and I was just repeating what he has told me.Sorry if it sounded wrong it was'nt meant too.:o

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I would be delighted with 60K a year as a new grad! In my area new grads usually start at 23-25 an hour. I actually might work for a hospital on the bottom end of that pay scale because of all the non-monetary benefits-- I heard they treat their nurses very well. While money is definitely important, I wouldn't care about 75 grand a year if the working conditions were terrible.

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Specializes in CICu, ICU, med-surg.
Originally posted by fergus51

Maybe I'm just naive, but I don't think 30$ an hour is bad at all. Everyone thinks they have the hardest job in the world. I am sure every plumber, carpenter, cop, firefighter, computer programmer and fast food worker all complain about their wages. Nursing is challenging, but I don't think it's such a horrible or difficult job that I would feel cheated making a base wage of 60K a year.

Thank you! I've been working for the government for the past four years. Hardly anyone in my office makes more than $40K a year. These are people with masters degrees and even one with a pHd. $60K a year is good money in my book!

Todd

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The average RN job in The US pays approx $40,000. to $42,000. a year. $60K is not very common.

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