CNA New Grad $8 an hour please help!!!!

Jitter · Feb 5, 2014

That sounds about right for a new CNA,I guess it really depends on the state that you live in,I started at $10.00 an hour at an assisted living facility right after I got my certification.I know a lot of the younger girls are trying to get on at the hospitals because they pay more.Take the job at $8.00 an hour and after 6 months start applying at the hospitals.It will be good experience for you anyway,GOOD LUCK!

RInursingstudent · Feb 5, 2014

New CNA's start at $9.50 at my location. And $1 on evening/nights. But when I was a new aid, I started at $14. It depends on non profit and for profit homes. Some homes know they can gets way with paying you low too because you want experience.

duskyjewel · Feb 6, 2014

$8 an hour? Forget it! For that money I could work at McDonalds and not have to wipe butts.

RInursingstudent · Feb 6, 2014

$8 an hour? Forget it! For that money I could work at McDonalds and not have to wipe butts.

Classy. Sad that you see cna's as just that. If nursing is really what you want to pursue, then suck it up for the money, learn experience, and then apply elsewhere for a bit more money.

duskyjewel · Feb 6, 2014

Look, there are aspects of my job that I enjoy. Particularly, working in hospice offers a lot of satisfaction.

But let's face it, bathing, toileting, intimate personal care is the core of our job. We take a lot of risk by engaging in our work. Every body fluid through which communicable disease is passed, we handle every day.

That level of risk, and the wear and tear on our bodies, is worth a heck of a lot more than $8 an hour. If all I could make as a CNA was $8 an hour, I wouldn't work as a CNA, because I can make that much at a menial fast food job without any of the risk of disease and much less chance of injury.

PS nursing is not what I want to pursue. I do this job to support my family and it's a bonus that it offers some satisfaction. But I'll never be a nurse and will move on from being a CNA as soon as the opportunity presents. Having seen what my nurses have to deal with, I do NOT want their job. I'm happy to help them, but there are definite advantages to being "just the aide."

allnurses Guide · Feb 6, 2014

$8 an hour? Forget it! For that money I could work at McDonalds and not have to wipe butts.

Maybe, but you won't get that CNA experience.

Sometimes, it's worth it to do something for the experience, even if the pay is poor for the work being done (if this is at all possible).

The expectation would be that the reward would come later.

A brand new unexperienced CNA doesn't have a lot in the way of negotiating pay; an experienced CNA does.

Any experience should also put one in a better position to be hired into a hospital-- if that's the goal.

Paws2people · Feb 6, 2014

$8/hr in New York is way too low. Apply everywhere, even hospitals. Many many CNA's at my facility were hired with zero experience. Don't sell yourself short. Best of luck.

kenya1005 · Feb 6, 2014

I'm in Missouri (KC area) and I started at $10.85 in a hospital. I also got an extra 85 cents for working night shift and an extra 95 cents for weekends.

SuperRN_1 · Feb 7, 2014

In my state, CNA starts at $9.00 in a nursing home/facility/assisted living. The highest paid CNAs here are the ones that work in home health...about $10-11/hr. Look into clinics or home health.

And even if you have to start at $8/hr and caregiving or nursing is your passion, then that's where you should start--$8/hr...cause we all started with low pay. There's no shame in that. Follow your passion, work hard and it'll all pay off :)

CrazyGoonRN · Feb 7, 2014

Apply to every CNA position you can even if it says experience required. Then pick up the phone a few days later and call them to see if they received your application and ask when they will be interviewing for the position. Let them know that you're very interested.

Mr Sacdiff · Feb 7, 2014

I'm sorry. I am pursuing nursing as well and I love being a CNA, but I would never do it for $8.00/hr. Mostly because I'm in the middle of switching careers and have 3 children and $8.00 doesn't feed one kid. But honestly, as someone already said, CNA's are worth so much more than $8.00/hr and I really hope that one day they start getting more than that.

Where I am, if you're full-time with benefits, you start out around $10/hr. I started as PRN at 13.50/hr. No benefits (didn't need them because I switched to my wife's when I was laid off from my previous job). I then took a full-time position and got premium pay for not taking benefits. I now make almost what an LPN makes. That's the ONLY reason I can say I love my job.

Let's be honest. I get huge satisfaction out of patients that appreciate the small things and I love seeing my oncology patients get better or at least feel comfortable from the small things I can do for them, but for $8.00/hr, I would most definitely go work at Subway and get a food discount as well! CNA work is not a pre-requisite to Nursing.

I'm so glad I have a great paying CNA job to work my way through nursing school though! Keep searching and do not settle for money that you're not willing to work for. $8.00 seems so low for NY.