CNA salary

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

I'm not a CNA, have never been one- but I wish I had been. I appreciate CNAs, and I am trying to convince my brother to become one. The job market is wide open for CNAs and he needs a job with benefits. Right now he makes in the $7/hr. range which is hard to live on, even when working 40hrs./wk. Unfortunately, he is pretty much the only income in his household right now while his fiancee is out of work and he could not afford to spend 4-6 weeks in training if the pay is not much more than he makes now. So, if not too intrusive, how much do you make working as a CNA, and do you work in a hospital, LTC, or for an agency? TIA

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I make $11 per hour as a CNA, and I work in LTC. I know this amount is probably above average, but it still isn't enough to pay all of the bills (like trying to save for nursing school and college for my kid).

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Specializes in Level III cardiac/telemetry.

At the hospital I just applied at they start you at $9.47/hour without experience and before shift differential. LTC around here pays a lot less. At the hospitals that use Patient Care Techs, the pay is a little higher and they train you.

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A CNA in my area ( Pittsburgh PA) can make anywhere from 8.00-15.00 an hour. Like with alot of nursing jobs the more experience, the more pay. I did not have any experience when i first started of course, but i found a job that started me out at 9.50 and 10.00 on weekends/nights. Some places i hear they make as little as 6.00 to start some i heard 17.00. so it varies but it is becoming more common to find places that pay 12+, at least around here

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I make $8 an hour in a nursing home.Not enough I think for the amount of work I do.

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Specializes in ICU, ER, Hemodialysis.

my experience has been....in a LTC in SC was $6/hr, in hospital in FL $8.50 for prn postition (no benefits), and hospital in GA student nurse/cna $9.25

the money is NOT worth it for all the things that cna's do, but as a place to begin your nursing career, it is invaluable! some people that i work with have been cna's for 10+ years and will retire as a cna. that would not be the life for me, but everyone is different. being a cna is rewarding if you focus on the fact that you are helping people and not focused on how little you are getting paid for it.

i also worked as a CMA in a dr's office and was paid $9.75, but the average was $7 in tampa, FL. the pay for lower end assistant type postitions are just low. you need to either have a need to care for others or a desire to progress in the nursing/medical field in order to be satisfied with this position. Plus i can normally tell which cna's view this as just a job, they are the ones that are usually lazy and do not care for the pts as if the pt was one of their loved ones. Also, they tend to talk back to the nurses, cna's MUST realize that they are there for the sole purpose of assisting the nurse, to do whatever they can to make the nurses day go by easier, so that at the end of the day, all the pts have received proper care.

i wish you well in nursing school. have you asked your brother about going to nursing school? it is a very rewarding career and he would have a secure job.

best of luck,

jay

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Specializes in Med/Surg.

I think it depends on what part of the country you live in too. Also hospitals seem to pay more than LTC facilities do. I live in the south and when I moved here the DON of a LTC facility told me with my 20 something years of experience as a CNA she would start me top dollar which was only $7.00 an hour...I delievered pizzas to get thru the first 3 semesters of school. Made more money and trust me it was way less stressful. Now I work as a tech at the hospital. I am flex so with no benefits I make 12.25 an hour plus differentials. Now back home up north I started at the hospital in 1995 making $9 and some change and by the time I left 6 years later I was already making $15/hr plus my differentials. It is hard back breaking work, but, I too believe it has helped me to have that experience to get through school. I graduate in 2 weeks and 5 days with my RN.

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Specializes in critical care and LTC.

When I worked as a CNA I made between 8.50 and 9.50 and hour. If he is willing to work second and third shifts they usually have shift dif. and some places pay for you aid training.

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Specializes in Pediatrics.

Thanks for all the replies. I will encourage him to keep looking at this as a career option. At this stage in his life he would not be interested in going to nursing school, but I think being a PCT/CNA would probably be more fulfilling than collecting donations at the local second hand shop...

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He might be able to find a nursing home that will pay him while he is in the class. When I became a CNA, the class was at the nursing home - and we were paid approx. 12.00 an hour while in the class. That was the same rate we got once we bacame certified and worked at that nursing home. That might be a better option for him, to find a nursing home that sponsors the class and pays you to attend.

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I'm a CNA in Sacramento CA working in a hospital. I have 6 years experiance and I make $16.50 an hour, that includes my shift differntial. 4 years ago I was a CNA in a long term sub acute care facility in Vermont making $6.75 an hour........there can be a huge regional differance in CNA wages.

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Specializes in Nursing assistant.

I have made as little as 7 an hour and as much as 20 an hour. I have also worked for pimento cheese.

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