Confused why salaries for new grads are not higher?

U.S.A. California

Published

hello all,

so i was in anaheim last week at the nsna convention. a lot of the ca hospitals were represented, and i was able to get my questions answered about new grad. programs. it was an exciting time!

one of the main questions was about salary. the hourly pay avg. for new grads was $28. ucsf was the highest at $40.

this is where the confusion comes in... the starting rate for new grads is $27 (with $3 evening diff.) at a hospital in houston. since the cost of living in ca is so much higher than houston, why isn't there a bigger difference in new grad starting rate?

i looked at the diff. today and i'm really starting to panic. can i make it there? should i wait and do travel nursing? the hospitals i am looking at are methodist, loma linda, ucsd, and ucsf. how are people making it living in these areas? i am getting discouraged because i feel like i need to wait, but i really don't want to. i want to get out there and explore, but i don't want to live in a dump and eat roman noodles to do it. i just don't understand how the math doesn't equal to really poor in ca!

please help:confused:

Specializes in Psych.

I'm one of those "out of state grads" who is planning on moving to the SF area when I'm done with school. From my research, and asking new grads who live there it seems like you can make a decent living and live outside of SF and BART in and be able to pay your bills. I think if you do your research you can make it work even with a high cost of living.

Dee

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Specializes in Womens health, labor and delivery.

Hi Dee,

The issue is not just the high cost of living, it is the amount of jobs available for new grads. There are limited new grad programs for the high amount of new grads applying. I am sure if you are patient you will eventually get a job, but it seems to me, (and I wish I were wrong) that there is not a nursing shortage for new grads in SF. I have spoken with managers at the major hospitals, and every one of them has told me the same thing. Few spots for new grads, (in the training programs) and many applicants.

PLEASE prove me wrong!!! I would love to have differerent information!

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Specializes in Psych.
Hi Dee,

The issue is not just the high cost of living, it is the amount of jobs available for new grads. There are limited new grad programs for the high amount of new grads applying. I am sure if you are patient you will eventually get a job, but it seems to me, (and I wish I were wrong) that there is not a nursing shortage for new grads in SF. I have spoken with managers at the major hospitals, and every one of them has told me the same thing. Few spots for new grads, (in the training programs) and many applicants.

PLEASE prove me wrong!!! I would love to have differerent information!

I think you are correct. If you are going to try to get into the SF new grad programs you do need to really make yourself stand out from the other applicants. But I think you can do that if you take the time to research, contact people etc. to find out what they are looking for. For example, I am more than a year away from graduating and haven't started my core nursing classes yet but I've already started the info gathering process in order to make my application desirable when I do apply. I also have a back up plan. Work in my home state for one year and then move to SF if need be. I'm just really encouraged that the SF hospitals don't necessarily shun out of state grads and look at the total package of a person they are getting instead of just where that person lives. It gives me hope that I can make myself marketable enough to get in as a new grad and not have to wait.

Dee

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Specializes in Womens health, labor and delivery.
I think you are correct. If you are going to try to get into the SF new grad programs you do need to really make yourself stand out from the other applicants. But I think you can do that if you take the time to research, contact people etc. to find out what they are looking for. For example, I am more than a year away from graduating and haven't started my core nursing classes yet but I've already started the info gathering process in order to make my application desirable when I do apply. I also have a back up plan. Work in my home state for one year and then move to SF if need be. I'm just really encouraged that the SF hospitals don't necessarily shun out of state grads and look at the total package of a person they are getting instead of just where that person lives. It gives me hope that I can make myself marketable enough to get in as a new grad and not have to wait.

Dee

After working for a year, you will most likely have a much different experience. Its great to have an application that stands out, but the problem seems to be that the spots are already filled, and the dept manangers are not even getting the applications. Hospitals such as CPMC, (which is a sutter health hospital) and others that I am not looking into may not have this situation. Just to let you know, I am in my 40's, have a masters degree, over 7 years of hospital experience and will complete my BSN, (which is my second bachelors degree) in just a couple weeks. You could say I did my homework. I also contacted people, and did my research. All of the things that you are going to do,(and then some) I tried, and I am still hitting a brick wall. Not only did I volunteer at the hospitals that I was interested in, I also did my clinicals with the managers that I needed to get to know. So I am just going to be patient. I am not trying to be pessimistic, but please come here and talk to the people who will be hiring you before you make such a huge change. I am sure you can make it happen, I am just getting the idea that it is just not as easy to find a job here as it used to be. And I don't know that much about being a traveling nurse, but I know they pay well, and they pay your housing costs. Maybe you should consider that! (again, I have not researched about travelers, its just heresay what I wrote)

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Specializes in Psych.
After working for a year, you will most likely have a much different experience. Its great to have an application that stands out, but the problem seems to be that the spots are already filled, and the dept manangers are not even getting the applications. Hospitals such as CPMC, (which is a sutter health hospital) and others that I am not looking into may not have this situation. Just to let you know, I am in my 40's, have a masters degree, over 7 years of hospital experience and will complete my BSN, (which is my second bachelors degree) in just a couple weeks. You could say I did my homework. I also contacted people, and did my research. All of the things that you are going to do,(and then some) I tried, and I am still hitting a brick wall. Not only did I volunteer at the hospitals that I was interested in, I also did my clinicals with the managers that I needed to get to know. So I am just going to be patient. I am not trying to be pessimistic, but please come here and talk to the people who will be hiring you before you make such a huge change. I am sure you can make it happen, I am just getting the idea that it is just not as easy to find a job here as it used to be. And I don't know that much about being a traveling nurse, but I know they pay well, and they pay your housing costs. Maybe you should consider that! (again, I have not researched about travelers, its just heresay what I wrote)

I appreciate the advice. It appears we have similar situations. I am too embarking on my second career. Already have a BA and MS in psych. I'm 34 right now. My dh and I of course have back up plans. Stay here, in Nevada for a year then move. Or we are also looking at oregon and washington. We're flexible but cautious. We're not going anywhere without a solid job offer. Good luck to you in your search.

Dee

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Travel nursing requires at least a year of experience, and most facilities even want two years before they will even consider the nurse. You need to be able to hit the floor running and with minimal orientation. Definitely not the orientation that a new person to the facility would be getting.

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Specializes in ICU.

I know a new grad that is being paid $40 in a local hospital in Sacramento.

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Specializes in GI, OR, Oncology.

Wow - that's a fantastic new grad starting rate! I work a couple hours north of Sac. and started just 2 years ago at $29 (which was higher than the "new grad" rate because I'd worked as an LVN for 8 years). It's gone up quickly though - now I'm at $38/hr.

I know a new grad that is being paid $40 in a local hospital in Sacramento.
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Specializes in ED, Cardiac Medicine, Retail Health.

Wow! Great thread! As a new grad in Boston many of my classmates had the same problem...Many applicants for limited new grad positions. Many have just now landed jobs (4 months after graduating) after the frustrating process of job searching. The cost of living is very high in Boston yet the new grad salary does not seem to match ($27-29/hr). Although $28/hr seems like a lot to some of my friends, after taxes, school loans, and rent/mortage there is not much left. We too hear of the "BIG BUCKS" that can be made on the left coast but I often tell my nursing constituents to count the true cost before heading to the land of milk and honey. In life there always seems to be hidden costs associated.....

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We too hear of the "BIG BUCKS" that can be made on the left coast but I often tell my nursing constituents to count the true cost before heading to the land of milk and honey. In life there always seems to be hidden costs associated.....

This is true, but there's ways to take advantage of those costs also. Afterall ... the reason the cost of living gets high is because there's more money in those areas.

I've lived all over the country ... both cheap and expensive places. The problem with a lot of cheap places is that they are cheap because there's no money there so, you don't get much wage growth. The problem with really expensive places is by the time they do get expensive everybody has already moved there so you end up competing with them for jobs/housing and you can lose money that way.

The key to making a lot of money in California (and probably anywhere else for that matter) is somewhere in between. If you get in on the ground floor of a relatively affordable, high growth area BEFORE it gets expensive, lock in a relatively cheap mortgage so you keep your housing costs low, then you can take advantage of the wage and equity growth as the area takes off.

When I first started nursing school I never dreamed I'd be making this much money. I think that if you play it smart ... ultimately areas where wages are on the upswing are still better than places that barely keep up with inflation because, in those areas you have to keep living cheap because there's not as much opportunity to make more money.

:typing

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Specializes in Tele Step Down, Oncology, ICU, Med/Surg.

Wow Cuppy:

$3500.00 for a one bedroom! My extended family owns two flats in the Marina/Cow Hollow area. Our 2 bedroom/1800sq ft. top flat on Filbert St with bedroom bay windows that provide a jaw dropping view of the GG bridge and Palace of Fine Arts with a remodeled kitchen (viking stove/granite countertops) with hardwood floors, fireplace and typical high cielings/1900 character plus.... along with parking and laundry facilities and a landscaped backyard that backs up to miley court/Cow Hollow play ground and with Chestnut St. and Union St and the Presidio all walking distance..... rents out for a whopping $3,000.00 and that's with utilities paid! The bottom flat with less than perfect views (the building in back cuts the GG bridge in half), rents for $2,500.

I'm wondering if you are being bilked. Also, if the SF central market is saturated with regards to new grads, maybe you should try expanding your externship or job search to the Pennisula or East Bay. The commute both directions is very doable via BART. You sound very hireable.

I too am an older nursing student, I know it will be hard to experience the kind of setbacks I was no longer used to having after "paying my dues." Keep up the Faith....and go apartment hunting, I know for a fact you can do better.

Good Luck!

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Specializes in Womens health, labor and delivery.

Hi Bertolozzi,

I sent you a private message. Again, thanks for the input, and I have started looking south for job prospects. I am very familar with this area, I have been here 27 years, so bart and I are well acquainted! Things will be fine I am sure. But really , I am not being bilked.

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