Depressed over salary

KC CHICK · Jul 9, 2001

Could I please introduce another perspective to this conversation??

My fiance is a police officer. He has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, state certification, went to the police academy, and has over 2 years' experience putting his LIFE on the line. He makes a whopping 14.00/hr.

I just graduated with my ADN and have only been working in the field of nursing for ONE MONTH. I make 17.56/hr.

Personally, I don't think the pay for nurses is too bad. :rolleyes:

2LTCnurses · Jul 9, 2001

Originally posted by KC CHICK
Could I please introduce another perspective to this conversation??
My fiance is a police officer. He has a bachelor's degree in criminal justice, state certification, went to the police academy, and has over 2 years' experience putting his LIFE on the line. He makes a whopping 14.00/hr.
I just graduated with my ADN and have only been working in the field of nursing for ONE MONTH. I make 17.56/hr.
Personally, I don't think the pay for nurses is too bad. [
B]

I don't think that this shows that the pay for nurses is good......it just shows that the pay for police officers is terrible! :eek:

Katmease · Jul 9, 2001

It depends on where you live to a certain degree. My Hubby has been a Missouri State Trooper for 15 years & only makes about $20 an hour. I just graduated with a BSN & make $22.00 an hour. In this area both of our wages are outstanding as most workers in this area only make minimum wage & survive. Even attorneys that work for the state only make $15.75 an hour. The cost of living isn't bad at all. We own a 91 acre farm, new big barns & a four bedroom house that was built in the 60's for $80,000.

Y2KRN · Jul 10, 2001

Hello,

I am a relatively new nurse, and I am not complaining about my pay. I have an ASN and feel that I get paid well for my level of education, however I see nurses with so much more experience, and more education than myself not making much more than the new grad. I must say this is disheartening.

At my hospital they are trying so hard to attract new grads and are offering sign on bonouses, and are really bending over backwards to accomadate the new grads transitionary period from new grad to RN, example being a new grad just hired recently is working part time during orientation, and is not going to go to her night position, until september when it is better for herself and family. This is positive and we do need new grads!

However, they are not worried about working their veteran nurses to the bone and very short staffed, and giving no incentives what so ever, for these stressful times. I think along with recruiting new hires they should really focus on retention promotion as well and reward the hard work of their experienced and loyal nurses. Just my opinion for what it is worth!

Y2KRN

maryb · Jul 10, 2001

NursePooh, I just saw your post, sorry for the delay. I'm working as a Medical Editor for a company that produces CME for physicians on CD-ROM. I lucked into the job (by sending a resume when I thought there was NO WAY I'd ever get an interview, much less a job). The moral of the story? Take a chance on something if you think you're interested. It took me a lot of looking and a lot of "Thanks, but we filled that position" letters before I got this job, but it was worth the effort.

There are drawbacks, however. It's a very small company and my responsibility area is HUGE, and we're never for sure that the company will survive (we operate on a shoestring most months).

But, the positives make it all worthwhile. I'm accustomed to having a lot of responsibility, as are ALL nurses. And that responsibility gives me a lot of CONTROL over my job and how it gets done. No one ever says to me, "You can't do it that way. We've always done it this way." I'm breaking new ground every day, and finding the best way to do what needs to be done.

Nursing used to be that way. You could find new/better ways to get the job done and your boss(es) would allow you the freedom to explore these methods. I find that recent history has changed that, and is a big reason I left bedside nursing. It's not all about money (although the regular pay raises are nice), it's also about being recognized as a person with a thought other than when to give a pill.