Differentials make a difference

[Emergent]

I was checking out my online pay stubb. Last year I made over $7,000 from differentials, nights and weekends. It says I made over $4,000 in overtime too. I don't remember picking up a lot of extra hours last year, in fact, as I recall, my New Years resolution last year was to work less.

I got over $5,000 in vacation pay and over $3,000 in holiday worked. I wonder what my colleagues who really work the system make out? I never get double backs, never milk the clock, and don't bother filling out the paperwork for missed lunch break. I made over $90,000 from nursing last year, counting my Per Diem job.

And the price of gas is down, let the good times roll! Thank you God for my blessings, I would have never guessed that I, who once was so lacking in confidence in myself, could come this far.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Working permanent nights and weekends really adds up with the shift differentials. I did this my first four years of nursing. I saved enough to pay my student loans AND buy a property. The differentials made a difference of 12k!

[RNsRWe, ASN, RN]

Oh my, yes. When I stopped working nights, weekends, and holidays, my pay dropped significantly! I changed jobs so that my pay wouldn't actually be much lower (bump up in pay for the new job, compensated for the loss of the diffs). Now, after a number of years of "straight pay", boy do I notice the difference!

I used to be able to pick up extra shifts, or a weekend, holiday or whatever and see a nice bump up in the paycheck. Now, it's the same pay all the time; I'm not salaried but my hours cannot vary, so pay is always the same.

In my case, I chose less $$ in favor of more time off, more valuable home-time for my family, and don't regret it for a minute. But for those who might be single, or not have kids, or whatever it is that makes it simpler to work those off-shifts.....yay for you! :)

[LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN]

My night shift diff is 5.75 which full time adds up to an extra 10k a year. When I transferred positions I was put on mid shifts during my orientation and man I noticed a big difference. Was very excited to get off orientation and back on to nights to get the differential back.

All the little extras, like meetings and mandatory educations, 2% for BSN, the night and weekend differential and the occasional overtime added up to almost 20k more above my base hourly rate.

And hurray with gas being down! Just today I saw $2.19!

[ncwildflowers]

Hi Katie71275, I just noticed you are in Raleigh. I live in Cary. Hopefully I will be starting the ABSN program at Duke in the Fall. What hospital do you work in? Its good to hear nurses talking about making "good money" because when you just look at the base pay per hour, it is a bit discouraging! We are a family of 5 and am looking forward to having some extra income.

[Katie71275]

Ncwildflower I'm at Rex!

[natural_nurse]

Hi! I am a senior nursing student set to graduate in May 2015! I was looking a the forum and noticed you work at Rex. Would now be too soon to apply for staff positions or should I just wait until the new grad residency? I have 2 years of CNA experience. Thanks!