Disgusted!

$16/ hr... wow! Kind of caught me off guard. For an RN? I love being a nurse but I wouldn't be able to do it for $16/hr! Sounds like you are under appreciated!

wow!!! $16 an hour? You may feel "under appreciated" for an RN but for us smaller people $16 an hour would be a god send.

$16/ hr... wow! Kind of caught me off guard. For an RN? I love being a nurse but I wouldn't be able to do it for $16/hr! Sounds like you are under appreciated!

I don't disagree with you but then again I don't know what recent RN grads are making. Believe me, going from $8/hr to $16/hr was a big deal. Here's another tid bit of info....My DON asked me if I knew anyone that I graduated with who might want to pick up hours....ready for this??? but please let them know that I won't be able to pay them RN wages because we don't really need an RN in this unit....oh that made me feel just great! Just not understanding why no one is hiring????

I'm disgusted with my situation, too. I'm stuck at a job in a LTC facility and it's getting on my nerves. I've got a BSN and know I could go to a big hospital where the excitement is but it would be at the expense of doing what is best for my family; first of all I live in a little hick town and the big high tech hospitals are far away, my toddler loves his daycare, which is 2 minutes from my job, I work the 7-3 shift doing QA projects (office work, no patient care), I'm at home in my cozy bed every night. The problem is that I hate doing QA projects and administrative tasks, but they won't "let" me work the floor. So much for career advancement, I had more job satisfaction as an LPN! But I've got children depending on my steady predictable income and convenient hours but I'm in a rut with no way out and I hate it. Still, I make way more than $16/hr, that pay rate more than sucks, you need to do some serious negotiating.

would love to move on...but read the original post...that's the problem...I can't seem to get a job as an RN.

If I were a career counselor, and I'm not, I would probably advise you to find out who the director of nurse hiring is at the facility posting the ads. And then I would advise you to write them a letter, explaining how qualified you are with details, and enclose a resume. Make it very personal, and tell your story. Grovel a little when the topic becomes wanting to work THERE. Research the hospital and their mission statement and repeat it to them, in various ways, in your letter. Ask for an interview. Consider the worst case scenario: you won't get one. How much worse is that than where you are now? Sometimes these bold measures are the ones that get people noticed and in the door.

Agree with previous poster: $16 for an RN? Crap I make more than that as a Unit Clerk, and the CNA's make even more. I'd take an agency job before I'd work for that.

I'm disgusted with my situation, too. I'm stuck at a job in a LTC facility and it's getting on my nerves. I've got a BSN and know I could go to a big hospital where the excitement is but it would be at the expense of doing what is best for my family; first of all I live in a little hick town and the big high tech hospitals are far away, my toddler loves his daycare, which is 2 minutes from my job, I work the 7-3 shift doing QA projects (office work, no patient care), I'm at home in my cozy bed every night. The problem is that I hate doing QA projects and administrative tasks, but they won't "let" me work the floor. So much for career advancement, I had more job satisfaction as an LPN! But I've got children depending on my steady predictable income and convenient hours but I'm in a rut with no way out and I hate it. Still, I make way more than $16/hr, that pay rate more than sucks, you need to do some serious negotiating.

Unfortunately, there is no negotiating, not here anyway. Part of the problem is that they don't require an RN at the place I'm currently working and have been for five years.

What is the going rate for new grads (RN with an AD)?

wow!!! $16 an hour? You may feel "under appreciated" for an RN but for us smaller people $16 an hour would be a god send.

I do not know what your title is, and bearing in mind that YOU used the term "smaller people," for an RN, I also believe this wage is NOT good enough. In my area, my starting wage was 16.39/hour....over 8 years ago. I make about $10 an hour MORE than that now. I don't live in an area with a high cost of living, either.

Had I stayed at the nursing home I was a CNA at and became an RN, I would have started at 19.45/hr. Again, over 8 years ago.

While I'm not putting down anyone else's titles, just because that would be a godsend to some, it isn't for what the OP has earned for her education, etc. For a CNA that would be a great wage....but she isn't a CNA any more. That doesn't make it ok for her employer to rip her off (which in my humble opinion, they're doing).

If it were me I would keep on applying and calling them back. It may be a bad saying but,"the squeaky will get attention". The point here is I would be persistent in my endevours.

$16/hour is horrible for a RN. I made almost $35/hour as a new grad a few years back. I live in an expensive area.

I like the idea of finding out a direct contact and sending a nice letter. Don't get discouraged. A job will come.