Disillusioned about KY

Hi! I am sorry to say that I know exactly how you feel. Have you already moved to KY? If not, is it just to go to school? I am originally from Dallas and moved here 5 years ago to be closer to my family. I will be graduating this December with my ADN and cannot believe how low the pay and differentials are. Starting salary for a NG is about 19.50-20.00/hr. The only differentials I have heard of are for the night hours, not for wkends if you are working a regular schedule and not a WOW schedule (I might be wrong, though this is what I heard for Jewish Hospital St Mary's Group) in Louisville. To me this is very low! I can also tell you that the cost of living, to me, does not seem any lower than Dallas, except for housing and the sales tax, but TX does not have a state income tax and that more than makes up for the difference and NG's start at about 23.50/hr. So if the program here that you plan on going to is your only option, I would think about planning for work outside KY after graduation. Good luck to you in any case, once you have your RN you will have lots of opportunities.:heartbeat

I did an advanced search (base pay in ky) and i think if you read through this thread it may help you....

https://allnurses.com/forums/f149/please-respond-127191.html

ok that link isnt working but if you do an advanced search and put "base pay in ky" and search the ky forum a thread called Please Respond will pop up and it talks about pay diffs and all that jazz.

Or you can copy and paste that link into your browser and it wil take you there.

like you said, the cost of living is a lot less in Kentucky. Whatever apprehension you have about your salary will be outweighed by how friendly the people are. I think you'll also find that agencies are not used in Kentucky like they are in other places.

I understand exactly how you feel about the pay rate in KY. I also found the benefits lacking. I have worked in several areas of the country and was really surprised about the salary. Cost of living is not such different from PA or NJ either.

I tried to local hospitals and I'm now starting my first travel assignment. A word to the wise, well I'll just keep that thought to myself.LOL.

Anyway, good luck. If you want to talk to a former transplanted yankee, email me.

Benefits are lacking here, because a.) Humana's home base is in Louisville, and they seem to have cornered the market on health insurance for medical personnel in KY, and b.) Kentuckians are historically very unhealthy people- lots of smokers, obesity, diabetes, etc.