Do private duty LVN/LPN ever get a pay raise?

Specialties Private Duty

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I have heard that if you are a LVN/LPN and you work for an agency, you will never get a pay raise? Is this true? Several people told me this. Please advise.

All the RNs in my agency just got an across the board HUGE pay raise. Not sure about the I LPNs but I think they got one too.

Can you ask to see if the did or not? I am really thinking about this other agency that I want to work for. I am just concerned that if I go there, it would be the same situation where the LVN/LPN will never ever get a raise.

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Specializes in Peds(PICU, NICU float), PDN, ICU.

I've had raises, but they aren't often and I've had to ask.

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Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.

So two things.

1. Your pay is generally based on your states reimbursement rate. If the state pays $40.00 an hour. The agency has to cover expenses, pay you, and make money. So generally you won't make more than 66% of the states hourly rate.

2. No one in PDN is going to hand you money. You have to ask for a rase. You shouldn't just ask for a rase because you feel you deserve it or because you have new bills. You need to justify yourself. I have received several pay increases over the years, I just had to explain why I was valuable to the company, and how I was planning on continuing to make things better for the organization.

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So two things.

1. Your pay is generally based on your states reimbursement rate. If the state pays $40.00 an hour. The agency has to cover expenses, pay you, and make money. So generally you won't make more than 66% of the states hourly rate.

2. No one in PDN is going to hand you money. You have to ask for a rase. You shouldn't just ask for a rase because you feel you deserve it or because you have new bills. You need to justify yourself. I have received several pay increases over the years, I just had to explain why I was valuable to the company, and how I was planning on continuing to make things better for the organization.

My coworkers all explained to the agency what they did and had very good reviews.

The agency is making a lot of money already and not in the red since they are expanding and buying out other places.

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The only agency that has given me scheduled pay raises for longevity is the one where LVN/LPNs were unionized along with the CNA/HHAs. At every other agency, the rate of pay has been a matter of some arbitrary decision. Usually, that decision is to lowball, you, the job applicant, because you do not fit the prejudice of the one doing the hiring. Sad but true.

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Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.
My coworkers all explained to the agency what they did and had very good reviews. The agency is making a lot of money already and not in the red since they are expanding and buying out other places.

So your choice is to accept the rate of pay or find a more equatable situation at another employer. I'm not understanding what exactly your looking for here. Obviously a lot of agencies do give pay increases, however they are not annual as other employers. Also there is a limit to pay because of reimbursement. Those are the facts of our industry, and I don't see it changing soon. If your looking for the secret to getting a raise there isn't one, you can try, and if you fail you have to decide of you want to stay or go. A lot of agency's do no treat or pay their employees well, this has gotten worse because of the economy and excess of new grads in the market.

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Specializes in Pediatric Private Duty; Camp Nursing.

Our agency, admitting that their pay and benefits were a major drawback in being their employee, had a form letter for us to sign and send to state legislature, accurately detailing the need for the state-mandated hourly rate to be raised, as it had not been in many years. I read it at the time but I forget all the statistics now. The agency asked all employees to do this in solidarity, they also asked all the clients' parents to do the same. Unfortunately about 6 months after the fact, I got a form letter on very crisp stationary with an embossed letterhead from my congressman, apologizing the fact that a raise in hourly pay cannot be done at this time. So... we tried.

The good news is, I give myself my own raise every week that I decide to do an extra shift. They let me have all the overtime I can handle, since they are short on overnight nurses. They realize that even paying me overtime is better than leaving a shift unfilled. THIS is why I stay w the same agency without having a raise in all three years I've been w them.

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I can guess that my state has a system that will favor the employer. It could be lies or it could be true but it is a business and profits are more important. :( I found this review in the internet while I was researching LVN/LPN home health agencies. It is the state I live in and the agency that I was interested in applying to:

"Its a nursing agency staffing home health so therefore it is mostly medicaid patients. Medicaid has not raised the rate for nurses in close to 20 years so nurses have not gotten a raise in that amount of time. This problem will be found at all agencies and is not exclusive."

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I can guess that my state has a system that will favor the employer. It could be lies or it could be true but it is a business and profits are more important. :( I found this review in the internet while I was researching LVN/LPN home health agencies. It is the state I live in and the agency that I was interested in applying to:

"Its a nursing agency staffing home health so therefore it is mostly medicaid patients. Medicaid has not raised the rate for nurses in close to 20 years so nurses have not gotten a raise in that amount of time. This problem will be found at all agencies and is not exclusive."

Reimbursement rate may be the reason or excuse made by the agency when they tell the individual why they can't be paid more, but that never flies when that same individual finds out that another nurse on the very same case is being paid $3 to $6 more per hour, and they were told "all nurses are paid the same rate".

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Specializes in Home Health (PDN), Camp Nursing.
I can guess that my state has a system that will favor the employer. It could be lies or it could be true but it is a business and profits are more important.

Well of course profits are important. Your working to make money right, just like your agency is in business to make money. It's not unethical or "favoring the employer" for them to make a profit. It's business. Similarly it not wrong for another nurse to make more than you.. It's business either they negotiated better or were hired at a time where staffing was hard up and had to incentivize employment. It amazes me what nurses consider a grave injustice is pretty normal in the business world.

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Well of course profits are important. Your working to make money right, just like your agency is in business to make money. It's not unethical or "favoring the employer" for them to make a profit. It's business. Similarly it not wrong for another nurse to make more than you.. It's business either they negotiated better or were hired at a time where staffing was hard up and had to incentivize employment. It amazes me what nurses consider a grave injustice is pretty normal in the business world.

So,because its normal in the business world that makes it alright?

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Reimbursement rate may be the reason or excuse made by the agency when they tell the individual why they can't be paid more, but that never flies when that same individual finds out that another nurse on the very same case is being paid $3 to $6 more per hour, and they were told "all nurses are paid the same rate".

This is so true.

I have founf this to be true even when both nurses were hired at the same time and with similiar experience.

To the OP,in general I've found the Northeast pays the most when it comes to PDN and the southerm and midwestern states don't pay all that great,and on top of that you have to do more work.

For ex,I didn't know some PDN's draw the pts bloodwork in one southern state I relocated to.

On top of that,you didn't get reimbursed for gas or your time.

I have never heard of that in my old state.

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