ER nurses make $144,000 a year!

Published

I always wanted to live on Fantasy Island.

Sign me up.

http://hotjobs.yahoo.com/career-articles-staying_power_5_careers_with_bright_futures-493

Specializes in Wellness Coach, ICU, PACU, OR, Mgmt.

Headline should read:

Crazed, Burned-Out, Mistake-Prone, Nurse, Making Life & Death Decisions While Taking License, Health & Future in Their Hands Each Day Making $144,000/year.

Good Luck.

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I think this figure has to come from states like NY and California. Rates for nurses can be 45hr to 55 hr depending on the hospital. If a nurse works 6days a week for 12hr shifts she can reach these rates. Since most people who post here are from other states besides these two states those rates do seems outrageous.

I live in California, make close to $55 an hour and $144,000 STILL seems like a far stretch! Yeah, of course, if I worked 5 days a week 12 hours a day I'd make that, but... Come on! Who wants to live like that? Maybe the article should come with a disclaimer: $144,000/year in return for no life out of work!

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A nurse with 20+ years of experience working at a SF Bay area hospital 40 hrs a week, with shift differential can make close to this without OT and there is no pay rate difference for ER nurses. But lets puts things in perspective you can't find a single family home for under $450K.

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Specializes in CVICU-ICU.

They did list the average at 66,000. I think the 144,000 was probably what was reported by what everyone else here has said and thats working lots of OT and working the highest paid areas of the country so it was a bit misleading however they did list the low range as 42,000 I think and the average as 66,000.

I know my base pay is 68,000/yr but when I add shift diff and weekend diff. plus I usually work 1-2 extra days per pay for a total of 84-96 hours in a 2 week period I made 90+ last year.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.

"charge nurse ($44,000) to nurse emergency rn ($144,000)" quoted from the article....

someone tell me who in his/her right mind would take on the headaches of a charge nurse to make less then those he/she manages??? i do not think anyone should read too much into this article because i do not think the author even knows what a "charge nurse" is since the mistake was not made in reporting management vs. entry level regarding the other professions. never mind the fact that it is noted that education wise there are only 3 ways to become a rn.

the real question we should be asking ourselves is did this person receive payment for this trash? if so, where can i sign up? clearly facts are irrelevant and hype is everything. :typing

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Specializes in ER,ICU,L+D,OR.

You take my base and diffs and years of service. If I worked full time I would earn a bit over 6 figures. Yes, That is in the ER. I just choose not to work full time, just 24 hrs a week.

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Specializes in ER/Trauma.
but lets puts things in perspective you can't find a single family home for under $450k.
bingo!

the real question we should be asking ourselves is did this person receive payment for this trash? if so, where can i sign up? clearly facts are irrelevant and hype is everything. :typing
:chuckle

cheers,

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Specializes in LTC/SNF, Psychiatric, Pharmaceutical.
They did list the average at 66,000. I think the 144,000 was probably what was reported by what everyone else here has said and thats working lots of OT and working the highest paid areas of the country so it was a bit misleading however they did list the low range as 42,000 I think and the average as 66,000.

I know my base pay is 68,000/yr but when I add shift diff and weekend diff. plus I usually work 1-2 extra days per pay for a total of 84-96 hours in a 2 week period I made 90+ last year.

Again, I'd like to see that. Most nurses I know in Oklahoma are barely making $38,000 a year, below the low range Yahoo quoted. Where are they getting their facts?

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Specializes in CVICU-ICU.

I do believe that the wages they report are averages so lets say 10 nurses report their earnings at 35,000 and 10 nurses report their earnings at 70,000 then the average wage of all 20 nurses would be 52,500$........I used a very small average of only 20 nurses just to give a example so imagine of they had 5000 nurses reporting salaries anywhere from 30,000 to those that work alot of OT reporting 100,000 and taking that average the actual wage would be higher than what is truly the average. For example they state the average wage for a RN is 66,000 which is what my average wage is however when adding my shift diff, weekend diff and OT I would report my income as 90,000+.

I hope that all makes sense...makes sense to me but Im not so sure I was able to relay it right.

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Let's look at the outlay for someone in this rarefied earnings atmosphere:

Divorce/spousal and child support--$36K

ETOH/pharmceutical assistance--5-10K

ETOH/pharmaceutical treatment--5-10K

Tax disadvantages--20K

Toys to compensate feelings of deprivation (car, computer, stereo equipment, vacation, jewelry, etc.)--15K

Therapy for whatever is left of mind and spirit--10K

Compared to:

Peace of mind that comes from having a manageable work schedule with time to enjoy family and friends and smell the occasional rose and maybe even order pizza and throw in a couple of videos and take a walk and read a book and play a game and come to allnurses.com--

--PRICELESS!

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A nurse with 20+ years of experience working at a SF Bay area hospital 40 hrs a week, with shift differential can make close to this without OT and there is no pay rate difference for ER nurses. But lets puts things in perspective you can't find a single family home for under $450K.
Was that before or after the housing market tanked? I am seriously asking this because my son lives in southern Cal. and will be in the market for a house soon.
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Was that before or after the housing market tanked? I am seriously asking this because my son lives in southern Cal. and will be in the market for a house soon.

I am seeing this currently, after the fall, but the SF Bay is VERY over priced. Besides, Southern California housing prices are very different from Northern Cali and depending on where he is will make a huge difference in price.

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