Florida nursing salaries - seriously????

U.S.A. Florida

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I'm considering switching careers to nursing. The two things I'm taking into consideration, of equal importance, are: Would I like this job most of the time? And what is the salary?

Now, someone I know who is about to graduate from a Central Florida private nursing school with her RN told me that Lakeland Regional Medical Center was hiring at about $30 an hour, which I thought sounded great.

But then I look at fairly recent posts on this board and they seem to indicate new nurses in Florida can expect about $21, $22 an hour, depending on where they start.

Seriously????

I mean, I currently make $17 an hour, so $22 is certainly better, and there's always the opportunity to make overtime, make a little more per hour by working nights and weekends...but still! Is this true? If it is, I'm kinda disapointed.

Is there at least hope of working my way up the salary ladder if I continue my education and get certifications? Would it be unreasonable to think I could get up to $30 an hour in Florida, or would I have to leave the state?

The Beach Is Where You Lay And Absorb The Rays They Go Through Your Body And Ooh It Is Really Good And Cleansing

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heyyy what teacher did you have for A&P and which campus?? im freaking out because im taking that class this fall and my cousin failed it horribly. :uhoh3:

I am taking AP at St. Pete College right now.

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What exactly does one do at the beach anyways? I mean, I enjoy the sun and the water, and I like to sit and read for awhile, but I don't understand what's so exciting about it. Am I missing something? (again, I've only been twice...)

beachinit.gif

This is me on the beach!! The things I love about the beach are:

the sound of the waves breaking and crashing on the shore

the breeze on my warm, sun-drenched skin

the generally muted sound of children playing and people happy and having a good time

the relaxing effect of being somewhere that I cannot do any housework or work work

a good beach book

buying an ice cream from the truck

squishing my toes in the sand

walking along the beach picking up shells and other interesting things

eating my peanut butter sandwich and grapes with only the slightest amount of sandy crunch!

the smell of suntan lotion

watching boats on the horizon

watching the surfers, skimboarders, parasailers etc.

sea gulls, sandpipers, pelicans and other sea birds

going to the beach when the sea turtles are hatching and returning to sea

finding a star fish, hermit crabs, a jelly fish or a horshoe crab

I have more but I think you get the idea! To me the beach is a little slice of heaven!

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Locals don't go to the beach. That's for tourists. LOL

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ive spoken with nurses in sarasota about the same thing but like everyone is saying, its easy to make more money. they start you out at that rate because you dont have much hands on experience. but you can move up quickly once you get more certs and/or time as a nurse under your belt. i wouldnt worry too much about it, as long as you stay focused and upbeat about it the place you work for wil notice and pay you back for it!

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Specializes in Peds Cardiology,Peds Neuro,Pedi ER,PICU, IV Jedi.
I haven't started school yet - I'm looking at various private schools like Keiser, Galen and FMU because I don't want to wait forever for a spot to open up at community college. So I'm researching schools and salary at the same time.

And I'm not trying to come off as wanting nothing but money - but I'm going to stop working for two years, and rack up big loans, and I want to know what is on the other end.

Even if I only start out at $22 an hour, I still want to do it. I actually wanted to be a paramedic for years, but I decided on nursing because it seems like there's more room for career advancement.

However, I'm ambitious, and if I thought I were going to be stuck at $22 an hour forever, I would probably look elsewhere. But I don't believe that's the case. Still...yikes. For the enormous life and death responsibilities that nurses bear, the stress, the hard work...I think it should be a little higher.

No, it should be A LOT HIGHER. Florida is in for a big shocker in a few years if they don't start paying nurses what the rest of the nation is paying them...because I'm sure the beach isn't big enough a lure to keep people from earning closer to what they deserve for all their hard work. That can be done - just maybe not in Florida.

A few years ago an RN friend of mine took a travel assignment in Florida - making 16.50/hour...just a little more than I was making as a tech - and $4+/hour less than he was making when we worked together in Texas.

Here in the Dallas area you can make $25/hour within your first year...and yes, that's BASE pay, differentials not included.

vamedic4;)

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Specializes in Oncology, Research.

When I graduated from nursing school in MD I knew I was going back to FL to live and work. When it came time for us to secure work we all compared offers and I was laughed at heartily by my colleagues. Here I had just graduated from one of the most prestigious universities in the nation, going to one of the "best" hospitals in FL and starting at...17.25 (that is an extra quarter for the BSN). They all said I was crazy because they were starting at $50-60K with much better bennies, including free further education at the Uni of their choice. In hindsight, I should have stayed up there...

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Argggh, you people are depressing me with your talk of low salaries! (Sticking fingers in ears) - la la la la I can't hear you!

Seriously, though, what I'm finding after being on this board for several months is a wide variety of what people say they make as a nurse in Florida. My best guess is that when I finally get my RN - which will take about 3 years, including one more year to finish all my prereqs - I will start at about 22 to 25 an hour. (I hope salaries will go up over the next few years!) And as far as I can tell, I'll be able to bump that up considerably by working nights, weekends and overtime, and by continuing my nursing education.

I'm also finding that overall, the states that pay the highest usually have an equally cost of living. New York, Massachusetts, California, Hawaii...they seem to pay much higher, but the cost of housing there is much higher than that of Florida.

I know the housing cost is higher here than it used to be, but that's true everywhere across the U.S. I still find housing to be cheaper here than in most other major metropolitan areas across the U.S.

Oddly enough, looking at some survey that was done a few years ago, I believe Texas and Wisconsin came out as being among the best states for nurses in terms of salary vs. cost of living.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
Locals don't go to the beach. That's for tourists. LOL

I thought it was to go and look at the pretty young girls in their petite bathing attire

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.
No, it should be A LOT HIGHER. Florida is in for a big shocker in a few years if they don't start paying nurses what the rest of the nation is paying them...because I'm sure the beach isn't big enough a lure to keep people from earning closer to what they deserve for all their hard work. That can be done - just maybe not in Florida.

A few years ago an RN friend of mine took a travel assignment in Florida - making 16.50/hour...just a little more than I was making as a tech - and $4+/hour less than he was making when we worked together in Texas.

Here in the Dallas area you can make $25/hour within your first year...and yes, that's BASE pay, differentials not included.

vamedic4;)

I like Dallas, lots of golf courses here and I have played all but one of them in a 50 mile radius.

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Specializes in Cardiology.
Argggh, you people are depressing me with your talk of low salaries! (Sticking fingers in ears) - la la la la I can't hear you!

Seriously, though, what I'm finding after being on this board for several months is a wide variety of what people say they make as a nurse in Florida. My best guess is that when I finally get my RN - which will take about 3 years, including one more year to finish all my prereqs - I will start at about 22 to 25 an hour. (I hope salaries will go up over the next few years!) And as far as I can tell, I'll be able to bump that up considerably by working nights, weekends and overtime, and by continuing my nursing education.

I'm also finding that overall, the states that pay the highest usually have an equally cost of living. New York, Massachusetts, California, Hawaii...they seem to pay much higher, but the cost of housing there is much higher than that of Florida.

I know the housing cost is higher here than it used to be, but that's true everywhere across the U.S. I still find housing to be cheaper here than in most other major metropolitan areas across the U.S.

Oddly enough, looking at some survey that was done a few years ago, I believe Texas and Wisconsin came out as being among the best states for nurses in terms of salary vs. cost of living.

Fresh out of nursing school as an RN in central FL, expect $18-$21/hr base pay.

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What about other areas of Florida? Other than Miami, which obviously has expensive housing, what areas pay the best?

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