Compare Nurses Salaries Across The Nation

I work Fri,Sat,Sun nights, in a busy metro Atlanta ER. Base pay $25.60,plus $12hr diff for the Sat,Sun nights. Diff for Fri night is $3.75/hr..... More experience should equal more pay.....I have been a nurse for 31 yrs,and SHOULD make more than someone with ,say,5 yrs exp.....

I agree. One thing that bothers me about this profession is that we hit the pay ceiling early in our careers. I make more than others just out of school, but over time I may make a lot less unless I continue to work odd shifts (nights/weekends).

Dear Cheerful... I certainly agree that nurses should be paid similar pay if they are doing the same type of work, as many places do not pay higher based on degrees. I have been in management for years and pay is still not great even then. The issue I hear al the time in our LTC facility is that the place is staffed mostly with LPN's who are paid 13 to 14 dollars an hour, and the RN's do EXACTLY the same work for 17 to 20 an hour. Certainly an RN should be paud a bit better than an LPN but what do you think when there is absolutely no difference in the work they do? In my opinion the LPN's should be the ones paid better. What do you think????

I disagree. Since LPNs work under an RNs license in addition to their own, thus opening up the overseeing RN to lawsuits/liability, the RN should be paid more. Period. I won't work with LPNs for any amount of pay -- even though many are excellent practitioners, I don't want to be responsible for another person's clinical decisions.

my friend who lives outside of dallas, tx makes 35$/hr as a RN

Wondering how nurse salaries are comparing as a whole across the nation. Are you paid more for having a BSN or Masters as compared to those with an ASN degree? I am writing from Florida where our RN's start at about 17.00 an hour. The high end of the scale will top out at about 23 or 24 an hour if they have many many years of experiance and a higher degree. How does this compare to the rest of the states?

Topping out at 23 or 24/hr?!? I made that my first year, and the general consensus in Southern California at the time was that it was low compared to other facilities. But I guess those same dollars might get more "bang" in certain areas d/t varying costs of living. Topping out at the above rates in California would not be feasible.

I'm in L.A. 4th year as an RN, BSN...I'm at $29 now.

Thank you for starting this thread. I've been thinking about relocating, so it's interesting to see the different rate by geography.

I'm in Florida making 25/hr with an associates degree, plus three bucks an hour diff. on top of that. But your right, it took me 11 years of hard work to reach that salary.

Hello,

Oy, you are going to hate hearing this...I worked as a CNA near Chicago, (with 15+ years experience) and was making straight pay of $12.96 and $1+ for shift and $1+ for weekend differential.

One of my coworkers revealed, (she had issues) regarding my desire to go into Nursing as, "Why should she? She had 20 years and was earning over $20. an hour with her accumulated wage increases."

Maybe she was exaggerating but, not sure. When I got hired they wanted to offer me around $8. an hour and I nicely told the recruiter, "thank you but, no, I was making more than that almost 10 years ago. I got up to leave and that is when she raised my starting salary to $12. based on experience.

YIkes, I don't really truly know if the other chick was telling the truth though.

Gen

I agree that RNs earn more money because of their further education,

and responsibilities;

its the same as LPNs earning more money than an Aide. Your education

and hard work getting through that schooling earns a better salary.

I am an LPN of approx ten years and make $16.00/hour working

contingent for Hospice in northern Michigan. Prior to moving to

northern Michigan I was making $20.00/hr in LTC. I have always

been blessed with working with those who valued my work and

recognized my abilities. Most all RNs I have worked with were

respectful and treated me as an equal. There are always a few

that look down and make a point of it, but very few. I do believe

the pay for all nurses needs to be re evaluated and upped. None

of us makes what we are really worth...

Hello friends, I'm a cardiovascular nurse with 11 years of experience.

After 11 years in this profession we made the choice to start traveling full time. We are very fortunate to have this opportunity. God bless to all.

Hello Rollingstone,

My husband and I were looking at fifth wheel travel trailers last night and discussing how to work out our future.

He will retire early in about five years and I should be complete with my RN/MSN by then and we where talking about me taking travel nursing jobs. This fifth wheel trailer thing and travel nursing seems great.

I have become very interested in this idea. I am still interested in community health and am not sure how travel nursing could do this yet.

Also, I was interested in Wisconsin nursing but, when I looked into the hospitals in the area, (near Baraboo) the pay didn't seem comparable to what I have heard around here, (Chicago area).

Any travel nursing information would be greatly welcomed!!

Gen

Here in the Houston, TX area....

New-Grad LVN

Hospital - 14.00/hr

Nursing Home - 17-18/hr

New-Grad RN

Hospital - 22.00/hr

Nursing Home - 18-20/hr

I'm an LVN with 8 months experience, my base right now is $18.00, with 1.75 evening diff, and 2.25 night diff, with $4.00/hr bonus pay. I'm float pool which means I don't get benefits....RN float pool is something around $30.00/hr base with 2.75 evening diff and 3.75 night diff with $5.00/hr bonus!If I was still full-time I would be $14.30 base with all same diff's and bonus. This is in a pretty large hospital on a step down CCU/cardiac floor.

I graduated LPN school in July. At the hospital where I took my first job, the salary for new grad LPNs was $11.33 an hour. Shift diff for LPNs is the same at nursing assistants- $1 an hour after 6 pm and $1.80 hourly on weekends. I left that job for LTC where my base rate is $14.45 plus $4.00 shift diff for 3-11. On weekends, the shift diff is $5.50. No wonder that all my classmates who also took jobs in the hospital have already left or are in the process of finding other jobs. RN new grads start out around $17 in the same hospital.

21.41 base pay

3 for night diff.

3 for weekend diff.