Future RN

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So I will be graduating in June and I wanted to know what the salary of a first year Nursery or PICU nurse is like. I have looked all over the internet for information on the topic and can never find any that really applies to me as a first year nurse. I know it varies by location but i'm just searching for averages. And I would also like to know what the workload is like, from some of the postings i have read today it seems like people hate their jobs? did i make the wrong decsion?

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I will start taking my Nursing prerequisites next month i already have a Bachelor degree in Business; i wish that i had chosen nursing in the first place because i need a recession Proof career. As far as the nursing salary this is what i got but this is since 2006, they probably pay more now. Maybe someone else could come up with something more recent because every site has different results.

RN Median Hourly Rate by State (2006)

  • California: $31.88

  • Florida: $23.26

  • Georgia: $23.83

  • Illinois: $25.00

  • Pennsylvania: $25.00

  • Tennessee: $22.25

  • Texas: $25.00

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Specializes in ICU/CCU.

I live in the SF Bay Area (Northern CA). If you can find a job here, the starting pay for new grads is a little over $40/hr (plus differentials for NOC and EVE) in whatever department you work.

FYI, I think I read somewhere (here?) recently that NICU nurses have some of the highest job satisfaction ratings of any type of nurse. I think that ICU nurses (what I am) had much lower levels of satisfaction, but I don't think we're all that miserable on my unit. ;)

Good luck in your job hunt!

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I have also heard that there may be a new grad hiring freeze in south florida? Is the case any better in northern florida? Tampa/Clearwater Area? or maybe even Tallahassee?

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Specializes in PACU, Surgery, Acute Medicine.

RN Median Hourly Rate by State (2006)

  • California: $31.88

  • Florida: $23.26

  • Georgia: $23.83

  • Illinois: $25.00

  • Pennsylvania: $25.00

  • Tennessee: $22.25

  • Texas: $25.00

Texas is a big state, but $25/hour is higher than what new grads are starting at in Austin. I've heard they pay more in Houston, but there are about a bazillion nursing schools (and therefore new grads) in Houston, too. Unfortunately, as you can see there really isn't any "average" new nurse starting salary. It really is quite dependent on where you are geographically. The pay can be twice as much in one place as another, but so can the cost of living. Your best best would be to go to the section of this site for your state (under the "Region" tab at the top of the page) and search for a relatively recent salary survey that will be specific to where you live. They tend to pop up every few weeks...Specialty areas pay a little more (maybe $1/hour more in Texas), but those jobs have become very scarce for new nurses recently. Still some available, but in this economy, most new nurses are starting off in med-surg.

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Work in Austin. Starting base pay $22, shift differentials add another $2-4 per hour.

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