Depressed over salary

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Just how much are they offering you? I see a lot of posts about how bad the pay is, but I actually think it's pretty decent, especially for an AS degree. Please don't knock me down for this, but I guess it's what you're accustomed to. In my area, RN's have a better starting pay than 3 year veteran probation officers! :eek:

Specializes in telemetry, cardiac stepdown.
Originally posted by MSnurse:

I have left nursing. I've been in my current job for 2 years, and I get regular 5% raises (I love my boss :) ), and a flexible working schedule thats works with me, I don't have to work around it. I have a career, but I never intended it to run my life, so I changed to a job that pays as much (and more) but doesn't change my lifestyle. I got lucky.

Do you mind if I ask what field you went into? I have not worked as an RN in over a year now, and am not sure I want to consider going back.

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Specializes in telemetry, cardiac stepdown.
Originally posted by MSnurse:

I have left nursing. I've been in my current job for 2 years, and I get regular 5% raises (I love my boss :) ), and a flexible working schedule thats works with me, I don't have to work around it. I have a career, but I never intended it to run my life, so I changed to a job that pays as much (and more) but doesn't change my lifestyle. I got lucky.

Do you mind if I ask what field you went into? I have not worked as an RN in over a year now, and am not sure I want to consider going back.

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Yeah, I agree. I am pretty tired of being a nurse. I would not trade the knowledge and experience that I have for anything......but when I see everyone else enjoying a less stressful job with more $$$$...I start to think --what else is out there for me. I am not opposed to getting a Master's degree...I just want to make sure that it will be worth my time and money.

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Yeah, I agree. I am pretty tired of being a nurse. I would not trade the knowledge and experience that I have for anything......but when I see everyone else enjoying a less stressful job with more $$$$...I start to think --what else is out there for me. I am not opposed to getting a Master's degree...I just want to make sure that it will be worth my time and money.

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I am fairly new here, but I can see everyone is upset (for the most part) about salaries. If you want more money why don't you back and get your masters in CRNA or NP?

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I am fairly new here, but I can see everyone is upset (for the most part) about salaries. If you want more money why don't you back and get your masters in CRNA or NP?

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Specializes in NICU, Informatics.

Buffett: some nurses don't want a CRNA or an NP, they want to stay at the bedside, but that's not the point. The point is nurses aren't offered a decent salary across the board. At least not for the conditions in which we are working now.

Anyways, when I gradated, I did really well, well for Northern NJ anyways. I started at $20.40, went up to $21.50 with when I passed boards, with an evening shift diff I went to $22.45 (Something very close to that). At 6 months I went up to $23.00

Sad thing: nurses with 5, 10 years experience only made a few bucks more than I did, and within a few years I would be making the same as them, because I started on a different pay scale then them. I still can't figure out how the hospital did that one.

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Specializes in NICU, Informatics.

Buffett: some nurses don't want a CRNA or an NP, they want to stay at the bedside, but that's not the point. The point is nurses aren't offered a decent salary across the board. At least not for the conditions in which we are working now.

Anyways, when I gradated, I did really well, well for Northern NJ anyways. I started at $20.40, went up to $21.50 with when I passed boards, with an evening shift diff I went to $22.45 (Something very close to that). At 6 months I went up to $23.00

Sad thing: nurses with 5, 10 years experience only made a few bucks more than I did, and within a few years I would be making the same as them, because I started on a different pay scale then them. I still can't figure out how the hospital did that one.

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To TRN--if you think your starting wage is bad, wait till you have been working 10 to 15 years, and you are making about 6% more than you did at the start. Thats one of the big problems with nursing--salary-wise, there is no place to go. Your friends who graduate with 2 or 4 year degrees in other fields will have much better long-term earnings--even the probation officers and teachers!

And as for respect--you will get that by earning it. And if you do your job, and keep learning, and keep caring, you will be respected, at least by your peers. And afterall, who else matters?

BTW--didn't you realize all this before you started school? You sound so shocked about working nites, your pay, etc. Could it be you had a sort of romanticized view of nursing? I hope not--

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To TRN--if you think your starting wage is bad, wait till you have been working 10 to 15 years, and you are making about 6% more than you did at the start. Thats one of the big problems with nursing--salary-wise, there is no place to go. Your friends who graduate with 2 or 4 year degrees in other fields will have much better long-term earnings--even the probation officers and teachers!

And as for respect--you will get that by earning it. And if you do your job, and keep learning, and keep caring, you will be respected, at least by your peers. And afterall, who else matters?

BTW--didn't you realize all this before you started school? You sound so shocked about working nites, your pay, etc. Could it be you had a sort of romanticized view of nursing? I hope not--

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Specializes in Critical Care, Emergency, Education, Informatics.

Didn't any of these people who are "already want to get out of nursing" do any homework before going into nursing school. If they are just now finding out the wages then shame on them. Like any career you need to do homework before you get in to it.

And if you were to do your homework, you'd find that if $$$ are all your looking for, there are ways to get it in nursing. BUt like anywhere you might have to put in your time and be willing to

1. Move/relocate

2. Think outside the box

3. Be agressive in pursing the job you want

4. Don't be afraid to ask for more money.

5. Don't forget to look at the cost of living

I just accepted a job that pays a whopping 17.25/hr after making $46/hr for the past year. However I also just bought a 2500sq/ft house for $45k and 216 acres for another $40k. I paid cash with money saved while making the $80+K/yr for the past 18 months. I"m happy as a clam. My only concern now is boredom. It's a small 16 bed rural hosp, were the nurses do everything. ER, Med-Surg, outpt surg and even community health.

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I made $18,000 as a new grad. I thought that was a lot better than the $10,000 I could get as a secretary.

I'm a first-line manager now, 16 years as an RN, and I'm making in the mid-50s. I'm also in a high COL area, but I can make my mortgage and my car payment and we still get to eat out once a week. Not bad for a single mom with no child support. At least I am hourly and I can get OT if I need to. If I went back to agency full-time, I could gross $80,000+ per year. Agency was the key for getting me out of the huge debt I had from my days as a hospital staff nurse.

It bothers me when I see what other people earn with less education, less experience, and less stress, so I try not to think about it. But if I were in my 20s instead of my 40s, I'd probably look at one of those other career paths.

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