Nursing Salary Facts - You need to know!

tiredfeetED · Jul 26, 2004

As a profession, teachers in California are underpaid...they might have less days to work but remember just like nurses who have spent many years training..Requiring at least a BA with atleast 6more months to a year of credentials. My fiance who is finishing her credentials this year..was talking about starting pay of 34k. Well I dont know any RN i work with who makes that little a year. Majority of the RNs i work with make over 60k...and the travelers..well some make well over 100k ( no life, lots of OT)

As a whole I do believe RNs are underpaid for there skills and what we must put up with..The CT tech at our facility makes 36 / Hr to push a button... That is crap! 0 responsibility. :angryfire I could go on and on..

uk_nurse · Jul 26, 2004

newly qualified nurses here start on just over £16,000 p.a, newly qualified teachers around £18,000. As said before its recognition nurses need

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 26, 2004

I don't mean to foster a "nurses vs teachers" war because I agree with the previous poster who said we should work together with teachers to improve conditions for these both of these traditionally women's proffessions and learn from them how they have gotten public support for their causes.

My sister is 18 months older than I am and a public school teacher. So, I have been watching the comparison's between the 2 professions up close for over 25 years.

In general, teachers do not make as much cash as nurses do. However, they generally get much, much better benefits. When you read/talk about salary comparisons, you really have to look at "total compensation" rather than just take-home. For example, my sister received 100% tuition reimbursement for her Master's Degree and she multiple local programs to choose from. I had to quit my job and move to another state to go to graduate school and never worked anywhere with a large tuition reimbursement program. Also, she officiallly retired this year -- at the age of 51, with her state pension guaranteeing her 60% of the current salary every year for the rest of her adjusted annually for inlation. She will continue to work part-time by working as a substitute when it is convenient. Needless to say, I plan on working until age 62. She also never had more than a few dollars deducted from her pay checks for health insurance, etc.

However ... her "amount of cash" received as salary each year has always been less than mine even though she was a state employee and worked under a union contract and I worked in several different hospitals in different parts of the country.

We also need to remember that both teachers' compensation and nurses' compensation varies widely. Usually, teachers who work for small private schools earn a lot less than public school teachers who are state employees and/or those who are unionized. We can all play the game of "I know someone who ..." earns a surprisingly small amount or a surprisingly large amount of money because we know someone at either the high end or low end of the range. The only way you can make generalized comparisons across the board is to look at to look at the whole range, national averages, etc. And traditionally, when you do that, nurses often get more cash up front, but teachers often get more compensation over the long haul -- IF they stay employed by the same school system for many years and take advantage of all the benefits such as generous tuition reimbursement, etc. -- and that's a big if.

Finally, we nurse have to remember this: The teaching profession requires a 4-year Bachelor's Degree as an enty level and frequently requires additional courses beyond a Bachelor's for any significant pay raises and/or promotions. Nurses have yet to set their standard that high.

llg

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jul 26, 2004

When I was living in Spokane about 15 years ago, the local newspaper published an article comparing nurse's paychecks to those of grocery checkers. The checkers, which NO education, made much more!

TracyB,RN, RN · Jul 26, 2004

I don't know what the "real" salary is supposed to be... net pay?

I don't know any teachers, but my gross so far, this year, is 30,728.15. My net or "take home" is 20,494.58. Sure, I think I am getting screwed on taxes, but what can ya' do? I do have extra deductions for savings, health insurance & life insurance.

oneLoneNurse · Jul 26, 2004

after 20 years in the business most of us may be making $2.00 or $3.00 more than the GN. There do not seem to be that many places to make yourself unique to command more dollars in the market. I know Nursing Managers who are not making what their night staff are making.

nursemike, ASN, RN · Jul 26, 2004

after 20 years in the business most of us may be making $2.00 or $3.00 more than the GN. There do not seem to be that many places to make yourself unique to command more dollars in the market. I know Nursing Managers who are not making what their night staff are making.

My cousin, a 30-year nurse, complains one day that they are trying to save money by driving out all of the older nurses, then complains the next day that new grads make as much as she does. Never try to reason with a ranting nurse, btw.

(After they finish ranting is okay, but just nod and look sympathetic during the actual rant.)

It does appear that employers have decided recruitment is cheaper than retention. I don't quite know what to do about it, except that I do think we need to be smarter employees. For example, if you are going to stay in one job more than 5 years, a dollar-an-hour more pay is worth more than a $10,000 sign-on bonus. On the other hand, being willing to go somewhere else for more money is pretty good leverage for getting raises.

Probably the best way to make money is to go looking for a new sign-on every two years, and I've heard some actually do that.

I, on the other hand, am stupid. I'll probably be a nurse where I work, now, with no sign-on bonus and "competitive" pay, just because I like the area and I like the hospital. But it isn't entirely stupid to balance quality of life with pay rate. And they are helping with the cost of school...

tridil2000, MSN, RN · Jul 26, 2004

When I was living in Spokane about 15 years ago, the local newspaper published an article comparing nurse's paychecks to those of grocery checkers. The checkers, which NO education, made much more!

R U B Y!!!

it's so good to read you here! i can't believe it!

to add to this thread:

in nj, teachers have THE best benefits! after 25 years they can retire with FULL health care coverage for life :angryfire for themselves AND their spouse!

other than the hours and benefits, the wages are about the same.

tridiltrish

(ruby-1 night i had 2 mis come in. i used up all the tridil! they said..we'll just call you tridil trish. thought that was a good name for nursing boards!):rotfl:

husker-nurse, LPN, LVN · Jul 27, 2004

:kiss :kiss

Our new grads start out at $22.50. If you start out in a specialty area, once you get certified in ACLS and everything and if you work evenings and get the shift differential, it goes up to $28.50. I am a CNA and make $10.50 an hour so any pay increase once I get my license will be welcome. But if it means anything, I think you're all worth a million bucks:>)

Awwwww, Flo, you ARE an angel!!!!

Maggie Mae · Jul 27, 2004

I have worked as a public school teacher for the past 15 years. Where I live, Long Island, NY, Teachers work on a salary schedule. we all start at the same salary and each year our salary goes up, this usually reflects the cost of living, give or take a little. As you continue on to graduate school and you must to do this in NY, your salary will increase some with every 15 credits. A NY teacher must have a masters within 5 years to make their certification permanent. We can move across the salary schedule in 15 credit increments, all the way to Ph.D..

As far as nurses salaries in my area, I don't know too much about this. I do know nurses are starting much higher than teachers. From what I understand the teachers catch up pretty fast.

As far as my salary goes, I have 15 years and a masters and make close to 80,000. We are considered middle to bottom on the pay scale when compared to similar schools on Long Island. None of this is given to us freely. We have very strong unions with committed and knowledgeable leadership. Every 3 years we re-negotiate our contracts, this can be emotionally exhausting, but well worth it. We picket, we get vocal ( when we don't like what the district is purposing for the next contract) we are strongly supported by the families of the children we teach, we are united. Everything that teachers have earned in their contracts is fought for and at times we work without contracts. In my time we have never gone on strike, we don't have sick outs. The most extreme thing we ever did was dress in solid black for an entire school year to protest our anger at stalled negotiations.

As you can tell I am pro union, teachers would not be where they are today without the union. I don't work as a nurse yet, just graduated 5/04! I know the nursing profession would greatly benefit from nurses unions. Nurses deserve so much more.

oneLoneNurse · Jul 27, 2004

Maggie, why become a nurse ? You seem to be doing really well.

Maggie Mae · Jul 27, 2004

Why become a nurse??? It's nothing profound, it's something I always wanted to do. I do still like teaching, but I didn't want teaching to be the only thing that I ever did. Many people don't understand this, for me it's been a great journey. :)