would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

Nurses General Nursing

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Just for fun lets just pretend the starting wage for an RN (regardless of education just RN) started at $11.00 hr. Would you still be a nurse? Also, what would be an acceptable starting pay for you to consider the field?. Ill start it off by saying no I would not at $11 hr (to much risk, slave wage for the type of job it is etc) and even though our starting pay around here is $27 hr for new grads I would work for about $20 hr. Be honest with you answers :)

Specializes in Hospice, Palliative Care, Oncology.

No I would not work for $ 11.00 and hour. It has less to do with the fact that I made that as a CNA 10 years ago or that I couldn't feed my family on that, then the fact that RNs are worth more then that.

We need to remember that we are educated professionals, we are a PROFESSION> and we should never tolerate being underpaid. We go to work everyday and are responsible for the lives we care for, we are the last line of defense between a transcription error and a patient being harmed. We are the doctors' eyes and ears. We are the ones that can make a difference between a patient recovering or getting worse.

$11.00 an hour? NO WAY! That is inexcusable and no RN should ever work for that.

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Yeah, true, but what KIND of employees? I know if my place decided to cut our wages, there would be an exodus of biblical proportions to the surrounding facilities. I have worked for places (when I was desperate for work) that had conditions that were so poor (the pay as well as the environment you worked in) that the only thing they could attract were those who couldn't find work elsewhere (and it didn't take me long to realize this, and leave for better digs).

A facility not too far from my own, worked hard to promote its' new cardiac floor (transplants and all things cardiac) and offered high sign-on bonuses, higher wages etc etc -people left other facilities to go there in droves. I was still in school, but had worked there part-time years before, and the place had left such a bad taste that the only thing >I

Sometimes the grass ain't greener :) and its not always worth the higher pay, if you know what I mean.

Southern California is like this. Most if not all of the hospitals can not keep nurses. Nurses do a lot of job hopping. One hospital, that I would not take a dog to, offers to pay the down payment and closing costs on a house and car. If a nurse takes this benefit he/she has just made a huge mistake, because they have to stay under contract. These hospitals do nothing to improve working conditions for nurses, and keep patients safe. They cater to doctor god. If hospitals do make improvements it must be signed off by the MD, or they threaten to leave and take their patients with them. This means the hospital loses money, and this is one big reason hospitals kiss the docs butt.

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In California hospitals pay $30 and up, this way below the standard of living for this part of the country. I moved away from California, and the cost of living is much lower, but the RN pay is the same $30 and up. Go figure-

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Specializes in Only the O.R. and proud of it!.
Is that all you make

believe it -or not- pretty good for central Il.

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Specializes in Psych, Informatics, Biostatistics.

Nope, I would have stayed in the patch.

In retrospect that might have been a good decision.

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No I would not work for $ 11.00 and hour. It has less to do with the fact that I made that as a CNA 10 years ago or that I couldn't feed my family on that, then the fact that RNs are worth more then that.

We need to remember that we are educated professionals, we are a PROFESSION> and we should never tolerate being underpaid. We go to work everyday and are responsible for the lives we care for, we are the last line of defense between a transcription error and a patient being harmed. We are the doctors' eyes and ears. We are the ones that can make a difference between a patient recovering or getting worse.

$11.00 an hour? NO WAY! That is inexcusable and no RN should ever work for that.

Mshellfinch,

I could not have said it better myself. We are a profession, yet there are those that tend to do things to undermine and degrade us as nurses and a profession. Many physicians argue that they gave up their youth to go to school and become educatated to serve the greater good and this is why they should receive the wages they get. On the other hand, people don't realize, that nurses have given up much of the same. Granted, most of us have not went on to a doctorate degree, however, look at what we do....How would a hospital operate if nurses were not there? How would physicians get the job done? $11.00 an hour is insulting!!!

Perhaps 20-30 years ago, nurses were able to work and it didn't matter what the pay was - I don't know. However, nowdays things have changed and we have way more sick patients to be responsible for than ever. The stakes are higher now than ever and I don't see it getting any better....Currently, with the pay scale on a national level and working conditions- the risks don't outweigh the benefits!!! I don't think it is worth it to risk permanent spine injury, exposure to disease, emotional & physical abuse for say 50k - 60k annually.

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How much you get paid should compensate how much you're doing, how much responsability is in your hands, and how stressful the job is. And since nurses are constantly on the move, hold a lot of responsbility, and since nursing can be a very, very stressful occupation at times, I think nurses should get paid more than they do. I think there are a lot of jobs out there that either pay too much or too less than what the people deserve.

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Specializes in Primarily Psych.

No way, you just do not go through college and nursing school to get out and make $11.00/hr. To be willing to do so, except in a crisis, would be a show of disrespect to the nursing profession. We should not lower our standards or what we are worth to the public.

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Specializes in ICU-Stepdown.

Suebe, where do you work now (state) ?

I'm in Florida (as it says on my blurb) but in another few years, plan to leave -just not really sure where. I was born and raised in this state, but don't intend to die in it. Traveled the country (well 48 states of it) while driving rigs long-haul, but never had much of an eye out for cost of living in each state. Times have changed, and so have I. The wife knows I don't want to be here for many more years and seems cool with that (was no secret before we got married).

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Hospitals kiss Drs. butts because they cannot function without doctors. This is very true. But they seem to believe that WE don't realize the other part of that truth. They (doctors OR hospitals) cannot function without US.

It always makes me suspicious when a hospital offers the moon to try to get you to come over -if conditions are so bad that they have to offer small fortunes and big promises, do I REALLY want to go there?

Knew a few nurses that got wooed by the large facility in Orlando -two of 'em were so disgusted after a couple of months that they broke their agency contracts to leave. These were seasoned nurses, so I took their hint and filed paperwork for that facility into my 'outgoing' (garbage) bin :). Never hurts to keep your eyes open, but it pays to be a little suspicious.

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I just never have understood why these facilities don't just spend a little to 'fix' the problems instead of paying a lot to try to fool others into coming in to replace the ones who got fed-up with the lies. It would seem to be better (financially) in the long run if they just worked with their existing staff.

When a staff is happy, people talk. Word of mouth travels. Others want to join. When unhappy, even the patients can tell.

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, ER.

I've never worked in any job as hard as I do in mine. I usually love it. But after getting a look at my upcoming schedule (which is worse than the last one, with almost ALL the weekends, and nope I had NO input into it!!), I'm debating if it's even worth what I do make, let alone $11 bucks an hour.

Fed up beyond belief right now. The more you do, the harder you work, the more abused you get. The slackers keep slacking and the hard workers just get more expectations heaped on them. I'm damn upset right now. Good grief just LET them ask me for a favor right now. I'll pull agency before I'll work OT for them at this point. I've HAD IT.

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Suebe, where do you work now (state) ?

I'm in Florida (as it says on my blurb) but in another few years, plan to leave -just not really sure where. I was born and raised in this state, but don't intend to die in it. Traveled the country (well 48 states of it) while driving rigs long-haul, but never had much of an eye out for cost of living in each state. Times have changed, and so have I. The wife knows I don't want to be here for many more years and seems cool with that (was no secret before we got married).

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Hospitals kiss Drs. butts because they cannot function without doctors. This is very true. But they seem to believe that WE don't realize the other part of that truth. They (doctors OR hospitals) cannot function without US.

It always makes me suspicious when a hospital offers the moon to try to get you to come over -if conditions are so bad that they have to offer small fortunes and big promises, do I REALLY want to go there?

Knew a few nurses that got wooed by the large facility in Orlando -two of 'em were so disgusted after a couple of months that they broke their agency contracts to leave. These were seasoned nurses, so I took their hint and filed paperwork for that facility into my 'outgoing' (garbage) bin :). Never hurts to keep your eyes open, but it pays to be a little suspicious.

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I just never have understood why these facilities don't just spend a little to 'fix' the problems instead of paying a lot to try to fool others into coming in to replace the ones who got fed-up with the lies. It would seem to be better (financially) in the long run if they just worked with their existing staff.

When a staff is happy, people talk. Word of mouth travels. Others want to join. When unhappy, even the patients can tell.

They don't work to "fix" the problems, because they don't want to. Admitting that they need nurses would give nurses power, and control, if we knew that they needed us. All it is, is an affirmation that they don't need us. And the truth is, they don't. Nurses are a dime a dozen, and there is always another warm body, in the form of either a new grad, or a foreign nurse who is willing to work. Or a "martyr mary", who thinks that patient care begins and ends with them. ABC Community college churns our new grads every six months. Increasing the entry into practice would reduce our numbers, and make us more marketable, and give us the power that PTs and OTs have. They reduced their numbers by increasing their educational requirements. The fewer of them that their are, the more money they ASK for. Not beg.

If there was really a nursing shortage, we would command six figure salaries.

But there is no shortage, and hence our salaries have remained flat.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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why do people work? to make money. and people go to school to make more money and to find a profession that they enjoy. nurses are responsible for a vast array of things from patient advocate, to supervisor. they work long hard hours often with no breaks. i worked in a factory and made about $12.00 an hour with no education, no real responsibility, and i was guaranteed my breaks. so to answer the question...no i would not and i highly doubt there is a nurse out there that thinks $11.00 an hour is enough for the work they do

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