Highest Paid Nurses in B.C....how is this possible?

[teeheeuhoh]

Recently I discovered that the Vancouver Sun publishes the names, employers, and titles of all the employees working in public sectors being paid over 75,000 a year.

I was shocked to see that the top earning nurses are making upwards of 180000 a year! How is that possible considering the maximum hourly wage for nurses in B.C. (as far as I know) is 40.42? If you do a calculation, 40.42 an hour, 40 hours a week, 52 weeks a year should only be 82,000. Even with time and a half (or double pay) during holidays, maximum should not be more than double that number?

Also, I thought maybe these RNs are in supervisory positions or teaching positions but the positions listed does not seem to indicate that?

Here's some data taken from Vancouver Sun

Public Sector Salaries - Vancouver Sun

I haven't started a nursing career yet, so forgive me if I ask silly questions. First thing is what is the difference between nurse direct patient care and registered nurse?

Secondly, the 2 RNs on here, how can they rack up that many hours to end up with the salary they are getting? Are they working a lot of overtime hours? (aren't there laws preventing that?)

[zolly786]

i made just over 90 last year in bc. i'm full time, DC1, step 9. rarely work OT, and am in charge a fair bit. i work with some floor nurses who have made in the 150s. to work that much isn't safe to me. but i have two small kids and like hanging out with my husband, so i guess it's perspective.

[lemur00, BSN, RN]

Actually Saskatchewan usually stays roughly on par with Alberta (intentionally to retain our own grads). I made 35.15/hr in my first year of nursing, including the tiny dispensation for my degree.

There was a big deal made in the news here a few years back when a nurse in LTC made 250k--as mentioned, this was also mostly due to long service, OT and premiums. Because LTC tends to be hard to cover, there is always a lot of OT.

AB nurses are actually the highest paid in Canada, with BC a close second. In my first year of nursing, I made 85,000 (AB). That was full time. This year I work less than full time (85 percent FTE), and I'll make around 89,000. That's at the second rung of the pay scale. So as Jan says, 180,000 is feasible.

[Novo]

Alberta is posting a new sunshine list with healthcare staff making over 100k, should be interesting to see how many nurses top that.

[dlaurel]

It is very possible to make k200/yr in Toronto as an RN working full time,OT and with agencies. Some agencies in Toronto pay as much as $50-60/hr. Plus why are some people surprised. Follow the link below and see a QC nurse who made k315 in 2012.

Nurse earns over $315,000 by working overtime | Canada | News | Toronto Sun