Hospital Pay vs. Private Office Pay??

ERNurse752, RN · May 8, 2002

I'm not from your area, but from what I've seen, office nurses are paid less than hospital nurses.

I work in the hospital, and have been a nurse less than a year.

My mom has been a nurse for about 7 years, and works in an office now.

I make more money than she does, if that tells you anything!

Huganurse · May 8, 2002

I took a 40% pay cut moving from the hospital to clinic work. Some nurses do well working for Docs who also do very well. I'd say it depends on who you are working for rather than office vs hospital setting in some cases but hospitals typically pay better than other settings. Many times the pay is more due to shift and w/e difs which are not available in places that are only open M-F and have no shifts.

catlady, BSN, RN · May 9, 2002

Huh? What hospital in Connecticut is paying its staff nurses $30-40 an hour? Not any place I've ever worked.

MELIS0106 · May 10, 2002

Yale New Haven Hospital is paying a new per diem rate of $41 hour for nights/weekends/holidays

boobaby42 · May 11, 2002

I agree that the pvt. office pay is less to begin with. It also depends on the individual doctor. With managed care, the salaries have suffered for the office staff. The physicians, however, will never settle for a cut in THEIR income because of managed care or anything else. You see more patients to bring in more money. You are assigned more duties, but receive less income in comparison.

Also, as somebody already indicated, the cut in pay is directly effected by the hours you work for the private physician. ( or clinic).

Another point to bring up is benefits. A lot of pvt offices have little or no benefits, except maybe discounted medical tx for the staff by the docs. During the time I worked for a pediatrician, my son received free office visits, free vaccines, and sometimes free medication samples. Unfortnately for my son, however, the doc always made him wait until the very end and he demanded that I continue working until it was my child's turn. There he would be, drooping, febrile, and on the verge of collapsing while I ran up and down the halls, assisting the great healer. Now, my child is 16 and in the care of a wonderful doctor somewhere else. The last time he saw my former employer and his former physician, my son got real upset because he couldn't figure out why doc didn't like him. "Why is he so mad at me Mom," he said. He never went back.

Sorry I've gone on and on. I can't get over the hurt I felt for my son. Or myself.

fiestynurse · May 11, 2002

Nurses that work in outpatient clinics are generally paid less than in the hospital, mainly because the hours are better. (Monday through Friday, days, no holidays or weekends) However, I have seen the pay improving quite a bit over the last 5 years or so. With shortened hospital stays and so many procedures now being done on an outpatient basis, nurses are needed for their education and license. (not just to room patients) The clinics discovered that it was not possible to provide adequate care with just physicians and medical assistants. Also, many larger clinics are being accredited now and are required to have so many licensed nurses on staff.

The large non-profit clinic in my area is starting nurses at $24/hr. This includes a hire-on bonus and great benefits. They currently have ten RN positions open.

goldawgz · May 12, 2002

Hmmmmmmmm-----I'm an RN in an IM doc's office (only a 1 doc practice), have been with him 6 years , and make $20/hr. for a 35 hr. Monday thru Thursday work week--I can't beat the every friday off and knowing all of my patients so well is a plus---but I'm the only nurse, and have to rely on a 66 yr. old RV-ing retiree for my back up if i want to take any vacation time, and there are pros for every con-----I would never go back to hospital nursing --even for $30-$40 / hr!!! Gold