$12 an hour?!

Nurses LPN/LVN

Published

I used to work at a nursing home in Food Services (supervising staff cafeteria), and I went back to visit and get my face out there again. My aunt is an LPN there, and I went upstairs to say hello to her and I overheard two ladies on the elevator talking about the "sucky" paychecks they just received and thank God for the upcoming holiday pay. I told one lady I was starting my LPN program in a matter of weeks and she gave me a sympathetic look and said "You may as well get a management position at McDonald's or spend the next year at RBI getting your medical assistant certification. You'll make more." Word for word. (BTW, RBI [Rochester Business Institute] is a business college that accepts EVERYONE and certifies ANYONE). I asked the lady if she were serious and the other lady said "Unless you get in here or at St. John's Home you will be making about $12 an hour with minimal diffs, and it's not much more here to be honest."

I am mortified. I thought for sure we made closer to $17. That additional $5 an hour could really help this family get from under the "poverty line".

Any insight? Could this be true? :nono:

Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.

[Of course one must be skilled and knowledgeable to be a tech (or to be a good one, anyway), but do you think that your skill and knowledge equals that of the RN? Do you not feel that formal education should be recognized and rewarded?

Oh goodness no. If that were not so, I wouldn't be currently pursuing my RN.

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Specializes in critical care; community health; psych.

[Of course one must be skilled and knowledgeable to be a tech (or to be a good one, anyway), but do you think that your skill and knowledge equals that of the RN? Do you not feel that formal education should be recognized and rewarded?

Oh goodness no. If that were not so, I wouldn't be currently pursuing my RN.

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RN4NICU, I agree that CNAs shouldn't make what LPNs or RNs do...however, do you think it is fair for them to get paid not much more than minimum wage? Most nursing homes might pay CNAs 50 cent more than min wage. I think McDonald's does better than that. :rolleyes:
I was puzzled by your comment until I looked at your location...FL. It all came together then. FL has great weather, but its health care system has a bad case of headupthebuttitis. Hospitals there like to say "we pay in sunshine", to which I had to say, "until I can pay my bills in sunshine, I'm going to have to go where they pay money."

Nursing homes where I am pay CNAs MUCH more than any 50 cents over min. wage. In long term care, they make about $8-9/hr. They don't make quite as much in hospitals (maybe 7.00-8.20) b/c most of them have done away with the certification requirement and started bringing in OJT candidates to be patient care assistants (or some related title, most places have their own title for it, but it used to be a CNA).

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RN4NICU, I agree that CNAs shouldn't make what LPNs or RNs do...however, do you think it is fair for them to get paid not much more than minimum wage? Most nursing homes might pay CNAs 50 cent more than min wage. I think McDonald's does better than that. :rolleyes:
I was puzzled by your comment until I looked at your location...FL. It all came together then. FL has great weather, but its health care system has a bad case of headupthebuttitis. Hospitals there like to say "we pay in sunshine", to which I had to say, "until I can pay my bills in sunshine, I'm going to have to go where they pay money."

Nursing homes where I am pay CNAs MUCH more than any 50 cents over min. wage. In long term care, they make about $8-9/hr. They don't make quite as much in hospitals (maybe 7.00-8.20) b/c most of them have done away with the certification requirement and started bringing in OJT candidates to be patient care assistants (or some related title, most places have their own title for it, but it used to be a CNA).

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Specializes in Geriatrics, DD, Peri-op.
"we pay in sunshine", to which I had to say, "until I can pay my bills in sunshine, I'm going to have to go where they pay money."
:chuckle

Yeah, it's pretty sad...that's part of the reason I went to nursing school. I loved being a CNA, but, for the work...the money just didn't cut it.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, DD, Peri-op.
"we pay in sunshine", to which I had to say, "until I can pay my bills in sunshine, I'm going to have to go where they pay money."
:chuckle

Yeah, it's pretty sad...that's part of the reason I went to nursing school. I loved being a CNA, but, for the work...the money just didn't cut it.

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I'm surprised more folks haven't been shocked by the decrease in pay that the British Columbia government imposed upon the LPNs. A 15% decrease in pay? And more hours?

Wow! I haven't been so shocked as when I discovered several years ago when the state of California had reduced the disability payments by $100 A WEEK (something which has since been rectified; but who knows with Arnie at the helm. This was like from $350/wk to $250/wk.)

In California, the RNs are unionized in what seems to me to be a quasi-professional quasi-union organization, the california nurses' assocation. I'm not sure of what pay rates in other parts of California are, but I know in the SF Bay Area, starting pay is supposed to be $60-$70K/yr. I haven't personally run into the $70K, though I do know a hospital in Monterey was at a school I was going to last spring and indicated that they started grad nurses out at $30/hr. The RN info meeting indicated RNs in Spring 2003 said something like RNs start out making $32/hr.

I will say this: I spent 20 years in Silicon Valley doing software-related work. Within the last couple of years I interviewed for a job at Paypal which paid $70K/yr--no overtime--and they made sure I understood there would be weekend work (not every weekend, but some). $70K/yr and no overtime and most likely well over 40 hrs a week? I'll take nursing, thank you. (I'm more interested in health care, anyway.)

As far as health care professionals with lots of responsibility who don't make much money: look at EMTs and Paramedics (those that work for a private ambulance company. Big city fire department EMT and paramedics can be a pretty sweet deal--though there's a lot of information about decrease in lifespan due to stress among FD and EMS personnel.)

heart, EMT, Student RN (March 2006)

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I am an LPN in BC, Canada. We USED to make about $22.00 Cnd an hour (about $16 US). The government just cut our salaries by 15%...making around $19.00 hr Cnd. (About 13.OO US) The government imposed a contract making our work week longer, and the 15% wage cut. That contract covered LPN's, CNA's, housekeepers, laundry and kitchen workers, maintenance, etc. (RN's were not in the same union). I wonder....does that mean we can do 15% less work???? I wish.:crying2:

You mention LPNs are not in the same union as the RNs. I have seen that consistantly over the past 30 years.

The problem keeps the LPNs down. The RNS are usually represented by the ANA and LPNs whatever union the other departments have. LPNS need to stand out as nurses and not as support staff!

Do not join the same union as other staff. If you are going to go union, get the LPNs together and go for your own! I know it will be difficult but it must be done or the ANA will continue it's so far very successful efforts to have us removed from nursing altogether!

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Where I work, the LPNs are started at only $10. an hr. The techs start at $7.00/hr. At the nursing home down the road, the CNAs are statred at $10.00/hr, the LPNs at $15.00, the RNs at $20.00.

LPNs who work in the local hospitals PRN, can make as much as $25. hr. That's a big range for the same geographical area.

Check http://www.salary.com

This is a good resourse to find out about salaries for a particular field or area of nursing where you live.

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Well, good news and bad news on the British Columbia LPN front. When all the dust settled, the LPN's ended up losing about 11 - 12% pay. Then, a few weeks later, we were given a 'raise' of sorts (a sort of pay equity)...We are still making less than we were in April, and working longer work weeks, but its better than the original plan. The one problem I find is that the RCA's are in some cases, are getting just 97Cents an hour LESS than an LPN. I thnk most people would agree that the difference in wages between and LPN and an RCA does not reflect the different responsibilities and scope of practices between the two jobs. There have been rumblings about being in the same union as support staff, but at the moment, nothing concrete. Personally, I agree that LPN's should be in a professional nurses union together with RN's, BSN's, RPN's, etc. Maybe that's why I am working on my RN!

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Specializes in everything BUT O.R.!!!!.

Hi...Move to CA. Salaries are much higher here. I make $23/hour as an LVN.

Thank you for all that information, and especially the salary.com link. I looked it up here in Rochester, and the average is about $17.90 an hour. The lower end is closer to $16.50 an hour. I guess I feel better, even though I really want to be a nurse, and was willing to accept $12 an hour if I had to.
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I work as an agency LPN and I make between $20 and $24 an hour depending upon what facility I chose to work at.:)

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