$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:

i live in texas. the lpns where i work start at $11.50/her. that's right, $11.50.

as an rn, my wages are good for the area, but i negotiated my butt off for that.

i just cant believe how we are getting screwed!! i moved to wyoming from huntington beach, ca. i moved here to finish up school to become an rn. when i was in california, i was working in the emergency room making 20.50hr which isn't to bad for an lvn. (lpn) now in wyoming i cannot get a job in the er to save my life. it's like these people don't believe that i have the ability to run circles around their 4 bed er. its like they dont expect young people to have enough knowlegde to be a good nurse. i was running the wound care center then when i came back from maternity leave i went to the er. hellllo i had 5 patients at a time in the er 20 patients a day in thw wound center!!!!! i just dont think that people will ever understand how hard we nurses work!!! so i get to work in the freaking ltcc (long term care center) and my wages are 12.86 hr, and thats good in the ltcc they pay a dollar more an hour. i have nothing against working in the ltcc but while i was in school to become an rn i would have liked to keep my nursing skills fresh, if i just wanted to keep up to date on my meds i would read my palm pilot everyday. but i cant complain to much because in california we had a one bedroom apartment that we payed 1300.00 a month for. now we have a 3 bedroom house with a study for $500.00 freaking dollars a month. hahahahaha i could not believe it. i know that texas is expensive so 12.00 wont get you very far.

i can see why the pay wage is low here, but not there.

hey i guess it allright, 12.00-20.00 an hour who cares that we could contract mrsa, aids, tb, hep b, all kinds of fun stuff, a little bit of poop in your hair or piss in your eye. i think that 12.00-20.00 is plently of money sign me up!!!!!!

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Wow, $12 an hour really sucks! I hope you find a position with a hospital that pays closer to $18.

Take care.

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$12 an hour?!?!

I am in nursing school and work as a nurse's aide (not certified) and make $16.35

New RN's get $25/hr here in california, and LVN's I believe get around $18

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$12 an hour?!?!

I am in nursing school and work as a nurse's aide (not certified) and make $16.35

New RN's get $25/hr here in california, and LVN's I believe get around $18

It's about a little thing called cost of living. Places that pay LVNs $12 an hour don't have anywhere near the cost of living of CA.

I would think that $25/hr in CA is vastly underpaid, when compared to nurses paid the same or better in lower cost of living areas.

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It's about a little thing called cost of living. Places that pay LVNs $12 an hour don't have anywhere near the cost of living of CA.

I would think that $25/hr in CA is vastly underpaid, when compared to nurses paid the same or better in lower cost of living areas.

Cost of living does play a big role (since the cost of living here is outrageous!)

The $25/hr is for a new grad position (no experience)

Typical RN's with experience are around $30 now I believe

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I live in Texas. The LPNs where I work start at $11.50/her. That's right, $11.50.

As an RN, my wages are good for the area, but I negotiated my butt off for that.

I guess a lot depends on where you work. A hospital in Denton was paying LVN's about that much, but they were leaving in droves--I know because I worked agency then and they really resented the fact that we were getting paid so well (LVN's 24/hr agency). Administration finally upped base pay to $14/hr, I think. An LVN that got fired from where I work got hired at a hospital here starting out at $20/hr, unless he was lying when he told me that. But then, another nurse I work with who has 1 year experience as an LVN left here to work at a hospital in Dallas at the same rate. She started here as a new grad making $15/hr.

All I can say is hallelujah, God was smiling down on me when I got my job. :)

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it's always funny to me when we talk about hrly pays............ ihave been licensed for 8 yrs now.. when i was a new grad i started off at $15/hr plus $2.00/hr shift diff (3-11). i was contemplating moving to tn and contacted a facility that was within the corporation i was working for. when talking to the don she asked what my pay rate was currently, i told her and she laughed! seriously she laughed at me and told me i was making alot more $$$ then she was ! its all about where you live and the cost of living!:rolleyes:

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In northern Michigan LPNs make from $12.50 (DRs office) to $22 (hospital contigent with no benes)

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it's always funny to me when we talk about hrly pays............ ihave been licensed for 8 yrs now.. when i was a new grad i started off at $15/hr plus $2.00/hr shift diff (3-11). i was contemplating moving to tn and contacted a facility that was within the corporation i was working for. when talking to the don she asked what my pay rate was currently, i told her and she laughed! seriously she laughed at me and told me i was making alot more $$$ then she was ! its all about where you live and the cost of living!:rolleyes:

thats just sad for her but good for you.;)

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Beware! This thread is about 3 years old, so much of the information might very well be outdated.

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Specializes in geriatrics-LTC/clinics/med surg/psych.

:monkeydance: I currently work for a staffing agency in Texas. My pay rate is between $18-23/hr. I would'nt waste my time or energy on any position that paid less than $15/hr. Nursing homes in my area offer sign on bonuses(at least 1000+) and the pay rate starts usually at $18+/hr.

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I work In Ottumwa Iowa at a private owned Hospital and when I transitioned to the role of LPN I was in shock that base pay for LPN was 10.84 and I was "lucky" to start at 11.94 because I had worked at the hospital for a year and a half. The hospital also did away shortly after with LPN's in an active role about 2wks after I got the position. My unit is the only unit in the hospital that still has us in an active role. I later found out that our Nurse manager fought to keep us in that active role. I was given a .5 RN position because my director and nurse manager did not want me to quit and go somewhere else. The down side to that is every year the hospital does a cost of living evaluation, and now because they do not actively hire LPN's, we were not considered for a cost of living raise, and we did not get one, where as the RN's and every other employee did.

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