Hourly rate for RN in LTC Bay Area

vintagemother, BSN, CNA, LVN, RN · Aug 23, 2012

My 2 cents: I'm in the capital area not too far from you. One place I recently applied to told me that they pay their RNs 29 / hr! This seemed low but it was straight from DONs mouth.In my area, from what I've seen, the RN in an LTC is a necessary person due to state regs. I think having a BSN in LTC is overkill, don't expect to be paid more because you have it. Im going after my BSN too and may have to work in LTC. I'm mentally preparing myself to accept a lower pay rate thAn I'd get in an acute hospital position.

Shane505 · Aug 23, 2012

Yeah I know what you mean about working in LTC as a reality with a BSN. I gave up on new grad programs at hospitals this year. There just aren't enough positions. I applied at the UC davis residency for the fall and the nurse recruiter told me there were 700 applicants and 200 applications were fowarded. Only 10 positions were open.

Yeah I thought that $35/hr might be high. I met a RN that works in a SNF in the bay area and he said they started him at $35/hr but that was in 2007 before the economy tanked. I know some RNs in the bay area that started at $26/$27 at a SNF. I thought that was low because I thought LVNs make $25 in the bay area. At least one LVN told me that's what he made at a facility in Danville.

loveanurse777 · Aug 25, 2012

I started as a new grad in a snf three years ago at $32/hr. Now they are starting nurses at $33.50. I ended my time there making $35/hr. It was considered one of the higher paying snfs

Shane505 · Aug 26, 2012

I started as a new grad in a snf three years ago at $32/hr. Now they are starting nurses at $33.50. I ended my time there making $35/hr. It was considered one of the higher paying snfs

I guess it depends on the facility. So I didn't get to interview. I only had two days notice of the interview! What employer would give someone only two days notice for an interview?! And not let them reschedule?

So I couldn't make the interview because I couldn't get out of work because it was such short notice. So I called the assistant DON who was to interview me. Apparently she grabbed my application before I was transfered to her because after I introduced myself and told her why I called, before I could get in another word she scoffed at me and said, "You're asking for $35/hr! We don't even pay that much here! That's supervisor pay!" Then she gives a little laugh like I'm a crazy new grad. I told her the pay is negotiable. Then she says she is looking for someone with experience because she wants to give only two days training because it is an on-call position. There were 10 of us to be interviewed that day for one on-call position. And she said since I couldn't make it she was only going to interview 9. I didn't get the hint and still asked if we could reschedule the interview. There was awkward silence then she said if she doesn't hire somone from those 9 interviewees, she would give me a call if needed. Cold blooded lol. It's still an employer's market even at SNF/LTC :uhoh3:

I'm not dissappointed at all because I didn't want to work there in the first place lol. My mom forced me to apply there because she was tired of me only applying to hospitals and not getting a response. I know you're always supposed to leave the "salary desired" portion of the application blank and only negotiate your pay AFTER you get an offer. I high balled my asking rate intentionally because I didn't want them to even consider me. So I was really surprised they called me for an interveiw 6 months later lol. I'm just bummed I didn't get to interview so I could practice my interview skills :sniff: