How did you feel when you got your first nursing paycheck?

NurseGhostHunter · Sep 16, 2013

I'm a relative new grad and I remember getting my first paycheck and thinking, "Damn...so not worth it". I get paid the average RN wage but for all the work I did it didn't seem like enough. It wasn't even as much as my last office job (a salaried job so when you divide all the hours I put in it put it more in perspective) paid.

Now I have an office nursing job making more money than I did when I was a floor nurse so it's starting to seem worth it.

Nicole3d · Sep 16, 2013

I know that I told myself that when I get my first paycheck as a nurse, I am going to blow it. My husband was on board with that. We blew it on stupid things, but it felt great. Now, I am paying of bills and put the rest of it in savings. Feels good though...

JenTheSchoolRN, BSN, RN · Sep 16, 2013

lol, I was just thinking about this the other day! I was on the subway at 6 am on my way to work when a group of nursing students from one of the local colleges got on, talking about the first day of clinical they were heading to. I smiled to myself, remembering that day, and thinking about how I was so happy to be getting paid to be up and out this early now!

And the first paycheck was special. I was only per diem and it was small, but it was money earned and that was all that mattered! I did, however, splurge on a new bag when I got my first full time nursing paycheck.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Sep 16, 2013

Broke because I bought a car with it

healthcare4life · Sep 16, 2013

On my first nursing paycheck, I went and bought pizza for the nursing staff. I remind myself that I shouldn't let money change me because I've seen it with former classmates.

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Sep 16, 2013

I'm still amazed at what I can make, even after 10 years.

NotMyProblem MSN, ASN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN · Sep 16, 2013

My first job as an RN paid $8.16/hour. I clearly remember multiplying that out and saying to my husband, "That's over sixteen thousand dollars a year! I think we're rich!"
(It was 1980)

My first LPN job paid a whopping $5.25/hr. A hundred years later after I got my first RN paycheck, I was like, "where have you been and what took you so long?"

hecallsmeDuchess · Sep 16, 2013

Disappointed, sad...

CapeCodMermaid, RN · Sep 16, 2013

My first job as an RN paid $8.16/hour. I clearly remember multiplying that out and saying to my husband, "That's over sixteen thousand dollars a year! I think we're rich!"
(It was 1980)

In 1982 my first hourly wage was $8.00 an hour at the best paying nursing home on the Cape. When I started working at the hospital a few months later, I was making $10.78...I thought I had it made.

I won't say how much I make now but considering what I'm responsible for, I think it's a fair wage.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 16, 2013

I have a feeling that I will be disappointed. New grads only start at 24/hr. But with crazy overtime, I've pull 1400 checks as a tech.

twinmommy+2, ADN, BSN, MSN · Sep 17, 2013

Happy, it was more than double what I was making at my job before nursing school. When I look at what others are making and the degrees they hold, I'm satisfied. Still going for more education, but satisfied (most days, yesterday I would have said differently lol)

on eagles wings, ASN, RN · Sep 17, 2013

I have a feeling that I will be disappointed. New grads only start at 24/hr. But with crazy overtime, I've pull 1400 checks as a tech.

as a new grad they had me on $20/hr, lol. i was happy because as a UC/tech i was hardly making enough to pay gas. but seeing what other new rns are making elsewhere in my city i am feeling pretty cheated!