How much money do some nurese make?

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Is it true that nurses that work in a speciality make more then a med-surg nurse? And about how much does a doctor office (or surgy center) rn's make? I never really considered doing that but if floor nursing does not work out for me ,I need another option. :uhoh3:

Thanks for any advice.

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Specializes in Ortho/Neuro.
Is it true that nurses that work in a speciality make more then a med-surg nurse? And about how much does a doctor office (or surgy center) rn's make? I never really considered doing that but if floor nursing does not work out for me ,I need another option. :uhoh3:

Thanks for any advice.

In my hospital, it doesn't matter if you work in Rehab or the ICU you still make the same amount. We start at around $18.75 base pay. The doctor office RN's in my health system only start at around $15.50/hr.

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Specializes in Trauma/ED.

We also make the same as the other RN's in the hospital (except clinic is a little less). Most of us think this is ridiculous because we have to have all the advanced training and keep our certs up (TNCC, ACLS, PALS, ENPC) which takes a lot of time and effort, not to mention the added stress of an ED or ICU atmosphere (I worked med/surg also so I understand that can be stressful too). Our base is $26/hr for all RN's in the acute care setting.

When I work agency the specialties do make more, usually $5-8/hr more (this includes tele d/t requirement for ACLS).

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Specializes in Critical care/ER, SRNA.

When I first started nursing about 10 years ago it was more common to see critical care and er nurses make more money than the med surg nurses. Over the years I have seen more and more hospitals do away with it because it demoralizes nurses not in the specialty nursing areas.

Dr's offices no matter where you go usually pay significantly less than hospitals. This is usually because you gain the perks of no weekends, no holidays, no nights, and those types of things. You just have to decide if the trade off is worth it.

I worked in a cardiology office for about a year and loved it. It was so different from being at the bedside. It was totally worth the cut in pay! I left because we moved away and I decided I wanted to go to CRNA school. So, back to the ICU I went!

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I have worked in 2 different hospitals in 2 different health systems, and specialty nurses and ICU nurses do NOT make more money than others.

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Specializes in ER, HH, Case Management.

Should specialty areas make more than regular med-surg?

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Where I work critical care nurses get a 5% differential when moving from med-surg to critical care. They also have to take 9 credit hours of critical care courses. Long term nurses like myself are maxed out and wouldn't get that raise if I moved.

In this town, I've only heard, but have no figures that office jobs make much less than hospital nurses. For many people it's worth it to work those hours and have nights, weekends and all holidays off. Plus they get to turn the phone off at lunch time.

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
Should specialty areas make more than regular med-surg?

There are any number of threads on this topic and they can get divisive.

Slowly the argument about advanced certs/training is becoming moot. When you figure that many M/S nurses are increasingly having to handle things that were once ICU/tele functions, start critical care drips on the floor and maintain the patient for extended periods of time until an ICU bed is ready, be telemetry knowledgeable and do it, without the added support of extra staff and more appropriate monitoring equipment, many are choosing to go ICU because at least they adequate support there.

As an oncology nurse, I keep up my chemo card, oncology certification. I am often required to leave my allotment of 4-8 patients to go to the ICU/ER to manage ports and unfamiliar lines. I may have to run there or to L&D to monitor/give chemo and educate them on issues to follow up on, or to do the followup myself. I have electrolyte protocols and handle my patients electrolyte repletions. I may have patients on bipap, because the MD is trying not to send them to the unit. I will be running and titrating double pressors on my high dose IL-2 patients, checking the BID EKGs on the orificenic trioxide patient. And we do cardizem and dopa on the floor these days.

And then listen to the ICU nurse that comes to start a hard stick, about how inconvenient that it is.

I have people on nitro drip for 4 hours waiting for a unit bed. And not one bit of extra staff sent to manage. And admissions sent to the floor during it, plus that nurse get an admission less than an hour after finally moving the nitro patient.

All this despite having lousy ratios.

Part of the payoff of worling ICU is generally having a better ratio. That is why many MS nurses move there.

Is ICU stressful - yes. But it has its own payoff. If one does not care for the payrate then there are plenty of MS positions available, since they are so "less stressful".

All the debate of why this nurse or that nurse should make more just serves to divide them against each other. Would that we recognize that ALL nurses are specialty nurses, respect them how effective that they are in using those specialty skills and unite for better pay based on those skills.

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Specializes in Geriatrics.

I live in central NC and have been in geriatrics for all of my 14 years as an RN. I am currently the Director of Nursing for a 90 bed facility with 30 Assisted Living beds. The starting rate for an LPN Charge Nurse is about 17.50-18.50/hr. An RN would start at 20-22/hr. This is a base rate. We also offer 2-3.00/hr shift premiums. As the Director of Nursing in my 7th year I earn 70,000/year. Long term care is very competitive and in some cases higher for entry level (new grad) salaries. Local doctors offices typically pay less.

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When I first started nursing about 10 years ago it was more common to see critical care and er nurses make more money than the med surg nurses. Over the years I have seen more and more hospitals do away with it because it demoralizes nurses not in the specialty nursing areas.

Dr's offices no matter where you go usually pay significantly less than hospitals. This is usually because you gain the perks of no weekends, no holidays, no nights, and those types of things. You just have to decide if the trade off is worth it.

I worked in a cardiology office for about a year and loved it. It was so different from being at the bedside. It was totally worth the cut in pay! I left because we moved away and I decided I wanted to go to CRNA school. So, back to the ICU I went!

I never understood why, when a nurse who has attained a specialty certifiction, mostly at his/her own expense, to earn and maintain, yearly, should have to jump through hoops to be reconized for it.

Why should hospital administration allow Med surg nurses, or any other nurse, who has not gone through the same trouble, stress, and expense, have their ego stroked by administration, by allowing them to earn the same pay as those who have achieved more. Doctors who achieve specialty certifications charge more for their services than GPs. But they control their practice, unlike nurses, and can charge what they want. And by the way, nurses who hold specialty certifiactions, legally, are held to a higher atandard of care, than nurses who do not possess these specialty ceritfications.

and ICU nurses pay higher malpractice premiums that med surg nurses, if they choose to cover themselves with a policy. But we cannot charge a higher pay for the added risk to our license, like doctors do.

Another reason that nurses, especially specialty nurses, should charge for their professional services. That goes for college degrees, as well. There is no incentive in nursing to improve ones self. We are all treated like interchangeable widgets, not only by the hospitals, but by our own peers, who need to validate their self worth and self importance by making sure that no one else gets anything that they don't have themselves. Evne if they don't deserve it. And as I have stated previously, that is exactly what the hospitals want.

Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRN

Spokane, Washington

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.
In my hospital it doesn't matter if you work in Rehab or the ICU you still make the same amount. We start at around $18.75 base pay. The doctor office RN's in my health system only start at around $15.50/hr.[/quote']

WOW it just floors me the differences in pay across the states! In my state, LPNs are making $18-21/hr. RNs usually start at $25/hr. LTC facilities pay more than most places around here except those who work for the state government.

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Is it true that nurses that work in a speciality make more then a med-surg nurse? And about how much does a doctor office (or surgy center) rn's make? I never really considered doing that but if floor nursing does not work out for me ,I need another option. :uhoh3:

Thanks for any advice.

Some nurses who are young and unencumbered and free to burn the candle at both ends can probably work for travel agencies and make 80k+ a year, but people like me are basically just treading water. In fact, with my family I could probably qualify to live in the housing projects.

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