How much do new nurses working in psych make?

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  1. How much do new nurses working in psych make?

    • 2
      $26/hr
    • 0
      $27/hr
    • 1
      $28/hr
    • 4
      $29/hr
    • 2
      $30/hr

9 members have participated

Less than one year of experience, how much do new nurses working in psych specialty make? Does it depend on the type of place you work or whether you work in a hospital? If anyone can help me get a baseline that would be so appreciated. Thank you!

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

It is dependent on geography. No one can accurately answer your questions here.

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Washington state

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

Rural? Urban?

You could just call facilities and ask for the range.

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Specializes in mental health / psychiatic nursing.

It depends a lot on where specifically you live. In my area a new grad psych RN will make roughly the same as what a new grad makes in any specialty with in-patient settings paying slightly more and out-patient paying slightly less. Do a bit of digging, some places will list pay range in their job postings, hospitals may have a nursing union contract (typically found online) which lists pay by experience. It should give you a ball-park for pay in your region.

In WA you can get pay ranges for both Western State and Eastern State hospitals online as they are public institutions and have to have ranges publicly listed. So that should be a place to start.

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Specializes in Psych/Mental Health.

Northeast city. Early 2017 when I got offers the rates ranged $29-$32 per hour (new grad).

Search for a thread on here about salary survey. You might find more info there.

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I started last august and make 27/hr on a pediatric inpatient unit. The state run facility in the same city starts at 30/hr. So clearly even within the same city there is variation.

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Specializes in psych.

I have heard that private facilities pay more, but the benefits aren't very good. These jobs are in Texas in the same area. My first RN job was in 2016.

Psych RN new grad residency offer 24hr - Large local hospital system. Good benefits and shift diff.

1st job 31hr - private facility. benefits not great and no shift diff.

2nd job 27.50hr - did not negotiate. okay shift diff. better benefits. Hospital is part of a large hospital system

3rd job 30hr - not willing to pay more since I did not have a year of exp. Good benefits and shift diff. Large teaching hospital.

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The hospital I work at pays all nurses the same regardless of department. They do not pay for a speciality which my friend who works at a different hospital makes $5 more than other nurses there cause she has a speciality. I am a CARN (certified addictions RN) but it is rarely recognized. I question why I even keep it current as it costs me $200 a year.

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It is a very complicated question. My hourly base rate of pay is (relatively) very low as a new grad RN working for a large corporation. However, my contract includes Baylor pay so I work 24 hours per week and I get paid for 35 hours.

If my hourly rate is $25/hr x 24 hours = $600/week --- I am paid for 35 hours x $25 = $875/week --- So $875/24 hours means I am paid $36.46 per hour.

Clear as mud, right?

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Eastern Washington area. Private not-for-profit hosptial that is unionized. The hospital that I work at does not pay differently for specialties, all RN positions are the same rate of pay based on years of experience. Base pay for new grads is around $31.00/hr with $4 night shift differential and additional $3 for weekend shifts. My current rate of pay for 2 years experience is $33.50/hr base pay plus $4 for night shift and additional $3 for weekends. Benefits are good, I only pay $27 bi-weekly for health insurance for a family of three. Lots of paid vacations, accrued vaction time and sick time.

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Like everyone else has said, depends on the area and company. For me at least (southern CA), the first job I got was an OP psych at a non-profit. Worked there for a couple months and then got hired on at a hospital for approx $44/hr with benefits. The hospital job pays almost 50% more than the OP job. There are some hospitals in my area that pay a lot less and some that pay a little more. I was hired to both with less 1 year experience. All depends

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