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Discussion

How much do Psych nurses get paid?

I live in Wisconsin and I just was offered a position at a behavior health center as a PCA. I graduate nursing school in December and want to pursue my career in mental health. My question is that if I were to stay in behavioral health, what is the approximate starting pay for those who live in Wisconsin as a graduate nurse? We plan on moving in two years and I want to get as much experience as I can. Any comments would be helpful.

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    • Featured Replies

    You can find a lot of this kind of info on Websites: Glassdoor, Indeed, Payscale. Google them, since I can't type the links here. Its hard to say how much they get paid in "Wisconsin" because there are so many variables involved in what an employer pays: Location, University affiliation, Rural/Urban, Census, etc. Those websites often have examples from specific hospitals/agencies/employers that say what the pay scales are for each location.

    Hope this helps.

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    It usually carries the same pay and benefits as any other nurse specialty.

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    Whatever it is, it's not enough.

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    It usually carries the same pay and benefits as any other nurse specialty.

    I guess that depends on where you live. Where I am... despite Psychiatric Nurses being the ONLY unionized group, they make significantly less than their med-surg cohorts. A nurse on the IV team has a higher pay scale than an Assistant Unit Manager in Psych where we are. Its totally bonkers.

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    Here, they make more than other specialities. Starting salary for a new grad is $30/hr +, versus $22-26/hr you can expect starting out in med-surg.

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    • Expert

    There's a lot of factors: location, type of facility, type of position, your experience, any extra skills/certifications/degrees/etc. that you have, whether it's union, etc.

    Depending on what facility I'm working at, my pay ranges from $30-50/hr. Where I put the most hours in at pays $46/hr, plus a differential for both my BSN and my ANCC certification on top of that. Yes, it's California and union, and the pay scales are based on years' experience and job type--the specialty itself doesn't matter.

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