How much do YOU think nurses are worth?

Nurses General Nursing

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Personally, I think nurses are grossly underpaid. I am 10 years in and I think I should be earning a bare minimum of $150k/yr. I hear what my friends/relatives are making, who have degrees in business, human resources, communications, marketing, PR, etc. (I'm in NYC) and they make so much more than me. Additionally, they have cushy schedules which allow them a better work/life balance, and they generally talk favorably about their jobs and report manageable stress levels at work.

Are you satisfied with your pay? What do you think nurses are "worth" (in regards to salary)?

Any nurse that brings her personal gripes and hangups to work and makes a toxic atmosphere for coworkers, lets her feeling adversely affect how she treats patients, has a closed mind and looks down upon patients and doesn't respect them properly as individuals, and lies--or any of the above? 5 cents . The nurse who is opposite of that--the one who does her job, minds her business, has boundaries and provides a comfortable atmosphere where you feel good about yourself and feel as little pain as possible? A million bucks.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Personally, I think nurses are grossly underpaid. I am 10 years in and I think I should be earning a bare minimum of $150k/yr. I hear what my friends/relatives are making, who have degrees in business, human resources, communications, marketing, PR, etc. (I'm in NYC) and they make so much more than me. Additionally, they have cushy schedules which allow them a better work/life balance, and they generally talk favorably about their jobs and report manageable stress levels at work.

Are you satisfied with your pay? What do you think nurses are "worth" (in regards to salary)?

I'm satisfied with my $50/hour. I also love my job. I would be bored out of my mind with a job in business, human resources, communications, PR, etc. The "cushy schedule" I had when I taught CNA classes drove me out of my mind -- I couldn't WAIT to get back to my 3-12s a week where I could "stack" my shifts and take time off. I hated being off only on the weekends when every Tom, Dick and Harry was trying to eat in the same restaurants, go to the movies or shop in the same mall. And I manage the stress in my job just fine. I'm not one of those bankers or salesmen who is drinking and taking pain pills to deal with the stress of the job.

If you're unhappy with your job or your pay, do something different. But don't assume it's because of nursing -- some of us are quite happy with our jobs, our pay, our flexible scheduling and our manageable stress levels.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
So im reading some of these answers and some people are saying 150,000$? ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY THOUSAND? Are you out of your mind? If some of you think nurses should make that much, then how much should doctors make? 1 million? Sure, nurses do a lot for their patients, but lets not get ahead of ourselves. Nurses are just an extra set of eyes. I think that much pay is overkill for just being a registered nurse.

I mean, I guess you could say that everybody is just an extra set of eyes, then. Shrug.

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Just hoping someone would help me here :)

I am a new graduate (passed my nclex RN December,2016) with 2 years experience working in india. I worked in hospitals in med-surg, MICU, Neuro stepdown.

I am a graduate of Manipal university with Bachelors degree in nursing.

it would be a great help if someone could help me get in contact with a nurse director/manager or recruiters.

thank you

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
Just hoping someone would help me here :)

I am a new graduate (passed my nclex RN December,2016) with 2 years experience working in india. I worked in hospitals in med-surg, MICU, Neuro stepdown.

I am a graduate of Manipal university with Bachelors degree in nursing.

it would be a great help if someone could help me get in contact with a nurse director/manager or recruiters.

thank you

Congrats on passing. Why dont you try making a separate post in the new grad forum, or checking the careers tab? You could even do a google search for hospitals near you and look at their job postings. Good luck.

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Specializes in Float Pool - A Little Bit of Everything.

Nurses are definitely grossly underpaid and overworked. I think that nurses saying we shouldn't be paid more for x,y, and z reasons.... well that just shows how effective administrators are at brainwashing the masses.

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Imagine what it's like for us nurses in the uk who earn maybe 25k a year ! And our shortages are so bad a lot of the time it's one nurse looking after 12-15 patients with absolutely no help. We're the definition of overworked and underpaid.

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Where do you live? What type of nursing do you do? I made 90k last year in southwest MO as a CVICU staff nurse on nights, we have a relatively low cost of living, I've been a nurse for 15yr and I worked 90hrs every 2 wks. My hubby 20yr nurse manager made over 100k. We live very comfortable and make way more than the median in this area. That said...A friend whose staff nurse in San Francisco with less experience makes more than my husband does but he also pays $1500mo/rent for a 1bd townhouse...Our 5000+ sqft 6bd home has the same house pmt. It's all relative to cost of living and where you live. We live in a rural area & there are not many jobs around us that pay like nursing does. That said, do we make as much as I THINK were worth, no but I'm comfortable and not doing this job for money. If you get into nursing for money, you're doing it for the wrong reasons.

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"just being a registered nurse"...YOU must not be a nurse. And suggesting we are only an extra set of eyes is ludicrous. I work CVICU, pts fresh out of bypass surgery with balloon pumps, CRRT, 8 drips & 80% mortality rate....Doctor at home in bed sleeping...yeah, I'm just an extra set of eyes. CV surgeons expect the nurse to manage those drips, pumps & CRRT without bugging them in the middle of the night & they also expect their pts to be alive in the morning.

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I think you might be right about New York. Table 3: Salary Adjusted for Cost of Living - Nursing On Point Is a website I use a lot and NYC is a horrible place to be a nurse. I think nurses are worth their weight in gold but I feel strongly about nurses sticking together and being advocates for themselves. I think in comparison to most people in the medical profession we are not well paid in most of the country and we are not well-paid for our educational background. We also have some of the lowest increase in income over time of any medical professional. My mom and I are both nurses, she has an ASN, 35 years of experience and is certified in her field. I have a BSN with 2.5 years of experience and I made more money than she did last year. I also did a lot of things to put me in a position to make good money. (In my undergrad program they said nurses should change jobs every 3-5 years to maximize benefits, bonuses, training and pay. I've had more jobs in 2.5 years than my mom has had in the last 20 years.)

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Imagine what it's like for us nurses in the uk who earn maybe 25k a year ! And our shortages are so bad a lot of the time it's one nurse looking after 12-15 patients with absolutely no help. We're the definition of overworked and underpaid.

See my previous post on this (page 3, I think)...I have a couple of British friends who are nurses here in the States...they feel they've won the lottery! Everything's relative, I guess!

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Specializes in Cardiac (adult), CC, Peds, MH/Substance.
"just being a registered nurse"...YOU must not be a nurse. And suggesting we are only an extra set of eyes is ludicrous. I work CVICU, pts fresh out of bypass surgery with balloon pumps, CRRT, 8 drips & 80% mortality rate....Doctor at home in bed sleeping...yeah, I'm just an extra set of eyes. CV surgeons expect the nurse to manage those drips, pumps & CRRT without bugging them in the middle of the night & they also expect their pts to be alive in the morning.

I agree that the previous poster is not likely a nurse, and is not aware of reality. Otherwise, they'd know that the pt sees a physician for 3 to 15 minutes a day, and is "only" seen by a nurse for the balance of the 1440 minutes. Unless they're seen by an NP rather than physician or PA, in which case the whole 1440 minutes is "just" with nurses.

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