$17.00 Hr. Starting Wage For RN?

U.S.A. Arkansas

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I read in the newspaper last week that NW Arkansas has a huge nursing shortage problem. Well I just called a hospital there and they informed me that the starting wage was $17.00 Hr. I wounder why there is a nursing shortage issue?

Wow, thats an 'insult' vs. New York's current $21.50+ per hour RN wages!

Where in NY you referring to?

If you talking about $21.50 in NYC, that is too low. You need to make $75,000 a year in nyc in order to have a quality life.

I think $17 is not an insult for that area. You probably can get a one bedroom for $450 as oppose to getting one in nyc for $1200 or more.

You have to look at the cost of living instead of per hourly rate.

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I'm a new RN grad. A month ago I got a job offer from the hospital located in a small town in Southern Texas. They offered $17.50 per hour. It sounded like an insult to me. So, I turned down the offer.

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i dont feel as though the wage difference should be so much...im from michigan..... my husband is a RN and i am in nursing school...we are moving to arkansas and were told he will be making around 23 an hour when in michigan he makes 32.....ive vacationed in the area that we are moving to and gas and food and clothing were all the same as here....house taxes are less but not enough to make up for the difference in pay :nono:

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Des this mean that gas, heath insurance, and taxes are cheaper. I think that no matter where a person lives $17.00 is shamefully low for a licensed medical professional.:angryfire

Actually, from my experience, yes- however I moved from there to Chicago and Ohio.

My HI was with a local company that had most of the state, and was $135 a month for the family (and I called- they haven't raised about 200 yet)

Sales tax is 7.5% ... and still is I believe, depending on the city it may be more.

Gas is usually 10 cents below national average- on any given day.

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As a Medicare Service "Specialist" I pretty much studied all the law books, made sure claims that were called in as not paid were filed accordingly, and if there was an issue with the payment, then I would do the math and check if something was wrong on our end.

If there was something wrong with the computer handling the claims, I would send it up the line for further research.

No exp required, knowledge of medical term and coding appreciated. 11-12 an hour for an ever increasing load of states. Our office of 6 handled 2 sometimes 3 states worth of hospital inpt claims.

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Specializes in Certified Diabetes Educator.

For a new RN grad with no experience, the starting wage is $17.50 hr. If you have been an LPN, they give you credit for half the time you have been an LPN, so your starting pay is higher. So, for example, if you were a LPN for 10 years before becoming a new RN grad, you would start with a pay scale of an RN with 5 years experience.

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

I am always amazed how these rural areas/cities with low cost of living seek to justify nurses low hourly wages based on cost of living/median income in that area. Do you think they do the same thing for the doctors/other providers.....NO; they actually usually get paid more to come and live in those areas.

I started out at almost 21 hr as a new grad in Tyler, Tx more than 6 yrs ago.

I think I will stick with the military for now the pay is much better than what I could make at most civilian facilities for now.

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I'm graduating from Nursing school in NWA this weekend, I already have job lined up and am being paid $18.10. All of the hospitals just raised the starting wage for a new grad if you have any experience at all they are paying much more.

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Des this mean that gas, heath insurance, and taxes are cheaper. I think that no matter where a person lives $17.00 is shamefully low for a licensed medical professional.:angryfire

I agree! That does not even begin to start paying the $13,000 to $30,000 you go in debt to pay for your education. I have been considering driving to Memphis for more money when I do get my RN. It is fairly cheap to live here. But I see your point about gas, HI, etc. That could be the explanation of the nursing shortage.

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Great post. That article pretty much sums it up.

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I am in the Fort Smith area and starting pay for new grads is $17/$17.55 per hour plus shift differentials. This area has not really felt the crunch of the shortage of nurses nationwide but the time is coming. I am making the same as the job I left to go back to college to get my RN but the rewards are so much better and the options in my career now is 100 times more. Some things are the same costs but when you figure in commute time is less which adds up in lower fuel costs, entertainment costs less, you get more square footage in housing for the money, ect. there is a difference in wages then. Like someone said earlier, the average income in the Fort Smith/Fayetteville area is barely above poverty, 17.00 an hour is a goldmine for a new grad. Your pay can only go up from there, it is only temporary and also again if you have experience they pay you for that too. My student loans are through the hospital I work for and as long as I work for them I do not have to pay back my loan and I get a $100 credit per month of employment with them towards the loan. So in less than 3 years post graduation I will have paid off my loan for my education and on top of that employees can get education expenses paid back for higher degree achievement at the end of each completed semester. It does add up and actually I am doing as well here as my sis in Cincinnati who makes wayyy more than me.

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