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Discussion

Income potential

I'm curious as to how an RN in Ontario can increase their earning potential beyond the salaries at http://www.ona.org/faq#f14 ? So let's say I am a newly minted RN and I need to make more than $57,000.00 (something like that). Are there opportunities to do that? What are they? Does working in an underserviced area (like up north) allow for better earnings? Am I allowed to work extra hours for extra pay? Can I do private/contract work? Is that sort of thing possible?

Featured Replies

  • Author

*bump* Anyone?

  • Expert

If you choose to work in an unrban area, there are things you can do to increase your income, such as picking up overtime on your unit and working as a casual on other units. You can usually also work privately, as long as you haven't signed anything that says you won't. You might find that working extra hours either on your unit or privately isn't as easy as you'd think though, because full time nursing work is hard on the body and the mind. Some people find that they can do it for a while, but the eventually burn out.

Underserviced areas do pay slightly better, usually through isolation allowances rather than increased hourly pay. But that's usually because it's more expensive to live in those areas. You could look into the federal aboriginal and Inuit health services branch for career opportunities.

I earned almost $100,000 2 years ago when I was an RN in a rural hospital in northern Alberta. In rural areas they are typically short staffed, so the overtime is INSANE! Don't forgot, OT is double pay in Alberta... I had over 500 hours of overtime one year. I took a year off to to Public Health for a Native Reserve and now am ready to return to the hospital.

Currently I am doing a full-time position at a rural hospital and also casual Public health on a Reserve where I live. I expect to earn very close to, or over $100,000. Also, I do have to promote rural nursing, as the experience is truly invaluable. If you get the chance, do it. You will learn to do everything on your own - just you and your LPN calling the shots... great experience. I have had to run codes on my own!

FYI - Health Canada pays their RNs very well. Usually no OT in non-isolated areas though. You can expect a salary of $80,000 - $90,000 a year for doing Public Health/ Homecare. Now, if you go to a fly-in community, then you are looking at $100,000 with call pay. BUT, the sacrafice is that you are on-call 24/7.

Remember though, money is not everything. I just about lost my marriage due to the hours I was working. I am working now in a MUCH nicer environment, with fewer beds and a smaller community. At least I don't get home at the end of the day anymore ready to have a nervous breakdown ... Be very picky where you are going to work if you will be doing lots of OT, as you really will spend most of your time there.

  • Author

A nurse was telling me today that he makes $50.00/hour working for an "agency" and that he works as much or as little as he wants. Is this true? What are these agencies and can I work for them as soon as I graduate?

  • Expert

I suppose it's possible that your informant is making that kind of money, but my experience with private agency nursing in Canada was that the agency charged a lot for my services and paid me only a little more than half (which amounted to about $5 an hour less than the facility nurses I was working side by side with). They didn't guarantee me any hours, they didn't provide me any benefits and they certainly didn't support me in any of the placements they sent me to. I was a new grad and found myself arriving on site to be told I was the charge nurse, or the nursing supervisor for the whole LTC facility. Another time I did a day shift in a placement they usually filled with an LPN, but they weren't able to get any of their LPNs to take the shift... and I was paid for that shift AS AN LPN. (No offense to LPNs but they might have told me they were going to do that!)

I had a look at some of the agency websites and not a single one would offer any information about what they pay their staff. I'd be very wary if I were you.

I would be wary as well, also as a new grad would you want to be working some place where you wouldn't get any orientation?

I'm just wondering why the OP is so concerned about earning capabilities. I understand student loans and having to eat but....

I work with new grads who are milking the OT system like there is no tomorrow and they are just not up to it. They are tired, they don't have the experience to draw on. Management is aware and the "experienced" floor staff is unhappy at having to constantly pick up the slack.

Most of them came to nursing when their other degrees couldn't land them a job. The ones who came to nursing as a first choice seem to have a much more realistic work ethic.

  • Author

I find the tone of your message to be somewhat insulting. My father is in ill-health and my parents, sister, and grandparents have no source of income. I withdrew from medical school to come back home and work full-time to support all of them and be with my sick father and I have the opportunity to do a 2 year progam leading to a B.Sc.N. without having to pay tution. And that, Fiona59, is why I am so concerned with income. I already explained my situation in another thread.

Can I ask where you worked as a rural nurse in Alberta? I am currently finishing my RN degree at the U of A in Edmonton and I really want to do rural nursing. I thought maybe places like Canmore or Jasper would be interesting due to the variety of incidents I might encounter (high active tourist population,etc.). Do you have any recommendations for rural places to work to gain experience? I talked to a nurse in Valemount and she said that most of the time the doctors aren't even there - I may not quite be ready to run on my own but I would like to "see it all".

Thanks,

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