Ok, so as I'm scrolling these forums, I keep seeing posters post things like "$30/hr is normal for a staff nurse", etc.
In Indiana as a RN(BSN) with 3.5 years experience (2 years M/S, 1.5 years Periop), I only make $23/hour... and I was excited about that until I saw these posts! I started at $17.78/hour!
Obviously I'm disillusioned and need to know what a good pay rate to ask for is, because I thought $30/hour would be good...
When I was a kid, a candy bar was a nickel (some premium ones were a dime), soda pop from a machine was a dime, and gas was as low as 17 cents a gallon (I only remember this because one station allowed us to gas up at a truck pump in our VW van kid carrier which had a lower cost per gallon). So that is true, 2 gallons of gas, candy bar, and Coke for fifty cents!
And where are these regions?! lol I'm ready to move! The only thing that makes this difficult now is that I'm in my last year of NP school. But I'm SOOOO restless! I gotta get outta here!
Where are you going to NP school and why did you choose that one? I am starting to look into some myself. Thx.
I have been an RN for 1.5 years. My base pay for full time employee at the hospital I work in with no experience is 22.25 an hour. My base pay is 23.75 given my experience. I work night shift full time and average 27.00 an hour with my differential. I am about to switch over to full time prn day shift and I will be making 32.25. (I won't receive health insurance) . I live in central florida. Idk if this helps but I always find it interesting the pay differences with nurses
I understand PRN means as needed, but some hospitals will use their PRN nurses full time if the nurse wishes to work that. But will of course call you off or cut you first, per census. Which hospital do you work at. I am interested in moving to central Florida within the next year and taking note on all good info I come across. Thank you.
I go to IPFW (Indiana University - Purdue University Fort Wayne). When I graduate I will have a Purdue degree. The program is technically "distance" learning. I live in town but we do have a couple students out of state in our program. The student the farthest away lives in California. Also, my school recently began a DNP program. I chose this program because #1 Its where I earned my undergrad from- so I already knew the faculty #2 Based on my undergrad, I knew I was going to be in a quality program that thoroughly prepared me for boards, and #2 It's inexpensive.
I'm in Northeast Indiana. The cost of living here is relatively low (my PITI mortgage payment is $215/Month on a 2 bed/2 bath house with a finished basement. Utilities (Water, Sewer, trash, gas, and electric) are about $150.
So.... I think with this in mind your pay is great. I make 36 / hour + diff. But our COL is much higher
Can we please close this thread or move it...It doesn't pertain to Travel nursing and even if so, pay is based on so many factors that are based on location , COL, specialty, ect. If you have a pay question about a certain area I feel that is fine but again this is a forum for travel nurses and at this point I fell we have exhausted the topic either way.
There are plenty of places where nurses get paid what they are worth, AND it's not expensive to live there. in Las Vegas, as a new grad, I was on a ICU stepdown, on nights, making $32.10 +$5.00 shift diff. OT was always available and my very cute condo with a view of the mountains was $645...and 5 minutes from work. And don't forget no state income tax. It is possible. Higher pay doesn't always mean you have to sell a kidney to live in that city. Sometimes hospitals pay garbage because we RN's allow it and they can. That's why I am leaving the Midwest next year. I am worth more than this and they have brought my quote way down.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
There are plenty of places where nurses get paid what they are worth, AND it's not expensive to live there. in Las Vegas, as a new grad, I was on a ICU stepdown, on nights, making $32.10 +$5.00 shift diff. OT was always available and my very cute condo with a view of the mountains was $645...and 5 minutes from work. And don't forget no state income tax. It is possible. Higher pay doesn't always mean you have to sell a kidney to live in that city. Sometimes hospitals pay garbage because we RN's allow it and they can. That's why I am leaving the Midwest next year. I am worth more than this and they have brought my quote way down.
This is something I spent years looking into. I worked as a staff nurses in four states, two countries, and as a traveler in 4 other states. The highest pay is obviously to be found in California from just south of the Bay area north to Sacramento. When I looked at accepting a position in these area I could see that the very high COL would eat up most of that high pay. That said I do know of a couple of nurses who are making $200k - $250K/ year in those areas but they are working quite a bit more than 40 hours a week. It's something I wish I had done when I was younger and prepared to work 48 to 72 hours a week. At least done it for 5 to 10 years, set myself up for life, then moved on to a more "regular" job someplace where I enjoyed living. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. As it was I did work those kinds of hours back then, but for crap pay.
Since I wasn't smart enough to do that I needed to find a place where the pay for nurses was relatively high, and the COL relatively low. After a long search, talking to hundreds of people, visiting places, and a lot of reading I found the twin cities area of Minnesota.
This area offers the highest pay for nurses, with a relatively modest COL. Experienced nurses here can easily make well into six figures without working much or any OT, plenty of nice communities to live in within easy driving distance, proximity to a large international airport, and a thriving cultural scene.
It really is the best area for nursing I have found. I know senior nurses with 20+ years of experience who make $140k/ year without OT. Nurses with 5-10 years experience making $100-$120K/year. $100K buys a pretty nice house. The "BUT" comes with winter. Winters are long, cold and snowy.
Nice post! A couple of things to point out about the Twin Cities, the nursing unions are really strong. That is the why pay is so good there. A small downside is that unions have to strike sometimes to stay strong and protect pay and working conditions. Some 12,000 went out on strike in 2010 at 14 hospitals.
You may be able to have your cake and eat it too in Minnesota. A good bit of the population winters in the South, AKA "snowbirds" and they are largely seniors with more healthcare needs than the median resident. As such, hospital census should dip in the wintertime there at the same time there is a seasonal peak in the south. Depending on your specialty and hospital management, you might be able to arrange an eight or nine month schedule, and go work in say Florida as either a traveler, or a regular gig as a seasonal employee. Total income would drop, and of course there could be the cost of maintaining two residences depending on how you like to manage things, but you should be ahead financially and have a rather interesting life.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
Nice post! A couple of things to point out about the Twin Cities, the nursing unions are really strong. That is the why pay is so good there. A small downside is that unions have to strike sometimes to stay strong and protect pay and working conditions. Some 12,000 went out on strike in 2010 at 14 hospitals.
You may be able to have your cake and eat it too in Minnesota. A good bit of the population winters in the South, AKA "snowbirds" and they are largely seniors with more healthcare needs than the median resident. As such, hospital census should dip in the wintertime there at the same time there is a seasonal peak in the south. Depending on your specialty and hospital management, you might be able to arrange an eight or nine month schedule, and go work in say Florida as either a traveler, or a regular gig as a seasonal employee. Total income would drop, and of course there could be the cost of maintaining two residences depending on how you like to manage things, but you should be ahead financially and have a rather interesting life.
Yes, they had a strike in 2010 and it was overwhelming successful. The support for nurses by the community was overwhelming and management folded.
Patient census does not dip in winter, it peaks. Besides it doesn't matter to the nurses since our hours are guaranteed.
This is something I spent years looking into. I worked as a staff nurses in four states, two countries, and as a traveler in 4 other states. The highest pay is obviously to be found in California from just south of the Bay area north to Sacramento. When I looked at accepting a position in these area I could see that the very high COL would eat up most of that high pay. That said I do know of a couple of nurses who are making $200k - $250K/ year in those areas but they are working quite a bit more than 40 hours a week. It's something I wish I had done when I was younger and prepared to work 48 to 72 hours a week. At least done it for 5 to 10 years, set myself up for life, then moved on to a more "regular" job someplace where I enjoyed living. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. As it was I did work those kinds of hours back then, but for crap pay.
Since I wasn't smart enough to do that I needed to find a place where the pay for nurses was relatively high, and the COL relatively low. After a long search, talking to hundreds of people, visiting places, and a lot of reading I found the twin cities area of Minnesota.
This area offers the highest pay for nurses, with a relatively modest COL. Experienced nurses here can easily make well into six figures without working much or any OT, plenty of nice communities to live in within easy driving distance, proximity to a large international airport, and a thriving cultural scene.
It really is the best area for nursing I have found. I know senior nurses with 20+ years of experience who make $140k/ year without OT. Nurses with 5-10 years experience making $100-$120K/year. $100K buys a pretty nice house. The "BUT" comes with winter. Winters are long, cold and snowy.
Minnesota is BEAUTIFUL and ya know...Prince (R.I.P my little dove!) but I just can't with the winters. I just can't anymore. Luckily, my Midwestern husband is over them, too, and can't wait to west coast with me! But I agree. Minneapolis is a gem I never knew about growing up on the west coast! Such a cool city and a great weekend getaway!
I currently work in a Trauma ICU but we don't get a pay raise for working ICU in my facility. I started in 2011 at 26.46/hr. I get a raise and cost of living every year 5 years later I make 33.05/hr. I wish ICU was more but for us if I was still in med/surg I would make the same. We are union.
NedRN
1 Article; 5,785 Posts
When I was a kid, a candy bar was a nickel (some premium ones were a dime), soda pop from a machine was a dime, and gas was as low as 17 cents a gallon (I only remember this because one station allowed us to gas up at a truck pump in our VW van kid carrier which had a lower cost per gallon). So that is true, 2 gallons of gas, candy bar, and Coke for fifty cents!