I'm a recent military retiree, working as a PCT (cna) hourly rate $9.25 with $1.15 night diff + 20% for no benefits, I'm making close to $12 an hour. According to the LPN's on my Cardiac care floor, they only make around $11 an hour, with nurse externs making close to $12 an hour.
My question, is it even worth the hassle of going to school for a long year, to have a very stressful job and only make $11 to $14 an hour? I mean the county starts the street sweepers for that kind of money here in TN. There are easier ways to make low wages, no??
I have 3 years of college money left to spend and I'm slated to start LPN school in the fall, RN school would be for next year anyway due to pre-req, etc. Plus if I graduate LPN and don't like nursing or the low pay, I've only wasted a year of life.
Any thoughts on the issue of pay versus stress and/or bang for the buck of working in health care??
Tony
(retired military)
p.s. If you had 3 years of college money to spend, what would you do with it??
Yeah, she works at a nursing home in columbia. Do you work in a hospital? Did you go to HGTC?
I'm still a student, starting the nursing classes in the Fall at Williamsburg Tech (I'll be with their 3rd graduating LPN class...its a new program). I am planning to transfer to either HGTC (already applied and working on the general education LPN to RN pre-reqs) or Florence-Darlington depending on where I work as an LPN once I graduate. Right now I work at a hospital in Florence as a unit secretary, (making waaay less than I have in the past 10 years just for the "hospital experience") but my husband works in Conway and we are living right between the two.
I'm still a student, starting the nursing classes in the Fall at Williamsburg Tech (I'll be with their 3rd graduating LPN class...its a new program). I am planning to transfer to either HGTC (already applied and working on the general education LPN to RN pre-reqs) or Florence-Darlington depending on where I work as an LPN once I graduate. Right now I work at a hospital in Florence as a unit secretary, (making waaay less than I have in the past 10 years just for the "hospital experience") but my husband works in Conway and we are living
Wow! thats great! im currently in the 2nd LPN class at WTC. I've been looking into the bridgre program at trident tech in charleston mainly because its only 2 semesters (4 nursing classes) and you only need a 70.5 avg to pass there. Because WTC nursing classes are new they require an 80% avg to pass, in which have kept me up many nights studying. But besides being demanding, it is a great, rewarding program that requires dedication. I've gotten 2 job offers so far, one of which is a nursing home in charleston that offerered $21 an hour plus differentials for their baylor shift (Im one of the few that love geriatric nursing).
:heartbeatI have to say - choose to be an LPN for the love of it. I am an accountant minus the degree. I work from home and will take a huge cut in salary, huge!!! But, for many years this is what I dreamed of. It was not possible for me to go to school due to finances and children being young. I am changing careers now and it's for the love of what I want to do. I want to help people. I recently had a dentist as a client and he told me he'd train me for free to be a DA. He said I belong with patients. I almost took him up on it and even that would pay more than the LPN but I want to be in a hopistal, LTC or even hospice. It's just a choice of what YOU really want to do. If it's just salary and job security then I would go with Sonography or Rad Tech, Surg Tech, etc. I've looked in to all those fields but it takes me back to the fact that I'm not helping the patient personally. Good Luck in your decision. Kim
does anyone REALLY just take a job for money? I mean REALLY? I hate this comment, lol. Sorry. I don't mean to get all aggressive and crazy or anything, but this comment on allnurses in particular drives me NUTS.
If anyone chose to do something with their life without consideration of the financial impact, it would be silly and a good way to get yourself into deep trouble (I know from experience... oh to be that young and idealistic again!) If anyone chose a job ANY JOB just because of the financial, well to be honest, you'll learn the hard way. Life is not so black and white as to be able to say yes I am doing this for x reason and x reason alone.
lvn/lpn students will learn the lvn/lpns have no respect in nursing for what they do,and at times do more then RN.. 12 a hr is not much now days...1 more year can be 5-10 more a hr starting,and get more respect..travel nurse RN can make up to 65hr..where as alotta agency nurse jobs are RN not lvn,and in Texas more and more hospitals are not hring lvn/lpn anymore,most well seasoned lvn/lpn will tell you they get no respect and if they could start over a RN is best way,for $,repect,sanity,self appreciation..plus just a few states pay well for lvn/lpns ..
lvn/lpn students will learn the lvn/lpns have no respect in nursing for what they do,and at times do more then RN.. 12 a hr is not much now days...1 more year can be 5-10 more a hr starting,and get more respect..travel nurse RN can make up to 65hr..where as alotta agency nurse jobs are RN not lvn,and in Texas more and more hospitals are not hring lvn/lpn anymore,most well seasoned lvn/lpn will tell you they get no respect and if they could start over a RN is best way,for $,repect,sanity,self appreciation..plus just a few states pay well for lvn/lpns ..
Ok, could you post in full sentences and paragraph form? It makes it much easier for us to read.
I am a LPN up in Canada and I feel so sorry for those working the US. I've only ever met two nurses who have expressed an attitude like yours and they were both disciplined for it.
Wages differ widely from province to province and state to state. Generalizations should never be accepted as gospel.
I'll just leave you with the following hourly wage to think about. In my province and LPN with post grad specialization in the OR will be making just under $40/hour when the new contract is signed. Not shabby by any definition and more than what many RNs in your area make.
A person can only be treated badly if they allow it. My union and my health authority recognize LPNs for what they are: valued, professional nurses with bedside expertise. The surgeon I work with have no idea who is a LPN or an RN unless they actually read our ID tags. All they know is they can trust the NURSES on my unit to provide some of the best post-op care in this area.
A person can only be treated badly if they allow it.
Amen to that!
LPNs in my area make about $13-$16 p/hr starting w/ no experience. Maybe more, but those numbers I can guarantee as they are listed as the hourly wage for a couple of the positions that I was browsing through in my area.
Its not enough to live comfortably on one salary, but its enough to make ends meet and way more than what you would make without an education...and I'd wager more than you'd make with most other certificate programs (I have a certificate in bookkeeping, and that job tops OUT at $13 p/hr... and it was a yr program just like my LPN)
Besides, if you start figuring in overtime here and there at time and a half, plus shift differentials, you're looking at a much more respectable salary than it seems "on paper".
The salary raise is worth it for me! But that's not why I decided to become a nurse. I have wanted to be a nurse for many years.
I left a medical office assistant job that paid me $17/hour.
As a starting LPN, I will make $23/hour, plus 12.9% diff for no benefits, plus evening and weekend diff.
I could potentially make $28.50 per hour for a weekend, evening shift. Not too shabby.
After 6 months (or a certain # of hours worked), I will get $23.75/hour and next April 1, that will go up to $24.70/hour.
Once I get on full time, I will have awesome benefits that cover my whole family's extended health and dental needs.
I live in BC Canada and these figures are only for my local health authority/province. I don't know about the rest of Canada or anywhere in the states. Although from some of the figures I've seen here, I think it's a crying shame that some LPN's are getting $12-$14/hour!!!
Its not money that makes me want to be a nurse, but within that profession, if I can be an LPN and make ok money or be an RN and make good money, and still fulfill the same spiritual need for me then it sounds logical to me to become an RN. I have always had a need to serve a greater purpose than myself, and caring for those who are unable to care for themselves really makes me feel good, but I feel I could do that as an LPN, RN, NP, CNA, etc so why not take a route that simultaneously rewards my spiritual self AND provides better for my family, yk?
To me, lpn is a stepping stone for me to get my RN...It isn't permanent.../quote]
And it's statements like that, that will keep contributing to the problems that US LPNs face. It appears that there is dissention in your ranks and without unity you can never bargain to achieve the wages you deserve.
It appears that some see this level of professional nursing as a stepping stone to something else. Not a career opportunity.
And it's statements like that, that will keep contributing to the problems that US LPNs face. It appears that there is dissention in your ranks and without unity you can never bargain to achieve the wages you deserve.
It appears that some see this level of professional nursing as a stepping stone to something else. Not a career opportunity.
but whats wrong with that? I see it that way too. However I also see an ADN as a stepping stone towards as BSN, and a BSN as a stepping stone towards an MSN and an MSN as a stepping stone towards a PhD...
Education SHOULD be seen a a stepping stone towards something greater. We SHOULD be considering going as far as we can in college. Nobody is saying you have to continue on, but its nice to have the option to "step on to" something else. The biggest reason that I found nursing to be the right field for me, compared to other ways that I could serve others and help the sick and the infirm, is because of all the ways to continue to educate myself and the room for growth within the career path.
Part of me hopes I go all the way through to my PhD, and the other hopes that I never quite make it, just so that I always have something to look forward to and strive for. I think I will be just a little bit sad if/when I get to "the end" because the journey will be over.
missjennmb
932 Posts
I'm still a student, starting the nursing classes in the Fall at Williamsburg Tech (I'll be with their 3rd graduating LPN class...its a new program). I am planning to transfer to either HGTC (already applied and working on the general education LPN to RN pre-reqs) or Florence-Darlington depending on where I work as an LPN once I graduate. Right now I work at a hospital in Florence as a unit secretary, (making waaay less than I have in the past 10 years just for the "hospital experience") but my husband works in Conway and we are living right between the two.