Low nurse wages in Health Department - worth it?

klone, MSN, RN · Apr 25, 2015

RN's make 38-40K a yr. working in the health departments in my area - and this is with a
BSN and experience.

How does that compare to other RNs in your area?

Marshall1 · Apr 25, 2015

Most RN's with a BSN average 55-60Kyr. (hospital, MD offices, etc) in this area. Higher in Administrative positions of course.

klone, MSN, RN · Apr 25, 2015

I work in community health, but our clinic is part of a larger hospital network, so I get the same salary range as the nurses in this network who work inpatient. I would not take a job for which I would have to take a $20,000 pay cut.

llg, PhD, RN · Apr 25, 2015

Don't forget to look closely at the benefit packages offered by the Health Department and the other employment options. In some places, the benefits of government workers are so much better than the private employers that the drop in cash pay is worth it. (The value of things like a good retirement program, tuition reimbursement, good health insurance, etc. are often under-estimated.)

guest464345 · May 1, 2015

In my area a newish hospital RN (not a new grad, but maybe a year or two of experience) would make $29ish base plus differentials, and a public health nurse with the same experience would make about $27/hour with no differentials and probably few chances for OT. The bigger difference is among more experienced nurses....a hospital nurse who jumps jobs a couple times will quickly be making mid-30's/hour and up plus diffs, but the public health nurse will get very modest raises, or maybe none at all....so over time, the disparity grows. The very top of the salary range for PHNs is $35/h or so, and I doubt that anyone actually gets there.

On the other hand, as is noted above, the benefits are worth it for some. I'm a PHN and our health insurance is MUCH cheaper than I've ever had in a hospital - it's a difference of something like $300/month. That helps. Our state has a very robust pension program, one of the defined-benefit plans you barely see anymore.

Also if you want to have a normal-person schedule, the quality of life is better. For me, it's also a dramatic difference in job satisfaction because of the time I get to spend in patient education and developing my own knowledge.

Just depends on your priorities, I guess. In the government world it's not just nurses who get paid less than their private-sector counterparts....generally it's also true for managers, scientists, accountants, tech people, etc.

The disparity you're describing in your area does seem pretty extreme to me though.

Marshall1 · May 1, 2015

The salary is 38-40K plus benefits. The days are usual 8 hours except one 10 hour day so Fridays are 1/2 days. This averages out to about $20/hr which is not great but as others have pointed out there is no weekends/holidays/call/12 hour shifts, short days on Friday, etc.

For those of you who work in a health department - do you ever run late getting off work or are you usually out on time?

I'm seriously considering this change if I could make it for a variety of reasons but don't want to go from what I'm doing now (12 hours in a hospital) to where I'm working M-F and having to put in a lot of overtime.

guest464345 · May 2, 2015

In my department we are strictly FORBIDDEN from working OT except in the rare case of some special project, and then it's strictly voluntary. I suspect this is true in most county and state jobs where budgets are tight (the exceptions tend to be law enforcement). Where I work, everyone leaves right on the dot, very different from hospital nursing. We also get some flexibility; I have every other Monday off, can sometimes work from home, can go to the dentist or whatever without taking vacation time.

starmickey03, MSN, RN · May 3, 2015

I recently just started a public health job at my county health dept. None of the depts allow OT (which I wouldn't want anyway). I don't find the pay too bad. My pay is $27.75/hr ($57,720/yr) and my last hospital pay was $29.82/hr (with 6.50 night shift diff). So base pay in the health dept isn't that big of a drop for me.

The benefits are MUCH BETTER at the health dept, around $60 for medical and that's for the family rate.

Cheapest benefits I've ever had at any employer. We also get 3 weeks of paid vacation every year and unlike the hospital you don't have to accrue PTO, it's just automatically apart of the benefits package.

I have a family so the pay is not an issue for me. I'd rather work Mon-Fri from 8-5 and have the weekends and holidays with my family.

SiwanRN · May 3, 2015

Where I am (Denver area) public health nurses probably do make less than your average hospital nurse when you account for shift differentials and overtime and such. When I first started I made ~$49k a year. With a few more years in public health I a making $62k a year. As several of the previous posters have said though you have to look at it as a package deal. My hourly pay might be lower than a hospital nurse, but I can pretty much guarantee that my benefits are better, I do not have to work overtime, and I am guaranteed every holiday and weekend off (the once in awhile community outreach event excepted). For me, the benefits package and my quality of life with not having to deal with the craziness in a hospital work setting outweighed the lower starting pay in public health vs hospital work. But like anything, you have to decide what is important for you when evaluating potential jobs. What is best for me may not be ideal for you.

One piece of advice though...if you do go down the public health road and you are in a role where you do more education than skills, it might be worth it to keep a prn bedside or outpatient position on the side. That way if you decide not to continue in public health you still have recent acute care experience and can easily find another job without rusty skills.

amoLucia · May 4, 2015

One other thing - you will probably be union. I've known Civil Service unions to be large and STRONG. If disciplinary issues come up, you have their assist as nec. Civil Service also has its rules re 'permanency' in your titled position. Kind of like 'tenure' for teachers.

Nobody nowhere is exempt from job loss, but Civil Service employees have a bit more security in that administration is less likely to try and pull any shenanigans on the employee.

Some folk like being Civil Service; for others, it does not fit.

Pegasus65 · Jun 25, 2015

I have been working med surg for the past year and a half. Definitely not for me. I did some of my clinicals in the health department... really enjoyed it and decided to apply when some positions became available. Was called for an interview and it went very well.

I received an email from them a couple of days ago after I got off work that I had been chosen for a position. I thought it strange that they didn't call me and I was notified by email, but took it in stride. In reading the email it appeared they expected me to start/be available starting July 1st. The email stated if I had questions to call this person at HR, which I did yesterday morning. I asked was I expected to start this position on July 1st.. was told yes. Um, that doesn't even give me time to give my current employment two weeks notice. I refuse to just walk off any job without giving proper notice. You should never burn bridges.

Then I was quoted the lowest end of the pay scale range in the email. I asked was there room for any type of negotiation. I was told the manager would have to answer that question. Then I asked would I be able to see a benefits package before I actually accepted position... I was told, "no, that I wouldn't actually know my benefits, price of medical insurance, or anything else until I had accepted the position and was in orientation."

Okay... that puts a bad taste in my mouth. There were several forms the HR needed back by the close of business today... including me going and getting fingerprinted etc. The person at HR told me they would have the manager call me to answer my questions. No call as of yet, but I have pretty much already decided to look for something else. I did expect to take a cut in pay going from the hospital to the health department... However, the fact they they are not providing benefit information until you have already quit your job and are in orientation with THEM sounds somewhat shady to me. I am not going to take a significant pay cut and wind up with insurance that isn't worth a flip. While I am a little disappointed, I am sure there is something else out there for me.