LPN to RN... ask for a raise?

[e.moore30]

Hello, I have been an LPN for about 2 years working for the same Home Health Care company for a year and a half, I recently graduated with my Associates degree and passed my boards to officially become an RN. I am still on my same case that I have been on, but is it wrong of me to expect a raise now that I am an RN. I mentioned this to the recruiter on my case and I was pretty much given the runaround about budget cuts and so on and that maybe I could expect a quarter raise... That felt like a slap in the face after going to school for a year and spending $25,000 to become an RN to be told that I may earn a quarter more! Keep in mind I have an excellent attendance record and have great rapport with the family. So my question is am I asking too much to ask for more than a quarter raise for going from LPN to RN but working the same case? And how do I go about negotiating a pay raise?

[lifelearningrn, BSN, RN]

Did they require you advance your degree? Are you still employed as an LPN with the same scope or have you expanded your scope to include RN only duties as well?

If they don't want to reclassify you as an RN, which sounds like it may be the case, you may need to look for a job as an RN to get the correct pay.

[DebblesRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

I'd check with someone in human resources about that. I would not accept a 25 cent payraise in your situation. That's just crazy.

Find out what a graduate nurse makes at your facility and let HR know that's what you expect. Most facilities will not grant you "experience pay" if you were an LPN prior to obtaining your RN, but they WILL bring you up to what a GN or inexperienced RN makes, which is a big difference.

Good luck.

[fungez]

Oh, definately ask for a raise. And if they don't give it to you, start looking for a better job. They won't respect you for working for less than you deserve, they'll just think that you are weak and a pushover.

[roser13, ASN, RN]

I think a good way to start would be to request a copy of the LPN and RN pay scales. Since you haven't been working there for years and years, I find it unlikely that your LPN salary is in the same ballpark as the RN scale.

Is the recruiter your only communication with the company? Isn't there an HR person/department? It seems odd to me that a recruiter would still be involved in your salary negotiation after 2 years.

[caliotter3]

You need to have a frank talk with your Business Manager or the Director of Patient Care Services. A minimum of $2 an hour more is the least you should expect, if not more, to bring you up to par with the expected RN rate, unless you agree to remain at the LPN rate of pay. For example, if their usual rate for RN is $22/hr, and you are making $18/hr as an LPN, then they need to bring you to $22/hr. But if they are paying their RNs $19/hr, while only paying you $18/hour, as an LPN, then they should raise you to $20/hr to make the RN license worthwhile. For $.25 an hour more, I would find a new agency. You are being insulted.

[Dorito, ASN, RN]

You certainly should expect a raise to the RN pay scale. Talk with HR

[DebblesRN, ASN, BSN, RN]

Okay--just looked this up.

In the United states, the average national median salary for an LPN is $39, 772.

The average national median salary for an RN is $62,527.

Yeah, I don't think I'd be accepting a quarter. LOL

[mamamerlee, LPN]

Well, there are multiple issues here. Unless the scope of your practice in that home is going to change somehow, you are still working as an LPN.

What, if anything, will you be doing differently? Will they ask you to do the recerts? Will they stop doing RN supervisory visits? Keep in mind that the case requires only an LPN, and the agency is getting reimbursed for an LPN only. And they do not generally get reimbursed for the supe visits.

They may decide that now is the time to change your assignment because you are now an RN. Be careful what you wish for - you may get it and be unhappy.

[morphed]

You deserve a raise and you are entitled to it. Your employer however is smart. They hired you as an LPN at LPN pay, and now you have an RN. You will be held accountable as an RN but your employer will continue to pay LPN because they already have you there. It's easier to keep paying an RN at LPN pay if they were already working there as an LPN than it is to hire an RN and pay them an LPN rate.

[caliotter3]

You deserve a raise and you are entitled to it. Your employer however is smart. They hired you as an LPN at LPN pay, and now you have an RN. You will be held accountable as an RN but your employer will continue to pay LPN because they already have you there. It's easier to keep paying an RN at LPN pay if they were already working there as an LPN than it is to hire an RN and pay them an LPN rate.

Morphed essentially has the gist of it. And it is easier for you to get the RN rate of pay if you go to a new agency and get it from the get go.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

That position is probably only budgeted as an LPN position.

Ask for an RN level case or move on.