Making 100k salary/ income as a nurse?

Nurses Career Support Nursing Q/A

I am interested in what specialties are making 100k. I have 3 daughters in nursing school and can advise them on a lot, but not necessarily give them a big pic of the financial opportunities from across the nation. I am a 25 year RN and have a 65k salary, but double it most years with ot. not much fun working 68-72 hour weeks though. please tell me your specialty, experience , salary, and salary with diff and ot. oh, and where you r in the USA thank you all and hope your practice is professionally and financially rewarding

You have twenty-five years of experience and only make 65k/base? Where on Earth do you live?

I have been a nurse for over 40 years. Been in ICU for 35+ years. Have had my critical care certification for 35 years. Never have I seen a salary of $100K. That is even with working mostly nights and my share of weekends plus overtime. And here chew on this.....Made $4.00/hr as a new nurse back in the 70's. Oh and I live in Colorado , high cost of living.

Specializes in Emergency, Critical Care, Pre-Hospital,.

If you are looking for $100k anywhere but CA you want to give some thought to APRN. CRNAs starts way above this level and NPs are close w/o OT. Other than that, go to a metro area union hospital. Cost of living will be higher though.

I have made >$100k the last few years as an ED RN & Flight RN with LOTS of OT!

They may want to look into clinical research nursing. I currently live in California, work with a small medical device company and clear over 80K. I tend to work 40-45 hour weeks, no evenings, weekends or holidays. The cost of living is high here, but with stocks, bonuses and benefits, you can make over 100K as a research nurse, CRC or CRA with a company.

If that amount of salary is very important to you, then advice them move to NY after graduation. Tell them to be prepare for the high taxes, rent in a decent area of Brooklyn in Brooklyn about 1700$ For 1 bedroom excluding utilities. My co-worker did few ot's and made 156 last yr, she paid back an additional of over 5k in taxes. I stopped doing OT's and enjoy my days off window shopping, at the beach, or take short vacations. My son is 21 and started working as a respiratory therapist, his salary including night differential is 71k and change, much less stress than nursing.

I live in WI in a city with multiple hospitals and with 1.5 years of experience post-residency, my base is ~69,000 (so ~$33/hour). I work full-time and rotating day/night shift (more night than day). With shift differential, holidays, and occasional OT, I hit close to 85,000 this year.

It's 100% dependent on location though. People I know in TN are making ~$20/hr with a bachelor degree (new grad) before shift differential.

Specializes in hospice.

I am working as a travel nurse. The money is great, benefits are available, and I get to see and work in places that I have never been before. It has its challenges, as all positions to, but in terms of monetary return I am making over $100,000 a year as a staff nurse.

I have RN friends working night shift in ICU (Vermont)....that's 3 12hour shifts a week making $95,000+/year without OT. I am a 35y RN doing school nursing making 65,000/year, no nights, no weekends, no holidays and one month off every summer. It's a nurse's dream job! Best of luck to your daughters.

If you want the big bucks as an RN you will need to travel and be in a specialty CVICU, OB/GYN and dialysis all pay over 100K if you travel. If money is a top priority and I could do it all over again I would have done medical school not nursing.

Specializes in ICU.

^highest paying travel jobs are L&D, OR and then CVICU in that order. Cedars Sinai in LA was offering crisis rate of $4094 a week gross for an L&D RN to work 36 hours for 17 weeks. That's 69,598k, makes you already more than halfway to 100k, working just 30 % of the year. The job was quickly snactched up.

So you're 25 with 3 daughters in nursing school? I find that hard to believe.

I know plenty of 100k jobs. One is California prison.

Probably best to change their career if they won't work in a prison. I would advise them to work in a field dominated by men not women.

It's possible to have three kids and be in "School" or even be a fully licensed RN at the age of 25. Let's consider the ffg:

A. Perhaps, she was done with the RN program between ages 19-21 and even before then she already had two babies then popped another one.

B. Or is it possible she has twins and/or her significant other has kids from another mother?!?!

C. Triplets?

D. Maybe she's so smart, so strong, and so determined. Thus, can easily handle going to school while pregnant and at the same time, a mother.

E. She may have a fully supportive loving husband or family?

F. Endless possibilities!

In other words, "Don't judge a "cover" buy its book. =)

Specializes in OB, Women’s health, Educator, Leadership.

I use to work in Human Resources where we did a yearly run on all 100k workers. They were all upper management and PRN nurses with experience on that list and that was probably 15 years ago. Mind you home care agency was also in New York.

Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.
My problem, I lost interest due a very negative environment. That turned me off and I went back to ICU. Once I walked away 6 other exp nurses did over the next month. L&D nurses have crap personalities and little clinical knowledge of disease processes from my experience.
Well...I am sorry you have had such negative experiences as a nurse. Not all facilities possess negative environments. I find that nurses that have such negative experiences in several areas sometimes are giving off negative energy and some self exploration can be helpful.

Personally...I have never liked med-surg. I have worked trauma flight, ICU, CCU, CTPACU, cath lab, emergency medicine. I have been a staff member, paramedic, manager, director, and supervisor. I admire med-surg nurses for they take care of an obscene number of patients with a dexterity and skill that I do not possess. L&D nurses have huge kahunas and backbones of titanium. They consistently take care of 2 lives intertwined as one, again, with a dexterity and nerves of steel. Give me the Mom or the kid...don't combine them. They have my undying admiration as do NICU staff. I do not like resuscitating something smaller than the size of my hand.

I make/made

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