Making 100k salary/ income as a nurse?

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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

Specializes in ICU.
I tell my friends about it, but I get the same response that they are afraid of being killed or raped so they continue to work in the super stressful hospital settings and make 65-70k like I did when they could make much more with so much less stress overall. Just my 2 cents...

California Prison nursing was my original suggestion. Considering a few of those nurses made 1 million over dollars in 3-4years. I applied once and interviewed. I did not like the set schedule and bidding in and out of that set schedule.I was not offered the job too many former nurses trying to return.

It's really pretty simple.

Find a job that pays $54 and change an hour.

I'm the winner.... or the loser rather....

I only made 36, 000 last year.

Alabama. Very rural area.

The calling was nice, but it doesn't put food on the table.

Specializes in ICU.
I'm the winner.... or the loser rather....

I only made 36, 000 last year.

Alabama. Very rural area.

The calling was nice, but it doesn't put food on the table.

All the travel nurses I met were from Mississippi, Alabama or Louisiana. Crap ratios and poor compensation for that hard work.

Specializes in ICU.

Right now I am working in the deep south where the pay is notoriously low. No unions here, either. I have 28 years ICU experience and don't make anywhere near 100k per year. We are offered shift differential, but no extra money for working holidays or weekends. Every day is paid the same. We also get only an extra 50 cents for any certification! Our medical insurance premiums have gone way up, and the coverage has gotten much, much worse. Nursing pay around here is OK if you have a working spouse, but if you are like me and single, one nursing salary doesn't go far. I used to make good money, but as things have gotten more and more expensive, and my salary has been stagnant, it doesn't go as far as it used to. The cost of automobiles and food is outrageous. Oh, and as for nurse practitioners, it seems like everybody I know is in nurse practitioner school, so I wonder when that market will be over-saturated.

In the southern states this salary isn't unusual..or less..wages aren't very good here - at least not in Georgia.

Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.
Right now I am working in the deep south where the pay is notoriously low. No unions here, either. I have 28 years ICU experience and don't make anywhere near 100k per year. We are offered shift differential, but no extra money for working holidays or weekends. Every day is paid the same. We also get only an extra 50 cents for any certification! Our medical insurance premiums have gone way up, and the coverage has gotten much, much worse. Nursing pay around here is OK if you have a working spouse, but if you are like me and single, one nursing salary doesn't go far. I used to make good money, but as things have gotten more and more expensive, and my salary has been stagnant, it doesn't go as far as it used to. The cost of automobiles and food is outrageous. Oh, and as for nurse practitioners, it seems like everybody I know is in nurse practitioner school, so I wonder when that market will be over-saturated.

I was in that sinking boat too. No pay increase for 5+ years, insurance premiums going up while coverage went down then the added insult of the place being so short staffed that new hires have been getting huge incentives to come to work there including pay equal to or even higher than many of the experienced staff. It took some major complaining to a DON that was already on the way out the door and therefor had nothing to lose by approving a raise for me to get things going the right direction again. After a big raise I am finally making closer to what I should be.

Sadly for them I don't think a single other nurse had the thought to go to the DON and pretty much demand a raise before he left and now I am making almost twice what one of the lower paid LPN's are. Granted I am an RN and should make more than the LPN, but twice more is a bit much. I happen to know that one of our more senior CNA's actually makes more an hour than this nurse. I'll never spill the beans on that one, if the nurse doesn't already know this I'm sure not going to the one to say anything to her.

Eta--this was supposed to be a reply to above about poor pay and poor ratios.

Worst ratio I took was 11:1. I was new and didn't know I could tell them it wasn't safe. We take 7:1 now.

Tell your daughters to look into Travel nursing after getting a year or two of experience. Try going for the high paying specialties like NICU, ICU, L&D. You can make pretty close to that amount of money while being paid to travel all over and see the country as well.

Weekend option + a shift a week through an agency = $96,000/year.

I'm also a step down/progressive nurse 4 years experience, really looking into travel nursing, hopefully to start contracts by May! yay! Any tips for a progressive travel nurse? Specific agencies you like working with or locations/hospitals that rocked??

Work in the "industry" side of the house for a manufacturer,

9-5 kind of job, no holidays. Highly recommend. Pharma and med manufacturers hire tons of nurses, just no one thinks to look at them.

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