Nurses in CT

LCRN · Feb 25, 2006

Hello,

I can only share my experience as an RN with under 10 years experience- I make with overtime shifts at least once every other week if not more, in an MICU/SICU and being leveled around 85K. I don't know what the difference in pay rate is in CT for LPN's in acute care. However I do know that the medical center I'm at is phasing them out.

I STRESS if you're going into nursing because of the money-->it's the wrong profession! You need to love what you do. It's the toughest, most emotionally draining, physically demanding, minimally rewarding job that provides an immense amount of satisfaction. Although the money that nurses make is not bad, it should be better for the detrimental part of the healthcare team that we are.

LCRN

Green Mountains · Feb 25, 2006

LCRN,

Thanks for the relpy! I start nursing school shortly. My wife is also going to go to school for nursing LPN. I am trying to decide if I should do RN or LPN. She wants to do LPN. I am currently in sales and have been for 10 years, I hate it. I average 70-80 hours a week, do not get paid for overtime and make less than I would as a nurse. I am not going into it for the money, I was a CNA while in college a long time ago. I loved it and should of done nursing instead of business. 36 now and want to do something I love and make a difference. When my son became very sick and had to have a major operation at CT Childrens Hospital me and my wife were scared. After 14 days in the ICU he finally recovered. The nurses that took care of him were really awesome. They really cared about him. They made a lasting impression on me and my wife. So we are going to make a career change. My wife LPN school and me still deciding on LPN or RN. I'm 36 now and want to do something I will enjoy (helping people).

Best Wishes

LCRN · Feb 25, 2006

Hey- I'm glad that you're changing careers for the right reasons. I feel an RN has a lot more avenues of work that they can pursue and tend to be able to practice more autonomously. I am NOT degrading LPN's by any means as they are necessary to our healthcare system. An integral part I may add. However, many hospitals are phasing out LPN's so it all depends what you want to do in nursing...acute care/LTC, homecare...like I said there are many avenues one can pursue. Being an RN gives you more opportunity and an increased pay scale! It's only another year of school in some cases...Hope this helps!

LCRN

RXCT · Feb 26, 2006

LCRN,
Thanks for the relpy! I start nursing school shortly. My wife is also going to go to school for nursing LPN. I am trying to decide if I should do RN or LPN. She wants to do LPN. I am currently in sales and have been for 10 years, I hate it. I average 70-80 hours a week, do not get paid for overtime and make less than I would as a nurse. I am not going into it for the money, I was a CNA while in college a long time ago. I loved it and should of done nursing instead of business. 36 now and want to do something I love and make a difference. When my son became very sick and had to have a major operation at CT Childrens Hospital me and my wife were scared. After 14 days in the ICU he finally recovered. The nurses that took care of him were really awesome. They really cared about him. They made a lasting impression on me and my wife. So we are going to make a career change. My wife LPN school and me still deciding on LPN or RN. I'm 36 now and want to do something I will enjoy (helping people).
Best Wishes

Just wanted to share the "up" side of being even an LPN (not RN) w/ you. You can work VNA (not phased out yet and probably won't be because they seem to have them quickest turn around for just being able to get into a nursing program in CT w/out waiting until your retired). With VNA , you can avarage $30-$35 /VISIT...and still make the same in LTC (new haven county) as a St. Rhea's or Yale RN.....those are good working $$$$ and both paths (vna/hosp/ltc) are rewarding. Your always needed! This info. came from other post's relating to LPN'S wages in connecticut. GOOD LUCK

Ps check out career builder.com (LPN) you can get a job just about anywhere..there are up to 11 pages of employment...including Yale, St.Rhea's.,New Britian, Waterbury Hosp. labor & delivery., some hartford hosp. location....also see Gaylord hosp. & HOSP for special care...wages are good & if you want to work 60 hours /week then this is you field ...if you don't need bene's you are gooing fine...thats why I'm in "LPN"- don't need bene's & make wellabove many RN's pay scale w/ the hourly differential!!!!! Don't let anyone discourage you & remember 1 year extra of nursing school (married w/ children) means another year of STRESS...not worth it sometimes...you may find satisfaction w/out all the RN stress (lots of admissions & paperwork-careplans etc.)..LOL

nurse_in_me · Jun 24, 2006

hi! i'll be moving in CT in the next few months and will be working at Lord chamberlain(stratford) or belair manor(newington) rehabilitation facilities. anybody who has an idea, please share. Let me know what to expect. im new to the place.thanks

xenogenetic · Jul 8, 2006

How much can LPN's & RN's make a year if they work all the overtime available?
A Friend of mine told me that some LPN's working a lot of overtime can make close to 100k and RN's even more. Is this true?
Regards

The sky is the limit...especially if you don't have a lot of family responsibilities or your family is understanding if you chose to do 60-80hr weeks for short spans of time.

I know one OT madman RN who made $20,000.00 in a single *month* doing homecare. He hit a sweet spot where a bunch of his visits only called for a turning of the patient and he was able to get it done in 15 mins instead of the 1 hour that he was actually paid for the visit.

Lots of hosptials offer per diem rates (no benefits) between $43.00-51.00 per hour so if you decide to pump out 60 hour weeks and sign up with multiple hospitals then you can accumulate a nice stash of $ quickly. The nice thing with per diem is that often if you burn out you can simply decline when facilities call/schedule you for a month or two...so it has a nice added benefit of being flexible. And the hourly rates will only go up the worse the nursing shortage grows.

harley007 · Jul 8, 2006

Have you heard of the "Hospital for Special Care" in New Britain. It is a short distance from Newington. It has been a rehap hosp. forever but now has a state of the art building. The levels of care range from a Step- down type ICU for new patients needing initial evaluation - they do arrive sicker and sicker these days, Post Traumatic Head Injury, Respiratory Unit and all levels of rehap. Give it a try and good luck to you

katherine100, LPN · Nov 28, 2008

Hello,
I can only share my experience as an RN with under 10 years experience- I make with overtime shifts at least once every other week if not more, in an MICU/SICU and being leveled around 85K. I don't know what the difference in pay rate is in CT for LPN's in acute care. However I do know that the medical center I'm at is phasing them out.
I STRESS if you're going into nursing because of the money-->it's the wrong profession! You need to love what you do. It's the toughest, most emotionally draining, physically demanding, minimally rewarding job that provides an immense amount of satisfaction. Although the money that nurses make is not bad, it should be better for the detrimental part of the healthcare team that we are.
LCRN

WEll said there are so many miserable nurses. All the money in the world will not keep them happy. In fact many of the nurses that came to the profession for money have left, only adding to the shortage. That is why I am not speng 20'000 to go into an RN program. I am going another route.:twocents::twocents::twocents::twocents::twocents:

woknblues · Nov 30, 2008

LCRN,
Thanks for the relpy! I start nursing school shortly. My wife is also going to go to school for nursing LPN. I am trying to decide if I should do RN or LPN. She wants to do LPN. I am currently in sales and have been for 10 years, I hate it. I average 70-80 hours a week, do not get paid for overtime and make less than I would as a nurse. I am not going into it for the money, I was a CNA while in college a long time ago. I loved it and should of done nursing instead of business. 36 now and want to do something I love and make a difference. When my son became very sick and had to have a major operation at CT Childrens Hospital me and my wife were scared. After 14 days in the ICU he finally recovered. The nurses that took care of him were really awesome. They really cared about him. They made a lasting impression on me and my wife. So we are going to make a career change. My wife LPN school and me still deciding on LPN or RN. I'm 36 now and want to do something I will enjoy (helping people).
Best Wishes

Wow. You are me + 2 years!

I got out of sales/management (construction)about 4 years ago. Lord, what an awful experience I have had in my working career. The day I put in my 2 weeks, my boss took me out for lunch and offered me the position I was promissed for 2 years, but never got, + the almost 20% raise that accompanied it. I told him thanks, and I'll just take a warm letter of reference, thanks!

My decision to go to nursing was precipitated upon my grandmother falling and breaking her leg. I helped out as best as I could, but was impressed and amazed at the care she recieved (Kaiser So Cal). That was it for me. I want to do that for a living in some fashion. Money is great and important, but changing lives for the better? You can't put a pricetag on that.

My GF and I both enrolled in NS. We are set to graduate this year with BSNs and are looking to move to CT too! She has familly there (she used to live in Ansonia as a kid) we both have family in NYC.

Unfortuantely, we are heading back to So Flo, where I need to find a job as a new grad, in an area I am not too happy with. (Another reason I quit my job was So Flo itself, another topic for another thread) :D

BEst of luck.

Thornbird · Dec 4, 2008

CT still has plenty of job opening for RN's and with OT an RN can easily make $100K a year in CT.

The LPN job market is becoming increasingly tight. All those jobs on caeer builder are for RN's, only a handful for LPN's. I have not heard of any VNA's hiring LPN's, as it is considered to be out of the cope of practice for CT LPN's. No CT hospitals currently hire LPN's. The jobs for LPN's are in LTC, agency work & occasionally dialysis centers. You can make good money with a home care agency if you get a lot of home visits, but it involves a lot of driving and many home care agencies only give LPN's shift work which pays less than LTC. CT law doesn't allow LPN's to work where there is not an RN in the same building at the same time(except in home care), that includes doctor's offices and clinics. Because of this, there are many jobs for Medical Assistants.

CT RN programs have substantial waiting lists and require all pre-req courses be done ahead. It is not a good state to try to get an RN education. There are many LPN schools, public and private. This is part of why the job market for LPN's is so tight. An LPN who is willing to work night shifts or with no guarantee of hours week or in a very bad LTC facility, can find work. Good, full-time jobs are hard to come by. Anyone who has a choice, should consider CT only if they are an RN. As an RN moving to the state you will have a good number of decent jobs to choose from.