Nursing Pay Question?

JWG223 · Jan 31, 2015

So how are some nurses making $30/hr?
I started as a new grad at $20/hr. When do I make it to $30?
Do I have to work like 10 years or do they work 1-2 years somewhere then hop around until they find a higher paying position?
I feel nursing pay varies too much. they just don't want to pay, yet cry about shortages.
Anyone have any tips?
Also I go to payscale.com it shows lowest for RN is like $45K and highest was like $90K for my area. Why am I not in that bracket and not only that I work for a major hospital, nothing small or private.

It varies so much. My second year out, I made $96K gross. Next year, $86K. This year, not quite $70K. First year out, $62K, IIRC.

I worked the same amount, roughly, each year. The variance is due to things like weekend option, benefits vs. no benefits, etc.

Then you take into account cost of living. In NW Louisiana, I live in a low-cost area. In California, $60K would be a joke. Here, it's not bad.

Now that our hospital has gotten a bit proud of itself, they have killed call pay, no diff to float to other floors, no week-end options, oriented their ICU and SDU staff to tele floors, staff the hospital from the critical care areas, etc. etc. and nurses are leaving in droves. Soon they will offer good pay and options again, and the cycle will repeat.

I have stayed at the same job, on the same floor, for almost 5 years. My pay hopped around because I'm a good negotiator. However, I cant out-negotiate system-wide policy changes, sadly. You can only do so much.

That said, my base rate starting was $19.44 an hour, and is currently $22.15? an hour. 84 hours a pay-period is standard for my facility.

I have a friend who makes about $38/hr in San Antonio as weekend-option, as a datapoint.

Also take into account I almost never get called off. Others do sometimes.

Nursing pay can vary so much even at the same base rate...

Humaneclowninscrubs · Jan 31, 2015

So sorry to hear this on your end too. We work very hard. Every penny is earned and also high risk of getting diseases or at least testing positive one year of the PPD test.

So far I have tested negative, but you never know. Is it worth it.

NP's and MD's have it easy and they really earn the right $$$$. They always seem to have a frown on their face. Probably because they know they are making too much $$$ and very happy.

Yea we all need to either do a masters degree or go to med school.

I know many nurses would make awesome Np's/physicians but circumstances, finances sometimes keep these people out.

Hope to see all RN's move up the ladder as many are awesome. The preceptor I have right now has a heart bigger than this world. I just don't know how to explain, but she is wonderful.

Any ways thank you for replying and best of luck on your future endeavors.

VANurse2010 · Jan 31, 2015

So sorry to hear this on your end too. We work very hard. Every penny is earned and also high risk of getting diseases or at least testing positive one year of the PPD test.
So far I have tested negative, but you never know. Is it worth it.
NP's and MD's have it easy and they really earn the right $$$$. They always seem to have a frown on their face. Probably because they know they are making too much $$$ and very happy.
Yea we all need to either do a masters degree or go to med school.
I know many nurses would make awesome Np's/physicians but circumstances, finances sometimes keep these people out.
Hope to see all RN's move up the ladder as many are awesome. The preceptor I have right now has a heart bigger than this world. I just don't know how to explain, but she is wonderful.
Any ways thank you for replying and best of luck on your future endeavors.

Uh, no. I am hardly an MD cheerleader, but they get put through the ringer just as bad as anyone and have far, far more responsibility.

Often the easiest way to make more money is to leave a job and return later.

Libby1987 · Jan 31, 2015

NP's/MD's have it easier?

You need more time on the job to have an accurate perception of other members of the team.

JWG223 · Jan 31, 2015

So sorry to hear this on your end too. We work very hard. Every penny is earned and also high risk of getting diseases or at least testing positive one year of the PPD test.
So far I have tested negative, but you never know. Is it worth it.
NP's and MD's have it easy and they really earn the right $$$$. They always seem to have a frown on their face. Probably because they know they are making too much $$$ and very happy.
Yea we all need to either do a masters degree or go to med school.
I know many nurses would make awesome Np's/physicians but circumstances, finances sometimes keep these people out.
Hope to see all RN's move up the ladder as many are awesome. The preceptor I have right now has a heart bigger than this world. I just don't know how to explain, but she is wonderful.
Any ways thank you for replying and best of luck on your future endeavors.

I will have to disagree. We as nurses can get into this field with 2-4 years of relatively cheap schooling, and in a few years time make $60-100K a year, depending on location, without too much ado. MD's spend quite a bit of money in school. Financially, I feel better off than any MD under 40 who wasn't a trust-fund kid. As far as NP's, well, that is a huge variable, as well. MD/NP's get worked hard, as well. We just don't see all that they have to do and deal with.

As far as disease exposure, I'd honestly say a smart nurse has minimal exposure, really. TB is not as highly contagious in a non-compromised person as one is led to believe, HEP A/B have vaccines, HEP C requires a massive viral load, HIV is an extremely fragile virus. I only know one nurse who contracted a disease at work without knowing how she got it. It was the good 'ol CDIFF. That's in about 5 years of experience. I am sure others have stories. I tend to wear intelligent gear. If I am helping with a line on a HEP/HIV patient, I wear face gear (eyes), etc. I don't care if the MD think's its a good idea or not, he's dealing with me and my face shield mask, or no help happens. They tend to sling those guide wires...see, things like that. Think "what COULD happen, here?" and you should be fine. Just don't OVER think it.

Nah, I am cool with $60K a year or so for what I do. I work only half the year, basically. I work indoors. I have actually been able to bulk while nursing because I don't burn all the muscle off doing a bunch of physical stuff (yeah, I know, we bathe large people and pull them up in bed. That's hardly a lot of activity in my book).

Anyway, take a look around. One of my friends is a SWAT officer. Goes up against meth heads and whatnot all the time. HE took a whole year of buying rails, optics, stocks, etc. off gun-boards to build his entry carbine. I can go out and buy what he did without looking for deals and pay for it in cash from the excess of just a couple of paychecks. So I really don't feel the need to complain.

Just my .02, but look around you. You've got it pretty good! The one thing I will say..."Doctor" is a title that carries serious social punch. It allows you to go places, and date women (and men, I guess, if you're a female doctor or a guy who's "into that") that you wouldn't come close to having a shot with without that fancy title. That is literally the only thing I've ever envied an MD.

sjalv · Jan 31, 2015

I have a job waiting for me once I pass the NCLEX. I'll be an ADN-prepared nurse making $23/hr base, with a $4/hr differential for evening shift, $4.25 for night shift, and $4 for weekends. I'll be getting a $7,000 sign on bonus. I predict I'll be making anywhere from $45k-$47k without overtime. In comparison, my brother graduated with a bachelor's in computer science and was working at a health insurance company as a software developer, and he started out at $50k/yr. So I feel like nurses make very good money for the relatively short time it takes to become a nurse compared to other fields. Consider a social worker, who has to have a master's degree (usually) and makes less than a nurse does.

Of course, I'm only 20 so making $45-$47k/yr when I've only ever made minimum wage before seems like a great deal. Perhaps to a mid-aged person with kids or a home, it may not be.

Note that I live in Oklahoma, where you can get a nice 1br/1bed apartment for $700/mo. Cost of living is definitely a factor when considering salary.

RNperdiem, RN · Jan 31, 2015

Weekend differentials, night differentials and anything with premium pay makes a difference.

As has been said before, different parts of the country have different costs of living.

Don't think the doctors have it much better. In my department they work hard for the money. The hours are way longer than the nurses, the responsibility is huge and they get buried under an impossible workload sometimes. Patients are no nicer to them and residents live at the mercy of their attendings.

I guess it helps if you have ever had a hard and low-paying job for comparision. My sister worked at a plant nursery in the hot sun while saving for school. With my weekend differential and per diem pay rate, I earned as much in a 12 hour day as she did in her near-minimum wage week.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jan 31, 2015

So how are some nurses making $30/hr?
I started as a new grad at $20/hr. When do I make it to $here then hop around until they find a higher paying position?

It's a mix of time, geographic location, and the right job. I've been in the $30s in the hospital and then down into the $25-26 range for SNF... then I jumped to $44/hr for LTACH. This was all in the same metro area. And I'll tell you, I earned every penny of that. I worked waaaaaay harder than I did in the first hospital. I'm back in the ICU now and make a little less than the LTACH paid me, but I love my job and have so much less stress, so I'm fine w/ that.

I also live in a fairly HCOL area. I'm well aware that if I were to move to the deep South I'd be taking a pay cut...or a pay amputation. At least I've heard the pay in that region isn't good.

I should say about my $44/hr also, I worked per diem so got no benefits; they gave me some extra $$/hr in lieu of those benefits. I was on my husband's insurance, and if I had to call out sick it just meant no income, whereas a full-timer could use PTO.

$20/hr for an RN with RN responsibility is ridiculous, though, esp. if payscale.com is accurate and you're below the low end of that range.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Jan 31, 2015

Also, what shift do you work? In my experience, eve's and noc's have been easier to work than days, but they also pay a differential.

klone, MSN, RN · Jan 31, 2015

NP's and MD's have it easy and they really earn the right $$$$. They always seem to have a frown on their face. Probably because they know they are making too much $$$ and very happy.

They have it easy? Seriously?

Humaneclowninscrubs · Jan 31, 2015

Permanent nightshift, otherwise I wouldn't be making anything. Yes, the shift diff helps a million.

It is sad how we have to bargain for the rate, move around like we are scrubbish, uneducated etc...

Time to get a professional degree. RN is seriously zero science applied. Kind of disheartening all though I respect nursing care. Wish they just paid properly so people don't have to do job hopping.

Better to have a higher job which has a higher starting salary and that way I won't have to chase a few dollars here and there. This is not how one should live their life.

See this why we are not getting better at what we do but rather chasing the money to make ends meet.

PA, Doctor or simply something else. Time to move on. thanks for replying.

This is a good first degree and job for a little 20 year old kid, but not for us 30+ old folks.

Also, what shift do you work? In my experience, eve's and noc's have been easier to work than days, but they also pay a differential.