Compensation is an extremely important aspect for the overwhelming majority of people who must work for a living, including the nurses who claim to do their jobs for purely altruistic reasons. Salary surveys can empower nurses because they unearth valuable information.
As we welcome the dawn of a propitious new year that is brimming with plenty of promise and new beginnings, I wanted to bring up a topic that is influential to most people. Of course, the topic at hand is compensation.
While job satisfaction, personal gratification, altruism, achievement of individual goals, a love of science or a fondness for helping patients heal are all deeper reasons why many people might enter and/or stay in the nursing profession in the face of an increasingly challenging era in healthcare provision, it would be disingenuous to deny the significance of pay.
Salary is an important component for the vast majority of people who must work for a living, including those who claim to do their jobs for purely altruistic reasons. As much as we may love the work that we do, most of us would not continue to show up to work each day if our employers suddenly declared, "You will no longer receive a pay check every two weeks. Instead, we will repay you with compassion, compliments, gratitude and appreciation for a job well done."
To be perfectly frank, compassion does not pay the rent, gratitude will not fill the fridge with food, and caring will not prevent the utilities from being disconnected for lack of timely payment. The truth is that we all need appropriate compensation for the vital services that we render, so I wonder about the occasional person who states, "I love nursing so much that I'd do it for free!" I challenge these people to resign from their paying jobs and volunteer their nursing services for free for the remainder of their working years. Only the well-off can pull it off for an extended time.
With that having been said, informal salary surveys can be worth their weight in gold. The salary survey is a tool that benefits nurses because it gleans valuable information:
It makes us more aware of the average rates of pay for others in our profession.
It enables us to be reasonable when pursuing a fair pay rate from a potential employer.
It takes other factors into account, such as geographic variances and differences in specialties.
It regards the fact that salaries can be a tricky topic - some employees would never even dream of disclosing their pay to colleagues, and many organizations have policies in place that prohibit open discussion of wages. In other words, salary can be a very touchy subject.
If you wish to participate in the informal salary survey for 2014, please list the information in the following order:
Geographic location
Pay rate
In which area / specialty do you work?
What type of license do you have (RN or LPN)?
What type of degree and/or certification do you have?
How many years of experience do you have?
Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status?
What shift do you work?
Do you receive any shift differential?
Are you a manager or supervisor?
And if you do not want to provide any salary information, that's perfectly fine, too. Thanks!
My first jobGeographic location: Cleveland, OhPay rate: 24.25 In which area / specialty do you work? Cardiac Step Down UnitWhat type of license do you have (RN or LPN)? RNWhat type of degree and/or certification do you have? At the time ADN, BLS, ACLS & PALSHow many years of experience do you have? New Grad (stay over a year)Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? Full-timeWhat shift do you work? 40hr 2-12hrs shifts & 2-8hrs shift; varied from days & nightsDo you receive any shift differential? Yes, I think night shift got an extra 1.00Are you a manager or supervisor? NoMy Second Job (Current position)Geographic location: Akron, OhPay rate: 27.00In which area / specialty do you work? HospiceWhat type of license do you have (RN or LPN)? RNWhat type of degree and/or certification do you have? BSN, BLS, ACLS, Public Health CertHow many years of experience do you have? As an RN, 1yr & 6 monthsAre you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? Full-timeWhat shift do you work? Monday-Friday, from 8a-4pm, no weekends or holidaysDo you receive any shift differential? No, unless your on-call & get called out, extra 2.00 to your payAre you a manager or supervisor? No
In which area / specialty do you work? Critical Care although we get no differential for specialty area
What type of license do you have (RN or LPN)? RN
What type of degree and/or certification do you have? BSN CCRN (CCRN gives an extra $1000 bonus yearly)
How many years of experience do you have? 7 years
Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? Full time 4 8 hour days/week
What shift do you work? Days 7-3:30
Do you receive any shift differential? PM shift recieves around $3.50/hr extra and NOC gets about $6/hr extra I think. $1/hr extra on weekends, RN Clinician Status gets $4.05/hr more
Geographic location: Far Northnern California (Rural)
Pay rate: $30
In which area / specialty do you work? Med-Surg
What type of license do you have (RN or LPN)? RN
What type of degree and/or certification do you have? BSN
How many years of experience do you have? 8 yr (4.5 as a school nurse).
Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? Per diem 2 12 hr shifts/wk
What shift do you work? 6A-6P
Do you receive any shift differential? Yes, $1.00/hr.
Are you a manager or supervisor? No although I am "lead nurse" when a less senior nurse is also working the shift. (We're such a small hospital we never have more than 2 RNs working a shift.)
Also work part time 22 hrs week as a school nurse making $42/hr but am returning to hospital based nursing as I transition out of school nurse position.
HarryTheCat, MSN, RN
152 Posts
1) Tennessee
2) $33.50/hr
3) Acute Psych
4) RN
5) BSN (MSN in progress)
6) 5 years
7) Full-time
8) Day shift (3 12-hour shifts per week but paid for 40/wk.)
9) Weekend differential for Sat. and Sun. if scheduled
10) No