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!
What type of degree and/or certification do you have? MSN, CCRN and board certified in peds
How many years of experience do you have? 34
Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? - part-time 24/ week
What shift do you work? nights
Do you receive any shift differential? yes 12% nights and 12% weekend and $189/ two weeks for clinical ladder
Are you a manager or supervisor? - not only no but HECK NO
I also have a prn job in home care that pays $24.50/ hour and is completely at my discretion regarding hours and days. It's kind of my paid 'quiet time' :)
Specializes in SDU, Tele, Hospice, Radiology, Education.
*Geographic location: WV*Pay rate: a little over $25 base*In which area / specialty do you work? Radiology*What type of license do you have (RN or LPN)? RN*What type of degree and/or certification do you have? MSN, ACLS, BLS*How many years of experience do you have? : 7 years*Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? FT*What shift do you work? days, 0730-1600*Do you receive any shift differential? If I would pick up shifts on the floor, yes I would. I can't stand the thought of working on the floors again though!*Are you a manager or supervisor? No way! Part of the reason I started back in the hospitals, was so I wouldn't have to be a manager or super anymore!
Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.
Geographic location: Northeast
Pay rate: $61/hr salaried
In which area / specialty do you work? Long Term Care
What type of license do you have (RN or LPN)?RN
What type of degree and/or certification do you have? Bachelor's(BA) with certification as a DNS in LTC and a certificate in gerontological nursing
How many years of experience do you have? 31
Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? full...45-55 hours a week ....more if we're in survey
What shift do you work? 8-5...on call 24/7
Do you receive any shift differential? are you joking
Are you a manager or supervisor? I am the director of nursing
I worked on Cape Cod for years and never made the same salary I'm making on the other side of the bridge.
My staff nurses start in the low 20's with shift diff. We are one of the few skilled facilities around who is still giving raises so my long standing RNs are paid in the high 30's low 40's.
Geographic location- Skilled Nursing Facility in a county north of Tampa, Florida
Pay rate-$17 dollars/hour
In which area / specialty do you work? Rehab/Medicare Unit
What type of license do you have (RN or LPN)? LPN
What type of degree and/or certification do you have? Nursing Diploma
How many years of experience do you have? 3 years previous CNA experience, 2 Years Nursing Experience
Are you full-time, part-time, or casual / per diem / PRN status? Full Time
What shift do you work? Day Shift (7-3)
Do you receive any shift differential? On the weekends its $1 extra an hour. If you stay for a double, anything after 8 hours in one day is Time and a half.
meanmaryjean, DNP, RN
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