Oklahoma Nurses get paid WHAT?!

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I'm a new nurse who has just graduated with my BSN and I'm moving to OK soon and I was doing a little research and I found out OK nurses get paid 18.50/ hr please tell me this a joke. I'm from florida where they start GNs at atleast 22/hr!!!! Please OK nurses shine some light!

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
Oklahoma has been and will continue to be more of a Poverty state as opposed to am "At Will State". Okla has always boasted one the highest if not the highest unemployment rates in the nation historically.

At the present time, Oklahoma has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, at about 5 percent. States such as California and Michigan have unemployment rates that are hovering in the 11 percent range.

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At the present time, Oklahoma has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the nation, at about 5 percent. States such as California and Michigan have unemployment rates that are hovering in the 11 percent range.

Yes but in Okla they keep workmans comp people legally listed

as working so those percentages of unemployment do not reflect the actual number of people not working.

TuTonka

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Specializes in Dialysis.
the cna's at my hospital get $19.00 an hour. the new grad RN's start at $26.00 an hour. $18.50 an hour is pretty sad even for a low wage state for a RN. i bet burger king employees get paid more...

I'm moving to _________!!(insert where Ohmeowzer lives)

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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

Sounds about right for a new grad. I think most of the hospitals here in OK start new grads at $18.65-$19.50/hr.

I live in OK and when I grad last year (May '08) my starting salary at OUMedical Center was $18.65 hr. But now a year later I'm making $23.50/hr at a different hospital. I do believe OUMed Center is one of the lowest paying hospitals though.

Most of the RN I know and work with who have experience are making $30/hr.

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Specializes in ICU.

My family was thinking about moving to OK. We had hubby's parents search their newspaper for rental homes, they are in Lawton Ok. There was a beautiful 4 bedroom brick home for $400 a month.. I just couldn't believe it.. the took pictures and emailed them to me,,, it was crazy.

I still can't believe it.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Home Health.

You guys make me feel bad. You would crap if you knew what I made at the hospital.....18.44. Thats in kentucky. Thats with 4 years experience and they suspended our raises for this year.

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Specializes in ICU.
You guys make me feel bad. You would crap if you knew what I made at the hospital.....18.44. Thats in kentucky. Thats with 4 years experience and they suspended our raises for this year.

I just crapped. Now, who's going to wipe my butt? lol (pushes call button)

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This is accurate I worked as a CNA in an Oklahoma nursing home, we made $8.35/hour. LPN's made $15.50 an hour and RN's made $18.50/hour. Our RN's rarely passed pills did, very few blood sugar checks. They had very few treatments, never passed trays, just answered phones, charted, did blood sugar checks, any incident reports, and that was about it.

Houses in our town we were rarely over $100k and those were for $350-700K houses in most other states. In large cities the RN's made around $24/hour. Oklahoma does have a very stable economy compared to the other states at this time. Taxes aren't as crazy as other states either.

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Specializes in ER and Home Health.
My family was thinking about moving to OK. We had hubby's parents search their newspaper for rental homes, they are in Lawton Ok. There was a beautiful 4 bedroom brick home for $400 a month.. I just couldn't believe it.. the took pictures and emailed them to me,,, it was crazy.

I still can't believe it.

Oklahoma is a major poverty state. Even with all the Indian nation Casinos.

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Specializes in Management, Emergency, Psych, Med Surg.

That is about right for that area, non union nurses.

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Specializes in Critical care, tele, Medical-Surgical.

Lots of good people in Oklahoma.

If we could find a buyer and DH didn't have a circle of friends we could sell our little CA house and buy a nicer one near my family.

Yes I think some in Texas have a similat cost of living so OK nurses could be paid more.

Don't give up on unions. They said the same about Texas and Nevada, both so called "right to work' states:

http://www.calnurses.org/nnoc/texas/pdf/0408_cyfair_victory.pdf

The song "Union Maid" was written in Oklahoma by Woody Guthrie, who was born in Okema, OK.

His son sings it here - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q9iuYDK2x-o&feature=related

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Those wages sound right to me. I'm about to finish my LPN (start RN in August) and starting pay at hospitals is about $14-15/hr and LTC closer to $20. RN pay is about $18-20/hr before shift diff.

It is true that cost of living is cheap (my 1000sq ft, 2 bdrm aprt is $530mo), but it's also true that if you factor in cost of living, we are still well below average for professions like nursing and teaching. Oklahoma has a huge problem with losing nurses and teachers across the border to TX where cost of living is about the same, but the wages are higher. New teachers here make just over $20k/yr, but in TX they start closer to $40k.

Another discouraging thing I learned yesterday is that if you get a hiring bonus in OK it's subject to taxation at 40%.

If I didn't have family here, my ds and I would definitely live elsewhere.

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