how old were you when you realized you weren't going to make real money as a nurse

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Laid off pilot use to make 12K a month, sitting in nursing school. That's when

Specializes in ICU/ER.

Morphed,

Thank you! My malpractice is $400/yr. Lots of my coworkers have it but not all. If something does happen hospitals coverage is often inadequate and you can lose everything. better safe than sorry! I have never been sanctioned or disciplined at work, but mine is a little high because of ICU. Apparently a lot of lawsuits come from there. There are different kinds you can carry. i would look into your hospitals coverage and hunt on the net if it is as inadequate as most hospitals!!!!

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Morphed,

Thank you! My malpractice is $400/yr. Lots of my coworkers have it but not all. If something does happen hospitals coverage is often inadequate and you can lose everything. better safe than sorry! I have never been sanctioned or disciplined at work, but mine is a little high because of ICU. Apparently a lot of lawsuits come from there. There are different kinds you can carry. i would look into your hospitals coverage and hunt on the net if it is as inadequate as most hospitals!!!!

Oh, $400 is not so bad I guess. I thought it was a couple thousand! Thanks for the advice, it's something I will definitely consider!

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ValleyFair! Another Minnesotan?

Ya sure you betcha.....

Seriously, I have nearly doubled my annual income as I enter my second year of practice. According to EPI my starting salary put me almost exactly on the average middle class income spot for a family of 4.

I started as a nurse with 5 weeks AL plus 2 weeks SL. (It took me 20 years working for the state to get to that point.) I saw an immediate 20K/year raise from my state job with a continued upward trajectory.

My NP will be paid for by my employer.

I don't work OT but with my differentials etc I am on track to earn 70,000 this year.

I'll never be rich but I certainly can see the benefits to this career.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
To be an RN, you need 2 years of education. Starting out is around $20. If that's not "real" enough for you, set aside some time and go get a degree in something else or work on advancing your nursing degree. It really blows my mind that people with a 2 year degree complain about how much they get paid.

A 2 year degree in ANYTHING ELSE means NOTHING, it won't help you find a job and a totally unrelated job you find will generally be working in a retail store or as an office assistant getting paid minimum wage.

And I know that people love to say that it really takes 3-5 years to get an ADN because of prereqs. But guess what, those are a few classes you need to take before you getting accepted into the program, it's not like you're going to school full time for five years.

A great majority of bachelor degrees don't even mean much anymore and nurses are complaining about the amount of money they get paid for 2 years of schooling? Amazing.

Exactly. Making $50,000/yr for only an ASSOCIATE'S is nothing to complain about, and when there are BSN nurses making LESS than someone with a 2-year degree, then it just makes even harder to emphasize with 2 year degree Nurse. There are some nurses with AA degrees making as much money as my dad with TWO Bachelor's degrees (English and Accounting).

If one is going to complain about the lack of "real" money in Nursing, then that someone should have gone into a different field. I have done some extensive research in Nurses' salaries, job outlooks, type of fields, and I can honestly say that, I will be VERY happy to be making that $25/hr.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
I too did clerical/administrative work for a measly $20 p/hour before becoming a nurse. Yes you can get good jobs, etc, but sometimes those jobs are not forthcoming. Also when you make more money - I work more weekends than weekdays - much of it goes on tax. So your income will be what is left after tax - and I get a lot of tax taken out my pay, which annoys the hell out of me. I thought having a degree & being an RN would mean I have more money to myself; not so (that is what everyone told me anyway). And trying to get permanent jobs here is nearly impossible, as the Australian government has cut down drastically on advertising permanent nursing jobs where you need a ton of experience and 2 degrees just to apply. I know people who have permanent nursing jobs & do agency on the weekend just to pay their bills. So for those who make $80,000 a year I hope that is after tax. It would be nice to have that money! And if you work extra hours, it just goes in tax, sad but true.

Sometimes working extra hours just isn't worth it anymore.

A measly 20/hr for clerical work? Want to trade? :p

I'm not sure how the system works in Australia, but here in the U.S., it pays to do a significant amount of overtime. And so as long as you are not making a ridiculous 100,000/yr or live in a state with high tax rates, you will end up having more money to save/spend for yourself.

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Specializes in NICU.

$20/hr is nothing where I live. An agency wanted to pay me $20/hr to work in a nursing home all just because I was a new grad. Needless to say I turned it down. Sorry no offense to anyone here but if I'm a new grad with a BSN I'm not working for $20/hr. At what point do you say enough is enough? I wasn't going to allow them to take advantage of me for a measly $20/hr. Not when the starting salary in my area is $38/hr for a new grad BSN.

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
Sorry no offense to anyone here but if I'm a new grad with a BSN I'm not working for $20/hr.

I bet you'd be singing a different tune if you were in one of the many areas in which new grads might go 6-12 months or longer before finding work.

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$20/hr is nothing where I live. An agency wanted to pay me $20/hr to work in a nursing home all just because I was a new grad. Needless to say I turned it down. Sorry no offense to anyone here but if I'm a new grad with a BSN I'm not working for $20/hr. At what point do you say enough is enough? I wasn't going to allow them to take advantage of me for a measly $20/hr. Not when the starting salary in my area is $38/hr for a new grad BSN.

Where do you live?

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WOW, and I'm guessing you personally know this person and that is how you're judging their commitment to nursing?

I am judging their commitment to nursing by their own words they chose to post on a message board.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
$20/hr is nothing where I live. An agency wanted to pay me $20/hr to work in a nursing home all just because I was a new grad. Needless to say I turned it down. Sorry no offense to anyone here but if I'm a new grad with a BSN I'm not working for $20/hr. At what point do you say enough is enough? I wasn't going to allow them to take advantage of me for a measly $20/hr. Not when the starting salary in my area is $38/hr for a new grad BSN.

Yeah, but is that $38/hr starting salary for HOSPITAL nurses? If so, then you can't really apply that amount to a Nursing home because nursing homes tend to be less stressful working environments.

New grads have no right to demand high salaries. $20/hr starting at a nursing home is decent pay. Enough to live on and even save some until you get a raise.

The problem here is that some nurses just demand more and more. $20/hr isn't enough, $25, 30/hr...not enough. Only a person with YEARS of nursing experience should have the right to negotiate a very high salary.

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Specializes in pulm/cardiology pcu, surgical onc.
Yeah, but is that $38/hr starting salary for HOSPITAL nurses? If so, then you can't really apply that amount to a Nursing home because nursing homes tend to be less stressful working environments.

New grads have no right to demand high salaries. $20/hr starting at a nursing home is decent pay. Enough to live on and even save some until you get a raise.

The problem here is that some nurses just demand more and more. $20/hr isn't enough, $25, 30/hr...not enough. Only a person with YEARS of nursing experience should have the right to negotiate a very high salary.

A new grad must also keep in mind that many pay offers are non negotiable. If it's a union job then you'll be shown the door if the pay isn't considered 'enough'

Oh and p.s. To LaynaER- new grad BSN's make the same in many areas as an associates, good luck there.

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When it comes down to it, no matter which path you take, if you earn an ADN, you've earned a two year degree. Nothing more, nothing less.

The problem with your deconstruction (nothing more, nothing less) is that you are discounting the fact that a two-year nursing degree is not comparable to other two year degrees: for example, Associate in Arts or Science from a community college. It is a very simple and common achievement to go two years full time and get those other associate's degrees, it is extremely rare to find a ADN graduate who went two years only.

Take any number of professions: Accounting, Engineering, Marketing, Finance, Computer Science,....you will not find companies hiring Associates and Bachelors degree graduates for the same positions at the same pay rates. The ad will say "Bachelor's in XXX" required.

My inclusion of the GPA requirements is more evidence that an ADN is actually, "quite more" than an AA or AS. There are practically zero requirements to begin a regular Associates of Science or Arts degree. I think you would agree that the requirements to even begin an ADN program are by comparison incredibly stringent.

I was not lamenting the GPA requirement, just pointing out the difference.

Calling an ADN "nothing more, nothing less" than any other two year degree is simply ludicrous. Calling it an extremely challenging to get degree that requires a great deal more time, skill, cost, and effort than other two year degrees would be more accurate.

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