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 Med-Surg, NICU.
I really don't care what you find arrogant. You don't know me and you are a faceless person on the internet. I spoke to my peers and even nurses with up to 30 years experience and they all said the same thing: DO NOT TAKE IT. They said it lowers the standards of nursing (their words not mine) and if everybody started accepting such a low wage then people will start to feel that it's okay to pay nurses pennies. They are trying to take advantage of you because you are a new grad and you will end up resenting the place and resenting yourself for accepting such a low wage for all of that responsibility.That in turn will affect your quality of work and you don't want to start out in a bad way on your first job. I have perfectly logical and sound reasoning as for why I didn't take the job and I can sleep at night knowing I made the right decision. I just don't get why you're so upset. If I'm not complaining, and after all, it is my life...then why are you? People are waaaaaayyyy to concerned with the decisions other people make with their lives that don't affect them.

:uhoh3:

Why do you have such a nasty attitude?

Honestly, it is this SELF-ENTITLEMENT that is getting this generation Y in trouble. If you had taken the job and proven yourself to be a competent nurse, you would have probably gotten a raise or even a better work schedule/position.

You are being very prissy and acting extremely self-entitled. Prove yourself, gain that work experience, and THEN you will have leverage to negotiate higher salaries. Otherwise, you are just another whiney, unemployed nurse who feels as though she deserves all this money without working for it.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.
You are fortunate to have a family to support you financially. Your tone, however, comes across as a little whiney: poor me, poor me. If you are happy with your decision to turn down that job, then be happy about it. Don't place the blame on the employer for you not having a job. And again, those other nurses who are taking those jobs are still going to be in line ahead of you when it comes to getting a job, because they are out there, getting experience which you don't have and which you won't have until you actually start working. If you're okay with that, then so be it.

Exactly.

And what she doesn't realize is the longer she goes unemployed, the harder it will be for her to get a job as a nurse. She wants to get all the benefits without all the hard work. In other words, she wants her cake and eat it too, so the expression goes.

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Specializes in ER/Ortho.

I am a new nurse and I started in the lower part of the bracket that you mentioned. If I would have gotten a GED and started to work for the city here as a trash man I would have made $1 an hour less without all the student loans, time spent, and I honestly think it would be easier. Anyway, I am really hoping that with pay raises etc that I end up making more than the trashman or I will be really ticked off if he ends up better off financially than me at retirement.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

None of you know "crap" money until you have worked in the fast food industry making minimum wage. I honestly can't stand the constant whining of nurses and their salaries when there are even MORE dangerous professions who make FAR LESS than nurses and could even qualify for government assistance.

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Specializes in Vents, Telemetry, Home Care, Home infusion.

Merged threads.

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Layna,

As long as I don't have to support you, feel free to turn down any job you want :)

All joking aside, it seems like you and I have a similar situation (as far as having the family behind us). I think the main thing a few people wanted to say before the conversation got all warped is that when the better job comes along other new grads might get picked over you because they have some experience. Even if it's in LTC/home health, etc. With that logic, it didn't seem to make sense to them that you would turn down a position that would at least allow you to get some experience while waiting for a better position to open up.

It's a gamble on your part. But it's your gamble. I wish you lots of luck though. Hopefully you will find something soon.

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Specializes in Ante-Intra-Postpartum, Post Gyne.

Wealth is in the eye of the beholder and the pockets of a wise investor. My FIL makes $100,000/yr and file bankruptcy because my in laws have no money sense. I make under $40,000/year as an RN in California; with our cost of living it is not that much but I live comfortably because I pay my bills, stay out of debt, and don't buy things I can not afford.

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Specializes in IMCU/Telemetry.

Everyone is focusing on education. If a teacher messes up, a student might get an F. Can be fixed. If a nurse messes up, a pt can die. So we are also being paid for responsability. We also have to carry insurance, and always have the risk of losing our license. We see and help people at the lowest times of their lives. We also work under constant pressure, changing techknlowogy and increasing standerds.

1. Do we get paid enough for what we do - No

2. Is it worth it anyway - Yes :)

(If this post seems out of place, I was answering another thread and got placed here)

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I recently worked for minimum wage ($7.25 hr) as an estate sale assistant for 3 days. Worked my flipping behind off, and I can honestly say I have never worked so hard in my life. The pace was frantic! Granted, I didn't have anyone's life in my hands, but the $162 I made sure didn't go very far!

Work minimum wage for a while, and the $60,000 you are making looks pretty good!

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
You're obviously still upset about the previous posts where we were debating wrong reason vs right reason and you're bitter so you're carrying on with some dumb grudge.

You don't know me. If you did, you would know that I've been on message boards WAY too long to carry grudges from one thread to the next (and if I did, it would take a LOT more than a little verbal tiff for me to carry a grudge). I'm simply responding to your words HERE.

That said, I apologize that my words have angered you so much. Peace.

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Everyone is focusing on education. If a teacher messes up, a student might get an F. Can be fixed. If a nurse messes up, a pt can die. So we are also being paid for responsability.

True. I guess the only response to that is that we should all be very careful.

We also have to carry insurance, and always have the risk of losing our license.

I don't think insurance is a necessity, but you might sleep better at night having it. Just like homeowner's insurance isn't required, but you feel better with it. Yeah, there's always a risk with a license.

We see and help people at the lowest times of their lives.

So if you saw people at their best, should you be paid less? Should a fertility clinic nurse make much less than you if the woman coming in is "at her best" but has decided she wants a kid now and needs a little help?

We also work under constant pressure, changing techknlowogy and increasing standerds.

I think this applies to just about any job. Especially any job where a little bit of education is needed. It's hardly unique to nursing.

1. Do we get paid enough for what we do - No

2. Is it worth it anyway - Yes :)

I highly doubt anybody would come on here saying they make too much, so I take that into consideration when everyone is whining about their pay. I do see a few people say that they are happy with what they get, but I have never seen anybody complain that they make too much. Even if nurses made $75/hr, they would still say "Oh, but it's soooo stressful and we have soooo much responsibility! We're underpaid and overworked! And it's such a difficult program to get into!" It's good that you feel your job is worthwhile though, it's really difficult to stay with something if you don't enjoy it.

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None of you know "crap" money until you have worked in the fast food industry making minimum wage. I honestly can't stand the constant whining of nurses and their salaries when there are even MORE dangerous professions who make FAR LESS than nurses and could even qualify for government assistance.

I didn't have to go to school full time and not be able to work full time for 2 years, racking up bills and loans for tuition and books for a fast food job.

Fast food workers did not have to make these sacrifices to obtain their jobs so I fail to see how we are supposed to feel great about our salaries because we make more than they do. We earned the credentials to command a higher salary than someone who stopped their education after high school.

Name one profession that even comes close to the amount of responsibility that a nurse carries that makes far less than a nurse.

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