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

Argo · Jul 4, 2010

Please not that this is not directed at any one person in general, just at the general "entitled bunch" within our entire population as nurses and can be layed onto the general population too.

lol..... reading this whole thread is pretty interesting. there is a lot of whining here. Personally I can honestly say I am very happy with what I am paid and have not realized that I am not making real money.... The harder you work, the more you will get paid. You cant think you are going to get paid because you are entitled to it because of the work your peers have done to make nursing what it is. You have to put your own work into your own wage. Entitlement is a personal though, not reality at all. The generation that is about 15-30 right now has a whole lot of entitled people in it. People that feel that they should be making 100k a year working at walmart, feel they should just be able to live of the government their whole life, people that think they should have 50k cars and name brand clothes..... BUT DONT WANT TO EARN IT.

Just because your an RN doesnt mean you should hop out of school making

$40/hr, get real. TAke the $20-25/hr and ****, prove yourself as a worthy employee/nurse and you will make more money. Get into a specialty and get experience and you will make more money. Get more education and you will make more money. Actually why dont you forget about how much you can make off of your RN and take care of some patients like they need to be taken care of. The money will come. If your in it for money then find another career that is driven by money and be successful in that. If your not in it for money and you actually care about nursing and your patients..... the money will come. It isnt going to be surved on that silver spoon you were apparently born with in your mouth.

I am so tired of working with/around nurses that work on our nursing floors that whine constatly while chit chating at the nursing station all shift long. Come one people go do some nursing care and be quiet. Your patients need to be cared about and cared for, quit whining about what you think your entitled to and earn it.

Also, my first full year of nursing I made $101k, second full year I made 130k, this year im on schedule for a little more. But before you **** and moan that I make so much, like what usually happens...... I bust my rear all day, working 5 days a week, sometimes 6 no less than 10 hours a day normally. Last week.... monday 12 hrs, tuesday 13.5 hrs, wed 11 hrs, thurs 17 hrs, fri 12 hrs, sat/sun on call and called in sat 4 hrs. mon-fri on call for open heart..... I would say that is good money but I work hard and earn it. I put in 12 years in surgery prior to getting my RN making $10-16/hr over the years as a scrub tech to a purchasing manager.

Hithere · Jul 4, 2010

When the HIV, hepatitis B/c patient was slinging poop at me in full detox in 4 point restraints, who went into renal hepatic renal failure and it took 4 of us to insert a foley, drop an NGT for Kayexallate, only for her to sling the poop at me in full blown restraints and spit at me while I tried to do an assessment.
No money, no money, no money... is worth that.
get real noobs... this is what it is. There is never enough money to do what we do... period. That's what it took, and I never looked back. noobs

I've had similar events like this happen when I was working at a group home (many moons ago)--and I got paid less than $8/hr. It was part of the job--not my favorite by any stretch, but the good times outweighed moments like that 100 to 1, so I stayed. ...Out of curiosity, what is "enough money"?

Guest 360983 · Jul 4, 2010

So nursing is a profession.

My fiance is in advertising. When I graduate, I'll be making about as much as he is, though he'll have 5 years experience at that point. My sister is involved in research. She makes $25k a year in a high cost of living area with a bachelor's. Her boyfriend has a degree in accounting (not a CPA). He currently makes $0 as he was just laid off. Previously he was making about $40k in a high cost of living area but did not have any sort of benefits.

My point is that wages and job situations for most college grads suck right now. My fiance's college friends graduated 3-4 years ago and not a single one has avoided layoffs, pay cuts, benefits being snatched away, promised raises not materializing, etc. I see this happening at my current job, too. I have twice as much work as I did last year because other people were laid off and I'm expected to do their work as well. I'm hourly with an OT freeze, so I'm expected to do all this extra work within the same time it took me to do my original work load.

The situation nurses find themselves in is not limited just to nursing. The entire country is going through it--cuts in benefits, demands for increased productivity due to layoffs, promised raises disappearing, etc.

I still think that any profession that allows a single breadwinner to take care of a family of 4 and remain solidly middle class is paid well. I'm also thankful that nursing is hourly, so OT is a possibility.

SharonH, RN · Jul 4, 2010

I've had similar events like this happen when I was working at a group home (many moons ago)--and I got paid less than $8/hr. It was part of the job--not my favorite by any stretch, but the good times outweighed moments like that 100 to 1, so I stayed. ...Out of curiosity, what is "enough money"?

The real question is why aren't you more upset that you were paid so little for what is an essential and valuable service for certain members of our society? You should be angry that the work was valued so little.

GHGoonette, BSN, RN · Jul 4, 2010

I did not reply to this thread, but for some reason I am getting constant email notifications on it! SO, I might as well respond to it! I never expected to earn much as a nurse. In fact, I was a "Home Executive", with a hard working electronics engineer husband and 2 children, but an inner voice kept whispering to me "go into nursing, go into nursing." At the age of 28, I finally listened to that little voice, and applied to one of the large training hospitals in the Western Cape (South Africa). I qualified in 1986, and moved to the private sector in 1990, and now have 20 years experience as a Recovery Room RN. My daughter, on the other hand, studied Chemical Engineering, got her BSC, and now works for a large American company, earning THREE TIMES my salary! Now, my son-the lazy one of the family-went into IT, and he is earning 1,5 times my salary! And you know what? I'm proud of them, I'm HAPPY for them-but I wouldn't change my job for ANYTHING!

carolmaccas66, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2010

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

Hey PrincessBride,

Maybe I should apply to do clerical work/unit secretary work in the US! (planning on going to either UK or Darwin in Oz next year). The most I ever got doing clerical work was $24 p/hour (that is all the Aussie government will pay to agency staff), even if you have many skills (I have worked in various jobs in hospitals for 24 years this year). Iit's pretty pathetic, no wonder so many staff walk out and leave.

My pay rates for nursing now:

Weekdays are 38.58 p/hour.

Saturdays are: $48.23 p/hour.

Sundays are about $44.00 p/hour (but I am not a very high level RN yet).

So it isn't bad (if you get the shifts). Many agencies pre-book you for shifts, then they get cancelled so you don't always make that money. As I said if I worked every weekend, I would lose most of it in tax, so I spread it out now. But weekends can be better cos there aren't so many managers around, and you can sometimes actually get to talk to a patient - amazing!!

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2010

With the idea of pay being thrown around, I can't help but remember how I felt when I was a CNA and even more strongly feel now:

Its not about the money. And, no, this is not a "nurses must have a calling other than money" post. I said it when I was a CNA, I said it in nursing school, and I say it now.

Nurses do not need more money. It wont solve anything. Even if we get our way and salaries/wages go up.............it comes back to us in the form of poor work conditions. When the hospital has to pay its nurses X amt. more, Y amt. is taken from environmental services/maintenance/dietary etc. Anything not being done due to the budget cuts to make Y amt. is then considered a "nursing duty".

Manager on my unit recently had a meeting letting people know if trash cans on the unit (not the pt. rooms.............places like the public bathroom etc) are not emptied each shift, she would write up the charge nurse. :eek: Now, don't get me wrong, I believe in going the extra mile to help out in bad times and I do not think I am above emptying a trash can BUT..........at the same time, our units acuity has gone up and up and up (because they can't keep the ICU staffed, so the pt's they used to take are now transplanted to us). When I have a team of 8 pt's, two of which have no business being on our unit due to acuity, emptying the trash just does not reach the priority radar.

You could add $10 to my wages and I still would not be happy with this situation. What I want instead of higher wages is a better work environment. Stop cutting the CNA's because we are one pt. away from meeting the min. census to keep them.........only to give us three admits an hour later, and then wonder why people don't get their water pitcher refilled. Or, :eek: (gasp, the thought makes me hold my breath) let there be an extra worker on the unit to take care of all the triffle/endless demands the old ladies pt's are making on an ongoing basis so your service survey results will actually be 5's instead of 3's with a few 4's sprinkled in.

whichone'spink, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2010

The way the system is, the higher the degree one has, usually the higher the compensation. So if you really want to make a lot of money, higher ed is the way to go. And at least with a master's in nursing, one is not just confined to academia, which is the case with a lot of other masters degrees.

liberty_bell · Jul 5, 2010

Not a nurse yet, but for a 22 year old such as myself, making $35 - 45(Socal) an hour IS real money to me.

Sorry but new grad RN make around $30'hr. You can make 35-45 in socal but with much experience.

futurenurse310 · Jul 5, 2010

Sorry but new grad RN make around $30'hr. You can make 35-45 in socal but with much experience.

Sorry but I know 2 new grads that landed 45 an hour jobs recently. This is in the Gardena and Long Beach area.

evolvingrn, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2010

Sorry but I know 2 new grads that landed 45 an hour jobs recently. This is in the Gardena and Long Beach area.

I was going to say....i live in a much less costly area (although still considered higher) and with my differentials im at 33-36 hr my friend is at a similar rate and another friend is even higher.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Jul 5, 2010

Sorry but new grad RN make around $30'hr. You can make 35-45 in socal but with much experience.

Sorry but I know 2 new grads that landed 45 an hour jobs recently. This is in the Gardena and Long Beach area.

I was going to say....i live in a much less costly area (although still considered higher) and with my differentials im at 33-36 hr my friend is at a similar rate and another friend is even higher.

My CNA can beat up your CNA.