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

Nurses General Nursing

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

Specializes in Anesthesia.

I make over a 100K/yr just as Captain in the AF. That doesn't count any of my bonuses or speciality pays. I didn't really come into nursing for the money though. I can make about double of what I make now on the civilian side, but for now I am fairly happy doing what I do in the military.

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Specializes in NICU, Nursery.

To OP:

Dude, why are you taking up Nursing in the first place? If you were making much money as a Pilot then just keep doing that in my opinion. If money will become your motivation in this career, you will become very frustrated as a lot of people don't even have jobs as an RN these days.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
To OP:

Dude, why are you taking up Nursing in the first place? If you were making much money as a Pilot then just keep doing that in my opinion.

Remaining a pilot is easier said than done. The airline industry has been declining and retracting as consumers are opting to catch less flights. Many unemployed pilots, engineers, teachers, and other laid-off professionals are jumping into the nursing bandwagon with hopes of a switching to a career that they mistakenly believe is recession-proof.
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Specializes in Med/Surg, LTC/Geriatric.

Wow, I didn't realize my paycheque was fake money...:rolleyes:

I went into nursing for the love of it.. and because I'm now making almost double my previous wage as a medical secretary.

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no one in a serving profession which would be nurses, teachers, etc would really be able to put a price on what they do.

yes as a nurse you will be exposed to life threatening diseases but you'll be paid more than enough to live on. I don't know of any nurses who don't know where their next meal is coming from.

I would hope that people who go into serving professions would not do it for the money, but some people do and that's never going to change probably.

yes it's hard to find nursing jobs atm, but think of teachers who all get laid off every school yr as well.

imho, nurses wages are great. I'm a cna and I don't ever think that I don't get paid enough to do what I do, because honestly I'm not thinking, oh I just made eleven bucks the past hr and was almiost hit by a dementia client or am doing hospice on a aids patient etc etc etc. I just try to help the people. I don't know, it's not a job to me. It's just what I do every day. Not to sound corny but that's the only way I know how to say it.

anyway, it would be nice if everyone was paid enough to have food on the table no matter what job they have, but haven't seen that yet.

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

Ouch.

Not just a loss of money but a loss of autonomy, prestige, coolness, and a fabulous schedule (as my buddy who's a 737 jockey for SWA says, "It's better than working for a living.")

Sorry.

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Specializes in being a Credible Source.
Remaining a pilot is easier said than done. The airline industry has been declining and retracting as consumers are opting to catch less flights. Many unemployed pilots, engineers, teachers, and other laid-off professionals are jumping into the nursing bandwagon with hopes of a switching to a career that they mistakenly believe is recession-proof.
That's me... except that I was under no illusion about it being recession-proof... just a bit more resistant than the field of engineering that I practiced... and honestly, the competition isn't quite as stiff... and there are a whole lot more places employing lots of nurses than there are for engineers.

Pilots who have little seniority are pretty much screwed, especially since the forced-retirement age was indexed up to 65. Lots of dudes flying for the legacy carriers have been bumped down the line and out of a job altogether with no realistic expectation of callback anytime soon.

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Specializes in Academe.

3 years ago when i just passed the boards.

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Specializes in Adolescent Psych, PICU.

I'm 36yo mother of 2 who went from making $9/he to (with my shift diff, etc) $24-$28/hr. My wages basically tripled, my whole family has health insurance, I get pto and work a full 40 hours a week and have a laid back and fun nursing job.....I sure ain't gonna complain : )

I'm also applying to grad school where I will make even more money with more responsibility and an even better schedule.

I make more money now than most people I personally know......but then again im not hanging around with pilots, lawyers, etc.

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I make good money as a nurse at $35-$39 an hour on 3/12s. I could make O/T if I wanted or even get another job on my off days but I like killing myself 3 days and having 4 off.

I will add that for the responsibility we have I do think we should be paid even more. It isn't easy work by any stretch of the imagination.

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If you chose Nursing to make "the real money" then you chose the wrong career. I suggest you quit so that the thousands of new grad nurses, such as myself, could get hired. It has been tough in this economy to get hired because "new grad RNs" don't have RN experience but how can we get that experience if no one will hire us?? So maybe those who are complaining should quit so that those who joined this career for the right reasons can start working.

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Specializes in L&D, QI, Public Health.
If you chose Nursing to make "the real money" then you chose the wrong career. I suggest you quit so that the thousands of new grad nurses, such as myself, could get hired. It has been tough in this economy to get hired because "new grad RNs" don't have RN experience but how can we get that experience if no one will hire us?? So maybe those who are complaining should quit so that those who joined this career for the right reasons can start working.

Oh please. Stop with the dramatics. Picking a profession based on salary is a valid reason. You would hope that the people in nursing are caring, nurturing people, but the fact one wants to make a 'healthy' salary or 'make real money' does not negate one's nurturing character.

I really hope you can find a job. It's no fun being unemployed. While I'm thankful I have a job, trust me, I could and quite frankly should be making more money for all the work that I do. And I'm not going to apologize for thinking that way. My patients love me and my co-workers respect me, so I'm good.

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