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

You can make that as a nurse, in some places. (12k)

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Specializes in M/S, Travel Nursing, Pulmonary.
Am an RN with 33 years experience, married to a retired airline pilot, with 38 years in that profession..... maybe I can lend some light to this discussion. My husband retired after 38 years with Hawaiian Airlines (as the number one on the "list") and at that time he made about 12K a year. He retired just before the age limit was raised to 65, but he wasn't going to stay longer anyway. So to the OP: you say you were laid off as a pilot and making 12K a year, wow! who laid you off and that airline must be in real trouble because you had to be fairly high on their seniority list? That being said, it sucks to go on furlough, which most pilots have at least once in their career.

To others: it's very hard to go and just get another flying job....you can't just go to another airline who might be hiring.....even with all your thousands of hours of experience, you will still go to the bottom of THEIR list and you'll be making peanuts AND be the first one furloughed....again.

To all of those who think a flying career is so romantic: it's not always. We have been blessed to see some of the most fantastic places in the world, but we don't fly free, unless it's on our own airline....so if someone works for American or United, you can go "free" to more places, but if you fly for another carrier that doesn't have so many destinations, you will pay....and of course, it's always standby, and there's a dress code and you can get on the plane and then yet taken off again before it even leaves the gate.

Nursing and aviation couple are numerous, however...it seems to work.

And to answer the original question: I started nursing school in 1974. I needed to support myself and two kids.....I knew I could do that as a nurse....my spouse (now the ex) was a loser/abuser. When I got out of nursing school in 1976, my starting salary was $5.84 an hour.....now 33 year laters I am pushing $50 an hour as a perdiem nurse. I do not work fulltime, but probably could if I needed to or chose to.

Landscaping is exactly like this. EXTREMELY tribal.

You can be a supervisor for company A for ten years, learn all there is to know about landscaping (everything beyond pushing the mower) and know the business inside and out. It won't matter to anyone except the person you are working for at the time. If you jump ship or your company closes shop, you are just another landscape laborer. When you go to apply for jobs with other companies, you are at the bottom of the ladder, period, no exception. You'll be certified in handling chemicals, know how to doctor sick trees and all sorts of things other laborers aren't interested in learning, but they are still in front of you because they've been there longer.

I think this aspect of landscaping contributes the flooding of the field with alcoholism. Seriously, that field is just chalk full of the problem. I've never seen such heavy daily drinking before or since.

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I am thrilled to work in a supportive environment, with a 8 to 4 M-F weekends and holidays off job, where I actually get to enjoy two breaks and an hour lunch. It's a different kind of nursing but I'm not sure yet if I really do miss floor nursing. My job can be a bit stale at times..and the pay is not outstanding, but I can live alone in a decent apartment in Hawaii, and still have money left over each money. So to me,that's good money. I have my health thank goodness, and that's wealth.

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Specializes in SICU, MICU, Med/Surg, ER, Private Duty.

yes nurse make money.. i am am thank full for this job..

soo many young people that graduated out of college, makes a fraction to the starting salary what new grads nurses make, in my area...

so.. although the job can be stressfull.. i'm thankfull for having this job.. its recession proof! opens all doors to many options in my career..

thank god for that

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Specializes in SICU, MICU, Med/Surg, ER, Private Duty.

i have friends and family that worked for 20 years at a particular job, not nursing related make 15 dollars an hour... where as myself, i've been a nurse for 8 years, and I am make three times money and I only been working 8 years! so yes.. the job isn't glamorous, but I am thankfull for this profession...

New grad nurses salary starts is double the salary than new graduates from many, many professions...

It is recession proof! and options are so open to specific specialties.~

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Specializes in Nurse Leader specializing in Labor & Delivery.
I'm sorry, but I don't see where I said that "getting into nursing because it makes good money, considering the education required, and it's more recession-proof than most other professions" is the WRONG reason.

If that's not what you're saying, then I'm not referring to you. If the shoe doesn't fit and all that...

THe thing is, there is a lot of middle ground between getting into nursing out of greed and getting into nursing out of complete altruism. As long as a nurse is respectful of his/her pts and knows the job, who are you or I to say it's a "wrong" reason?

And as far as a story your hairdresser heard about this one guy....well, you gotta admit it does sound a bit specious.

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Specializes in LTC Rehab Med/Surg.

I've been reading about wages on this site for months, and wonder where do you people work. NO NURSE in the hospital where I work makes $45 dollars an hour unless it's overtime, and then it would be a stretch. New grads make less than $20 for M/S.

I guess it's possible I'm out of the salary loop and uniformed as we never discuss our wages at work. But I don't think so. The next time someone posts a wage, could you also include your part of the country, specialty, and years of experience?

I am not complaining. I make a nice living in the area where I live.

Thanks. Just curious.

:)

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Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.

I live in Western Washington....I have 33 years experience....specialty is OB but there's no extra money for that. Our starting wage for new grads $25...I think. We are union, so all wages are posted, based on years of experience. As a per diem nurse, I get an extra 15% in lieu of benefits.

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Real Money? Right now I have a high school diploma and make next to nothing. A job that starts in the $20s/hr with benefits and paid vacations sounds like real money to me!

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I worked in social services. 2 degrees along with being bilingual will get you $13/hr to start (assuming you can even find a job). So yeah, I feel pretty fortunate to be a nurse.

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You will not be making this money right out of nursing school though.

A classmate of mines just got hired at an hospital at $37 per hour in San Francisco and that is about the average pay here in the bay area. She is a new grad.

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Specializes in L & D; Postpartum.
A classmate of mines just got hired at an hospital at $37 per hour in San Francisco and that is about the average pay here in the bay area. She is a new grad.

Starting salary has a lot to do with where you live. The cost of living in the SF is high, thus the starting salaries there are high.

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