Pay increase after 1st year of experience?

[ADPIE2008]

I was a new grad when I was hired and started out at the new grad pay rate of $22.75/hour as my base pay plus differentials. I work on a women's services floor of a hospital in the south. I absolutely LOVE my job and my coworkers. :heartbeat Not long ago, everyone got pay raises, mine was $.17/hr. I'm wondering if I should expect or ask for a pay raise now that I know what I'm doing. I don't expect to make the same as the nurses who have been there for years, but I do think I'm worth much more now than I was a year ago. Also, I plan to be in this position, at this hospital for a long time. I have no intention of jumping to another job or hospital. If you do think I should ask for a pay raise, how much should I ask for???

[Crux1024]

Depends on how your facility hands out raises. I can ask all I want at my facility, but raises are once a year only (July), based on merit and peer reviews. Have you checked to see what is the procedure where you are? I would think that the .17 raise you got was probably the one for the year.

Of course, theres no harm in asking. Worse they can say is no. Good luck.

[caliotter3]

I have only received regular raises at union employers. If you want a raise, then ask. Be prepared to discuss how you have earned it. Longevity raises usually are standard with union shops or an employer that has a clear cut policy in place. Most employers do not have policies for regular raises. Many employers in health care have been cutting salaries to keep from laying off people.

[ADPIE2008]

Thanks, Crux1024. I'll find out what the policy is at my hospital. I feel like I am finally coming out of the "new grad" fog!

[ADPIE2008]

Caliotter3, we're not union. I'm very thankful for my job and know that the economy is tough now. From what I can tell, there are different levels of nursing, new grad being the bottom and least paid. At $.17/hr per year, it'll take me 6 years to get a $1.00 more per hour.

[merlee]

If that was an acroos-the-board adjustment then you may still have a yearly review to come. Does your facility do yearly performance reviews? If yours is above average you may get another bump - maybe 25 - 50 cents/hr.

Best wishes!!!

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Caliotter3, we're not union. I'm very thankful for my job and know that the economy is tough now. From what I can tell, there are different levels of nursing, new grad being the bottom and least paid. At $.17/hr per year, it'll take me 6 years to get a $1.00 more per hour.

That's right.....Welcome to nursing. Some facilties haven't given across the board raises in years....and only merit raises are recieved to the tune of 2-4% IF at all.....reality sucks.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

The only time I got raises before any yearly review was if there was a probationary period (usually 3 months) where they did a review, and gave a modest raise. Then, my yearly reviews were based on that date vs my actual date of hire (another way to put off dishing out the dough).

Personally, I would not ask - hospital set ups for raises are on schedules..... jme :)

[BrandybunsRN]

Caliotter3, we're not union. I'm very thankful for my job and know that the economy is tough now. From what I can tell, there are different levels of nursing, new grad being the bottom and least paid. At $.17/hr per year, it'll take me 6 years to get a $1.00 more per hour.

So when you say $.17/hour, are you literally meaning 17 cents per hour more? If so, that may just be a market adjustment. This means that the hospital brought it's hourly rates standard with other area facilities and they paid you a small increase to get your hourly rate up there (since .17 cents is only about a .7% raise increase). I would definitely check with HR though and ask if they do yearly increases. Have you had your yearly evaluation done yet? Because that should be addressed with you at that time from my experience. Here we do yearly evaluations (after the initial 6 month intro eval) and with that usually comes the pay increase. We do them on the year anniversary of your hire date (and this year we had a max of 2.7%). So defeinitely check with HR

[ADPIE2008]

merlee, the evals were done at the time of the $.17/hr raise and I think we all got the same percentage, across the board. Mine was less than 1% but my evals were great.

Esme12, 2-4% would be better than what I got! :)

xtxrn, I did have a probationary period of 3 months, but no mention of a raise at that time.

BrandybunsRN, that sounds good. I think I will go visit HR soon and ask about this. I would hate to sit back and not ask, only to find out that I could've gotten a bump in pay!

[caliotter3]

Caliotter3, we're not union. I'm very thankful for my job and know that the economy is tough now. From what I can tell, there are different levels of nursing, new grad being the bottom and least paid. At $.17/hr per year, it'll take me 6 years to get a $1.00 more per hour.

Well, six years to get a dollar more an hour is still better than getting no raise at all. Only my union employer ever gave raises. None of my other employers have ever provided raises, instead there are those who have decreased their pay rates. That tells me something.

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Does your hospital have a ladder system? At mine there's a raise from clinical nurse 1 to clinical nurse 2 which happens in a year from hire as a new grad.