Pay increase with 2years experience?

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I’ve been a nurse for almost two years. I work on a cardiac floor. Now that I have a little experience under my belt, I’m looking at the next steps in my career and starting to apply for other jobs. I’m told that after you get a year of experience you can make better money...but what is a reasonable amount above my current rate to be asking for? I understand that is depends on my location and the employer, but in general...are we talking a dollar or two more? $5? More? I am absolutely clueless.

I have experience on cardiac step-down/PCU: telemetry, cardiac drips, CABG, NSTEMI, vascular surgery, etc.

I’m looking at jobs in either ICU or ED.

I started at $26 as a new grad. Got a $1.50 raise at my 1 year review. With two years experience, what $$$ should I be asking for?

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

It all depends on where you live. A nurse with 2 years experience in my area making $27.50/hr is pretty much right on target.

Research salary rates in your area. If you are looking to change specialties, that will impact your earning potential as you start all over in the new specialty.

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Specializes in ER.
On 2/5/2020 at 10:08 AM, Nurse SMS said:

Research salary rates in your area.

Where would you start with that research? I've checked salary.com, glassdoor, reddit, and this site, but I'm struggling to find consistency.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Those are the primary places. Salary.com tends to run high. You can look at indeed.com at the reviews for companies that have posted job openings. Many of them give salary ranges based on feedback from people who actually worked there. You can also speak with friends who work in the industry. Good luck!

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