Pay rate for central lines

smartnurse1982 · Dec 12, 2014

I do not get paid extra for taking care of pts with higher acuity with 1 agency.

So a nurse working with vent,trach, gtube, and pt with a central line does not get paid more than a nurse working with a gt. Sucks big time

The other agency flat out says we are not to touch any central or IV lines period,does not matter Rn or lpn.

The caregiver has to do everything related to them. We only can take care if the things we can do,like trachs and vents

All we do is just monitor the site and if an emergency happens we have to apply pressure.

No hemostat kits for us.

IVRUS, BSN, RN · Dec 12, 2014

TPN Home Infusion is a complex therapy requiring much hand-holding and tons of education. It should NOT be treated like a wound case, or normal visit.

caliotter3 · Dec 12, 2014

Met one nurse who came in to deal with a central line, she said her pay rate, more than mine. In general, her agency was paying more than the going rate for more 'routine' home care.

Have also noted that many agencies, no matter the type of case, will consistently pay one nurse less than others because they can get away with it. This is a standard way of treating employees. They do not care if employees find out about the discrepancies in pay, they will tell a person who complains, "take it or leave it". That policy, may, or may not, be in play here.

Nibbles1 · Dec 13, 2014

I'm with a company now (Dallas area) that pays higher for Central lines and TPN. I was with another company also in the Dallas area that paid no different if it was a vent or g tube. I asked them why. I was told that they go by the lowest pay. Such as the client has a g tube and a central line, they go by the g tube pay rate. Basically they keep the extra money for themselves. It's also the reason why they are always hiring.

SDALPN · Dec 13, 2014

Depends on the agency. Some pay by acuity, others say nursing is nursing. They can also base pay on whether the pt has private insurance or not.

You can always ask for more pay. The worst they can say is "no".

Laurabell08 · Dec 13, 2014

I am also in the Dallas area. I would be working 50 hours a week with this case, so their reasoning is they can't pay me more because I would be getting 10 hours overtime pay each week. They said that they would lose money...but not so sure about that. It just doesn't make sense to me that I would get paid the exact rate for a patient with no problems except a g-tube compared to a patient with g-tube, central line, TPN, LOTS of medical conditions!!!! Thanks for your response.

SDALPN · Dec 13, 2014

You don't get paid more in the hospital or Dr office for harder cases. It would be nice, but its just the way it is.

Laurabell08 · Dec 15, 2014

Thank you for all of your comments. This has helped me.

smartnurse1982 · Dec 15, 2014

Actually,you do get paid more for more complex patients in the hospital.

It is the reason ICU starts at $34/hr vs 30/hr in med-surg.

That may be this area though.

SDALPN · Dec 27, 2014

Actually,you do get paid more for more complex patients in the hospital.
It is the reason ICU starts at $34/hr vs 30/hr in med-surg.
That may be this area though.

That's different. Once you are in your area, you don't get paid by the pt. What you are saying is no different than how pay changes based on facility.

Once you are at a pay rate, it doesn't change much unless you get a raise (that word doesn't get used often here, haha). Sometimes it changes if the agency pays more for a hard to cover shift or to assist with gas/mileage.

mluvsgnc · Jan 6, 2015

If you're ok with the rate of pay, I would go for it. Working with a central line and TPN would look great on a resume and you would gain some pretty cool knowledge and skill