PCA/CNA starting salaries needed as of Nov 2010 in Texas

[texasboi]

Hey Everyone, I'm looking to be a PCA/ CNA either in Dallas / Ft Worth Area or Houston or Austin Areas. Here in Oklahoma I can make $15 an hr. I don't really want to settle in Oklahoma and want to move back to Texas. Can some RN's, CNA's PCA's etc someone with current experience tell me what the starting wages are in each area. And How do I get into it? Call directly to the hospitals, agencies, websites or what? I've been sending my resume out through websites but nothing yet.

I want to continue on for my RN too but need to move and really need some help.

If I call the hospitals directly, do I just speak with the hiring dept or Human Resources?

I hear its so easy to get a job as a CNA or PCA because the turnover rate is so high but how come i'm not getting any call backs?

I was chatting on here one time with someone in Houston who said b/c the medical center is larger in the hospitals their PCA's make more then $15 an hour but can't find that thread. Anyone in Houston can tell me this, Dallas, Austin?

Please don't email or reply if its not relevent to what i'm asking.

Thank you all

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I am in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. Many people are becoming CNAs and techs due to the economic downturn, so the wages have actually become lower here over the past couple of years. The market here is flooded with too many CNAs and techs competing for very few job openings.

I haven't seen anyone earn in the $15 hourly range since mid-2008. The pay rates have decreased since this time because people are desperate for a job, so they will work for a lower wage. People have been earning between $9.50 and $14 hourly, and the ones who do earn $14 have been at their workplaces for quite a while.

[texasboi]

thanks TheCommuter...quick question, if I wanted to find a place to work as a CNA/ PCA and get paid while I attend a school and take the certification test what would be a better place, LTC or Hospital? Do you know of any places that help you do this?

My license is in Oklahoma and it will cost a few hundred to transfer so I think it will be easier to take the course over since its not that long anyways...

I'd like to be on the higher side of that pay scale you said, I heard they make more in Houston b/c of the larger medical center, have you heard anything about this?

Do you know how I can get into this field in Texas where you are too? I know I have to start somewhere and i'm prepared

[texasboi]

Hi, any chance you know what phlebotomists start out with as well?

[gobananas15]

i work as a student/tech at Parkland in Dallas. I make 11.87/hr.