Pediatric oncology nurse salary?

JaxJax5423 · Jul 8, 2016

rn salary varies from state to state. From my experience, no an heme/onc is a specialty certificate that doesn't necessarily give you a pay increase. For me, it consisted of a 2 day course, and a few chemo check offs and no pay increase. Very few nurses are pedi chemo certified so you will get recruited easily to heme/onc units, infusion centers...etc. Back to salary, yo can find lots of threads here on pay. It of course depends on state and where you work. Is it an infusion center/ clinic or a hospital? pay will vary GREATLY. If it helps, a new grad RN (chemo certified or not) starts off making ~24-32 hr in Houston texas.

Tara227 · Jul 8, 2016

Oh wow i find that it's wierd you wouldn't make more if you specialize in somthing but thank you for all the information!

LeChien, BSN, RN · Jul 8, 2016

Employers pay more for years of experience in a specialty...as a new grad you won't be making as much.

verene, MSN · Jul 9, 2016

Oh wow i find that it's wierd you wouldn't make more if you specialize in somthing but thank you for all the information!

Certifications frequently show a base level of experience and knowledge in a specialty as usually you cannot test for the certification with out having a certain number of in-specialty hours. Having evidence of this additional knowledge and experience can open doors to opportunities, be it for advancement within a facility or moving to a more desirable facility/unit. Both of which may come with a pay increase. The pay given for holding a certification is usually minimal: 50 cents to a dollar an hour. This may not seem like much however if you are working full time that can add up to an extra couple thousand a year.

As a prior poster mentioned - salaries can vary widely in nursing; geographic location, competition to work in the specialty, union vs non-union, acute care vs non-acute care, experience, and negotiation skill can all play a role in what you are ultimately paid.

If hospitals in your area are unionized you can find a copy of the union contract online which should show salary ranges for experience level and any bonus pay for certifications or additional education. It is a decent starting point for figuring out base acute care pay in your area.

la_chica_suerte85, BSN, RN · Jul 10, 2016

Pediatrics, especially hemonc, on it's own is not a lucrative specialty for any medical facility. A lot of facilities operate at a loss. Pediatrics for docs is also a losing game and they are, among others, at the bottom of the earning range as well (so, what makes you think nurses would make more?). It ends up being more about where you are than anything else. I am going to be starting my RN residency in September at a public facility and, though I am intensely proud because of the fantastic level of care I will be trained to give and the reputation of the place I am employed, I must admit I was incredibly disheartened that many people in my class got jobs that will be paying twice what I am getting (just for the residency alone) because the facility is part of a for-profit medical group.

I'll admit it burned, it burned badly especially because I know what I am worth (and, I have chump on my forehead -- I always end up at a place that doesn't pay what I know I really could make, that is, if I cared less about the place I work at). But, the experience I am going to receive (and the wonderful people I'm surrounded by -- that is worth its weight in gold) means I can write my own ticket to any children's hospital in the country and the sky is the limit (that is, after I pay my dues). And, since my hospital is a critical shortage facility, I can qualify for the Nurse Corps loan forgiveness program (those who are going to the other hospital won't be able to so....that's not great for those who were careless about their loans).

So, consider it carefully. ICU nurses (and NICU, too) tend to get paid a little bit more than most other types of nurses. If you really want to set yourself up for making a lot of money as a nurse, you can look into the for-profit medical groups (i.e. Kaiser) and see that nurses there tend to make a lot of money in comparison to those working in similar units (the discrepancy can sometimes be gobsmacking -- but you also have to consider if you want to work union, too).

Sorry for the mini-vent. I hope that helped a little.

Mia415 · Jul 10, 2016

The biggest factors that affect your salary are the state, county, and city where you work. The type of hospital (public versus private) maybe a few dollars per hour difference. In northern CA a new grad in pediatrics in any of the hundred hospitals here might expect to make between $45-65 per hour, whereas the exact same position just 5 hours away in Los Angeles may range between $25-40 ish per hour. Most nursing specialties are similar in pay, in terms of the general lifestyle you can expect.

LoveMyBugs, BSN, CNA, RN · Jul 10, 2016

Everywhere that I have worked staff nurses have a pay scale that goes up with years of experience. Not certifications.

My facility offers a yearly bonus if you hold a certification in your specialty.

But as previous posters stated peds is not lucrative.

The only nurses that I know make more are the facility's trauma RNs and our pediatric transport team nurses.

Otherwise you can get certified in almost any specialty there is.