OK, I have a big beef here. I'm currently in my first year of nursing, and I feel like I have to say something regarding nurses complaining about their pay.
Reading these boards, I just came across someone who said they make $34 an hour in Ontario, and they were telling someone that if they're looking to make money, go into accouting or something. THis just floored me!
$34 and hour!!!! How can you tell me that is not making money? Many many nurses who work in Ontario get WAY less than that.
I just really don't understand.
People are always saying, "if you're in this profession to make money, get out because you won't be rich." This is ridiculous. I live in SK Canada, where nurses make $24 starting (I think) or if not, it's very close to that figure. That is considered a WELL paying job. How can you not live comfortably on pay like that? I know many many many many people who make considerably less than that, and they do just fine.
Some nurses say that there is no money in nursing. Has anyone heard of a Nurse Practitioner? I know they don't make millions, but they do make more than RN's, some even make 6 figures. I am going to be one. Once I'm an RN, I'm working in the ER for one year, then returning to school for a 30 week course. YOu don't have to be a genious to do this either.
I know that you have to love nursing to be in it. You CANNOT be in it JUST FOR THE MONEY, but it makes me mad when people say THERE IS NO MONEY. Some areas pay nurses more than others.
I know it's a lot of work, it's stressful, and it's a hard job, and I know that many people (including me) feel that we should be payed more for what we do, but come on people. Doesn't it make you mad when people who make $34 an hour complain they don't have enough money? Do you spend foolishly? The cost of living in Ont is higher than SK, but $34 an hour is STILL much more than many many people in that prov make.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Good for you, Christine, I am glad you are happy. But my honest feeling is, new grads start at disproportionately high wages. that is one of the biggest injustices in nursing....(or maybe it's more correct to say people with experience are not getting enough raises?)
i am sorry but in what world is a person right out of school worth CLOSE to what a 20 year VETERAN is?????
WHY IN NURSING, where else? (aint' it grand)......
AND YOU WONDER WHY WE GRIPE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Methinks someone here was "trolling" for trouble. This is as far as I will take it myself.
Like NrsKaren said, spend a few years in our shoes and see how we feel,then criticize those who complain about unfair wages.
I live on Long Island...the cost of living here is enough to make you vomit. The AVERAGE 3 bedroom home here goes for $350,000. Rents are about $1,400 monthly plus your utilities. I don't want to move, but it's hard to get by here...unless you want to move to a crummy area of the island with crummy schools...but even that's not much cheaper. I would love to make enough as a nurse to at least live an average lifestyle and be able to save for when my daughter gets older.
I am an LPN with over 20 years experience and I was just offered a job in South Carolina at a measly $14.00 an hour and thats with no benefits. That is less than half the salary I made in CT. I am sick about this!
I think what some do not understand is that making $34.00 an hour may sound good but the % of nurses in Ontario that are able to find full-time jobs are NOT the majority. So $34.00 x part-time hours does not add up to big bucks. The RN's who make $34.00 an hour and who work full-time are the senior RNs who have been around for a long time and who have +++++experience. They are worth that amount and more. Nursing in Canada tends to be a part-time and casual workforce, and not always by choice.
My best friend is an RN with over 20 years experience. She is only making $17./hr, and that's working AGENCY, no benefits. She lives in a rural area in KS.
Not only does it depend on which area you live in, but it seems that in many cases, experienced nurses make less.
I just talked to a nurse recruiter in El Paso TX. They are offering somebody like me, who just graduated this summer and received my RN license a couple of weeks ago, $20.15 per hour as base pay.
Differentials for weekdays are $1.50 more for 2nd shift, whatever that is, and $2.50 for 3rd shift. For weekends, it's $3.50 for 1st shift, $4.00 more for 2nd shift, and $4.50 more for 3rd shift. These wages are awesome for a newbie like me and they are going to have a 12-16 week preceptorship period. This also includes a $4,000 signing bonus.
In addition, this is in a place where the cost of living is low and with no state income tax. In my humble opinion, it seems that Texas is where is at if you are a nurse who wants to live well on a nurse pay scale. They pay nurses here decently and the cost of living is low, even in places like Houston, San Antonio and Dallas-Fort Worth. Public colleges are fairly inexpensive compared to other states, especially on the east coast. I am considering living in Ciudad Juarez, just across the border, where I have heard that one can live nicely on $400 a month budget.
Specializes in Psych, Med/Surg, Home Health, Oncology.
Hi
I did not take offense at your note. However, there are some things you need to be aware of.
I work full-time nights, 8 hr. shifts. I work an Oncology/Med-Surg floor & I am OCN certified. I have been working steadily for the last 37 yrs--33 yrs. for my present employer. A long time ago, I was a Head Nurse but resigned that position to be a staff nurse--but that's another story.
I make excellent money now with great benefits! BUT--37 yrs. is a long time to work to get to that level of pay!
For years, my garbage pick-up man made more houly wage then I did & got more respect!!And probably still gets more respect!!
As others have said, the cost of living is outrageous here in the states!!It has gone up much faster then our wages!!
We live in Oh my hubby and I combined make 22.50 and hour. We are currently buying an old 1893 2 story brick home badly in need of rennovation but still liveable for $60,000. We owe $10,000 on my student loan, $9,000 on a credit card that contains 90% medical bills for our handicapped son and my own chronic illness, $12,000 on our car. We pay home owners taxes and ins., license plate taxes and auto insurance on both vehicles, Medical and life insurance out the wazoo. It is pretty much never ending. However we have food on our table, a roof that doesnt leak over our heads and a warm bed to sleep in. All and all we do ok. We live pay check to pay check but so does everyone else I know. The thing that bothers me about nursing is the lack of respect from management and the community in general. It also bothers me that I am and LPN and have been for just over 5 yrs and I make just $2 an hour less than the RN that I work side by side with who has been an RN for 20+ yrs. That just sucks it is completely unfair and should be illegal. I am grateful for my income but I do see alot of inconsistencies.
I live So Cal at $24,000 per year. I do not go shopping, it is too depressing. I wear comfortable clothes (read, not new) and eat cereal for breakfast and soup for lunch. Dinner I try to include meat in my diet. I drive an 8 year old car that I maintain religiously lest it breakdown on me. I (and the bank) own my home and I rent out a room to help cover my bills.
I am doing WELL compared to fellow students who live hand to mouth for tuition, books, rent and food on student loans and part time jobs. They will spend several years in school and make $45K a year, twice what I make now. I will add that to my $2000 per month income -- my retirement income. They will then spend beyond their means buying new cars and houses. They will then complain of not enough money - but now they think the $45K is positively a fortune! I seem RICH to those who haven't lived outside their parent's home, or who have recently gotten their first apartment.
Many will always be POOR because they do not focus on what they WANT to do. I WANT to become a nurse. I could continue to live on my meager $24K a year -- I planned my "retirement" and the opportunity to go to college from the age of 16 and was finally able to afford school at the geriatric age of 35. The students I go to school with do NOT plan ahead much further than graduation and the fantastic wages they will make. If it was about the money, I could afford to stay in school as long as I want only because of frugality and planning - heck, I could be a doctor LOL!!!
Will I become RICH as a nurse? That depends on the perspective...
Many students who are thinking they will be rich are in for a big surprise. I KNOW I will be rich, but not from the money I won't make.
Nursing has been good to me. I make more than some and less than others, but thats the way it bees sometimes. I remember thinking how rich I would be when I graduated nursing school, and compared to how I was living before, I am. There's a contractor coming this am to give an estimate for an addition to a house that I own in a great neighborhood. Two years ago, I was living on Diet Cokie and Ramen noodles, begging the furniture company not to take my bed - my only piece of furniture. There are times when I complain about not being compensated enough,but then I step outside of myself and look at my life. I have opportunities daily to touch a life. Priceless.
I am not working, so I have no salary right now. I have been checking, around $24.00/hr is what I have been offered. I know I have experience and maybe it should be more, but that is still good money. I hope to be back at work, full time, before TG. That way I can afford a turkey.
cannoli
615 Posts
Thats great, and congratulations!
However, if you are still making the same or not much more after doing it for thirty years, you may think differently.