Poor nurses

Nurses General Nursing

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I have been at my facility for 2 years now. I am not complaining about the work--we all know that it is exhausting, patients never satisfied, endlessly busy BUT....now that I have gotten to know some of the nurses at my hospital, it appears that they are POOR! I guess I might call them the working poor and this just does not seem right. My starting pay including diffs for nights is 19.00 per hour. Day shift makes about $18.00. I must also stress that everyone always says "well it is a low cost area of living". Well not entirely. My groceries cost the same here as they did in the city. While it is true that one can buy a very nice home for $180,000, there really is not much under 180k. Restaurant prices are the same. School supplies for my kids run about the same as those in the city. My car insurance is probably a little less but the price of the car was no different. What I am getting at is that there are nurses at my hospital that are in foreclosure. One I know has applied for food stamps. The reason is that we have not gotten raises now for 2 years. Also hours have been significantly cut. At the most I am able to get 32 hours per week. Our LPN's only get $10.75 per hour. I really do not know how they can live on that. I am considering getting a NP degrees online and leaving this area. The NP's around here start out at $23/hour I am told. Someone even thought that was really good! Are there any other poor nurses out there. I am sure someone will flame me and say be glad you have a job but I spent 14k to be able to do this!

Specializes in LTC/Skilled Care/Rehab.
Family health insurance is $200 a month and that's without copays, deductibles, etc. quote]

You only pay 200 a month for insurance for the entire family? We play close to $700 a month with $30 copays everytime we go to the doctor. And that is through DH's work. If I were to get insurance through my work I would pay over $1200/month for our family!

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I think the key to surviving on a low salary, and I speak from very personal experience as a former journalist, is living within or even below your means. I think a lot of people are "poor" because they think they need to keep up with the Joneses.

I've had to strenuously re-evaluate my priorities and turn to a much more frugal, simple way of living. My dollar goes a lot further now. I try to avoid the typical consumerist way of living--I stay out of the malls and I make do with what I have, or I do without. A big difference is that I don't really want things that might be seen as a status symbol. I don't want a big house, and I could easily be happy in a smaller one than my own. I don't need a new car because mine runs and gets me from A to B. I save my money for meaningful things, and I try and make every purchase a conscious choice (really hard to do in this society!).

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.
I think a lot of people are "poor" because they think they need to keep up with the Joneses.

Great point and this applies no matter how much money someone makes. Look at the number of movie stars and sports figures that have met with financial ruin despite making millions of dollars. To a large extent it isn't about how much you make it is about how much you spend and much of that is controllable.

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Specializes in Med Surg.

I fully agree that nurses (LVNs and RNs) are for the most part grossly underpaid for what they do. But I also find it strange that some folks find it so offensive that someone with little education manages to make a ton of money. One of my friends in high school dropped out when he was sixteen, bought an old pickup, and started driving into the city every day to mow yards. His annual gross income is now close to seven figures as he has 25 two man crews, designs and installs irrigation systems and landscapes, owns his own stone quarry, and has been featured in several trade magazines. The only thing I find offensive is that I had the chance to go in with him when he first started out and turned him down. :banghead:

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Specializes in NICU, School Nursing, & Community Health.
Family health insurance is $200 a month and that's without copays, deductibles, etc. quote]

You only pay 200 a month for insurance for the entire family? We play close to $700 a month with $30 copays everytime we go to the doctor. And that is through DH's work. If I were to get insurance through my work I would pay over $1200/month for our family!

Well considering I'm a one income family and only make about $1800 a month with a BSN. Yeah, it's a lot. I wouldn't have insurance at all if it cost $700 a month! I'm not here to get into a ******* contest about who has it worse off. I only want to warn people looking into entering nursing to do your research. I came on here long before I was a nurse and all I saw was these over inflated rates of pay being posted. It is not that way in all areas. Nursing has been nothing but stress with little pay off for me. Looking forward to leaving and going back to a desk job =)

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Specializes in medical surgical.

Sunshinebaby,

I am the OP. This is my point exactly. Lots of people have written about driving old cars, lowering the standards of living, buying less (i hardly buy anything). However, my point is why should one have to live like a pauper to be a nurse. I read on these message boards about people taking out student loans to go to nursing school. I am sorry to tell them but you cannot make student loan payments and eat on 18/hr. They can flame me all day long but it does not change my opinion. I have not had a raise in 2 years all the while utilites are going up, groceries up, property taxes up and of course after Jan 1 income taxes going up. One more thing to add, not one soul has mentioned saving for retirement on 18/hr. Why should a nurse who will break his or her back over the course of a career not even make enough to save for their own retirement. Truly astounding if you ask me!

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Oh my goodness, if a nice house costs 180k, $18/hr is very good pay for your area.

In my neck of the woods, a "starter" home would cost about 300k, and new nurses make about $30/hr. It's still considered far above average pay. I suppose it's all relative though. Even in a low cost state, I imagine it would be hard to afford a house, kids, car, etc. on your own.

You should certainly be getting more raises though. I hope.

Places with very low cost of housing are usually not very attractive to live at. Also cost of living is more than just a cost of the house. Cars, gasoline, travel, electronics, food, clothes, cable, internet, cell phone, etc. cost about the same regardless of the area.

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Specializes in Transgender Medicine.

Good Lord girl, run! I'll agree that it is about limiting yourself to what you can afford, but there are some exceptions. I see people I work with who, after hurricane Katrina, worked 4 12's per week almost every week for 3-4 years straight. So they were able to adjust their lifestyles a bit higher, you know. But, recently, my hospital has begun cutting that kind of overtime out. Not that we don't still need them to work OT, but they're only allowed a bit at a time now. So, it sucks bigtime for them since they financed things on a bigger budget. I know they should have been more conservative, but still.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Postpartum.
Sunshinebaby,

I am the OP. This is my point exactly. Lots of people have written about driving old cars, lowering the standards of living, buying less (i hardly buy anything). However, my point is why should one have to live like a pauper to be a nurse. I read on these message boards about people taking out student loans to go to nursing school. I am sorry to tell them but you cannot make student loan payments and eat on 18/hr. They can flame me all day long but it does not change my opinion. I have not had a raise in 2 years all the while utilites are going up, groceries up, property taxes up and of course after Jan 1 income taxes going up. One more thing to add, not one soul has mentioned saving for retirement on 18/hr. Why should a nurse who will break his or her back over the course of a career not even make enough to save for their own retirement. Truly astounding if you ask me!

OP, I hear you loud and clear. This is a career you plan to retire in, but is struggling to even contribute to that retirement. I'm sadden for you and others in your hospital that can't make ends meet.

I'm unemployed right now while I'm in school. This has been a humbling experience for me. What I get on unemployment is higher than what some of the LPNs are getting at your hospital. :eek: I had to change my lifestyle drastically. I'm gratefully to be able to pay my rent, utilities, etc on what I get. But, I wouldn't feel good to finally get my RN license and land a job that is basically paying me the same amount as unemployment.

I haven't read through all the posts, but are there any openings somewhere else? Is it feasible for you to possible move? See what areas you can try to cut corners so you can contribute to a savings.

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I have been at my facility for 2 years now.

What are the nurse to patient ratios at your hospital?

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To the person who lives well with a family on $19, I ask... how? I'm not being sarcastic, truly. I'm all for being frugal. I use coupons, shop goodwill and the like, almost never dine out, and have cut our budget to the bone. Admittedly, medical bills have hurt us more then anything, but even when those are gone we won't have much breathing room. I'm willing to try almost anything so long as it legal :)

We are quite frugal to be honest, and we do not have many extras. My husband used to make 30 dollars an hour, when he lost his regular full time employment 2 yrs ago it was a shock to our entire family. I will openly admit that there are times when I have no idea how we are making it. BUT it is possible, we do it. For me the kicker was we were making too much for food stamps on unemployment, well then where was all the money going! That was when we took a hard look at our finances and cut out all the extras. Due to a couple healthy income tax returns we have even managed to pay down our debt while he was unemployed. We are still living in our same home, nice area and adequate.

It is possible to survive on very little you just need to be willing to give up things, unfortunately many people are so accustomed to having things, and luxuries that they do not realize that some of those things are indeed luxuries, not required to live.

I will honestly say, I miss cable, I miss family outings a few times a month, I miss going out to eat once a week, I miss a lot of luxuries we had before. In the long run we will be in a better place though, and those luxuries will mean even more because of the sacrifices we made to ensure our financial stability for the long term.

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Wow that is super low pay. I'm very sorry. I would def leave

and go some where else if I were you. Texas - I make over 25 per hour and only in my second yr of being RN. There are LVNs where I work that make close to what I make cause they've been with the company a long time.

I'm a new nurse, and thinking of relocating to Texas per there aren't many internships in Fl. Do you have any suggestions? Any info that you might be able to provide would be appreciated.

Thanks

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