Prior degree and career fair=$$?

llg, PhD, RN · Nov 5, 2006

In almost all hospitals, new grads are paid a set rate that is not influenced by what you may have done in other fields. I'm not saying you will NEVER find an exception to that rule, but an exception would be rare. To someone looking to hire a nurse, you are a beginner.

The same is usually true for an experienced nurse who switches careers to something else. In that other field, he/she is a beginning and must usually first establish competence in that other field before being able to move up the career ladder and/or pay scale.

PMFB-RN, RN · Nov 5, 2006

Afraid not.

oneLoneNurse · Nov 5, 2006

Nope, sorry it does not.

How many of us have previous degrees and past careers ?

I have a question. I know that typically prior degrees don't mean anything and that new grad rates are new grad rates. However, I have a BS in sociology and have 5+ years of experience in social services. Does this give me the potential to make anymore (even loose change!) than other members of my class? Does anyone know? I have a career fair tomorrow and supposedly they will be doing onsite interviews, so I'd like to be prepared. Thank you!!!

dawn1971 · Nov 5, 2006

That's what I thought, but I guess that I was holding out hope that since my experience was in social services, instead of finance or something, that it might do SOMETHING. Oh well!!!!

nfahren05 · Nov 5, 2006

That's what I thought, but I guess that I was holding out hope that since my experience was in social services, instead of finance or something, that it might do SOMETHING. Oh well!!!!

Oh, it will do something, just not NOW. Having that degree and experience will help your career, once you have some real nursing experience to add to the mix. Social services and nursing is a very good combination, and would useful in a variety of areas, such as home health, case management, long term care, and many others. Please don't feel that your past experience is not going to "count" for anything in your new career, just be patient.

Epona · Nov 5, 2006

Nfahren.. hi.. since we are talking about former careers... I worked in broadcasting... newsprint, radio, and some TV. You mentioned some good career nursing avenues for "dawn". Any good advice for me??

THANKS! E

dawn1971 · Nov 6, 2006

Thank you, nfahren, you are 100% right. I KNOW it will help me a lot in nursing (ie:dealing with families, referals to other agencies and I already know how to document my butt off, let alone the fact that I had to deal with OT, PT , and ST on a daily basis). That's the important stuff, not an extra .50 per hour!

Megsd, BSN, RN · Nov 6, 2006

Out of curiosity, does that rule still apply if your previous degree is in a foreign language? I have a BA in Spanish and I'm curious if there are monetary incentives for speaking another language.

HappyNurse2005, RN · Nov 6, 2006

See, i suppose it depends on the hospital and how hard you push it. A nurse i graduated with had her MSW and worked for 14 years as a social worker in the city health department with HIV/AIDS and STD patients, as a counsellor, outreach worker (education, condom distribution), notified people of possible HIV infection,etc and more. She was able to get hired on and was given a pay rate commensurate (sp) to someone who had been a nurse for 7 years.

someone else i knew had been a pharmacy tech for a year, and got an extra .10 an hour when starting. i think being a cna for 3 years gets you 1 year RN credit when starting

WOLFE, BSN, RN · Nov 6, 2006

where I work..if you have a previous bachelors it is an extra dollar an hour.

Mistify · Nov 6, 2006

I have a BS in Veterinary Nursing, with over 10 years experience and where I was hired, I was started as a nurse with 7 years experience and the pay to match. My experience in veterinary medicine was mostly emergency/critical care and orthopedic surgery, so I was a bit more specialized than most vet techs, with more in depth training and skills. I attended medical conferences and workshops for both human and animals, and I also have my cert. in wound care for both. So my experience is a little different.