Jo2016

I am considering job opportunities and was wondering what is the night differential for a nurse with a BSN who works for Saint Luke's health system. (Both the plaza and east (Lee's summit) location. Is it the same for every floor. How much is a starting base salary for a new grad there (hourly and annual) and how much is the average salary (annual and hourly) for nurses there in general. Thank you!

Actually I have now shadowed a nurse on med-surg twice, each for a four hour shift, once during the day and the other during the night. I though t med-surg would give me a good idea of what nursing looks like, but I still thought I should ask. I liked the amount of patient interaction, the continuously busy pace, and the material seems intellectually intriguing. I also have kind of liked my experience in the radiology program so far at clinicals, but I feel like there is less patient interaction. Also since I have narrowed down my possible interests in radiology to CT and x-ray, I have a really narrowed path of growth. For the past two months though I have not been able to get nursing off my mind. I want to pick a job that I can ultimately do for the rest of my life and be happy, but I am still conflicted between the two.

Although in nursing there is never a typical day, as an RN how would you describe your day? What tasks and skills do you find yourself performing. Pretty much what does your day look like from the time you enter the hospital to the time you head home.

I am currently in a Radiologic Science program, but have been considering switching to nursing. After shadowing, I realized the only modality that I could see myself in was ultrasound, which was interesting and had the most patient interaction out of the other modalities. I also shadowed nursing on med-surg and really liked it. The patient interaction is really important to me and honestly before going into radiology I was always partial to nursing. I will finish with my bachelor's degree in Radiologic sciences in 2 years, but have 18 months in the ultrasound program. For nursing it would be 3 years longer, but without summers. I like both careers, but I am having a hard time choosing between them. If you could offer any advice or information about the future for both careers (such as salary, job outlook, stress level,etc.) I would really appreciate it. P.S. I am going to school near the Kansas City, mo area