deadmanonhigh

I'm currently an operating room nurse at a level 1 trauma center. I have about three years of experience, most of which was at a different hospital - started here last Winter. I signed a bonus agreement to stay for at least two years - but I actually really like this place, and I'd like to stay longer. I am doing all sorts of professional advancement type stuff - I just got my certification for my specialty (CNOR) and I'm working on the hospital's nursing clinical ladder. I am a hard worker, and a smart worker - I move things along, and keep the day rolling. I can circulate for any of the service lines we have, for any and all kinds of cases. I like what I do - and I have good rapport with the surgeons too. Basically - when I hit that two year mark (which isn't for a while, but I'd like to have a plan ready to go) and get the last bit of my bonus, I'd like to negotiate for better pay to stay - otherwise, I'll find somewhere else playing better. I like where I work, but if I'm not continually getting paid better and better, I don't feel compensated. The best way I can come up with is to email my manager something along the lines of the following: --- Good afternoon <insert name here>, something something friendly greeting, mention something that happened earlier and my appreciation for it blah blah I was hoping to get a time on the books to talk with you about re-negotiating my current rate of compensation. Do you have any time available this week? Thanks, Name lastname --- Presuming they don't just tell me no, there's no negotiation to be had, I'll meet with them. And then, when I meet with them, say something along the lines of the following: -- Thank you for meeting with me - I know you're busy, and I appreciate that you've taken the time to sit down with me about this. So - I've been at <hospital name> for two years, and I've thoroughly enjoyed my time here thus far. I've continually worked on improving my skills as both a circulating and scrub nurse, and outside of direct patient care as staff I've been going the extra mile - something I'll continue to do as long as I'm here. I've the chair of the <name of committee> for the past year, and in that role I excelled. I have completed multiple process improvement projects. I got my certification as soon as I could, and I ascended the clinical ladder not long after. I have taken steps whenever possible to make what quality improvements I can, where I can. I've become someone that other members of the staff feel comfortable coming to for help. With all that said, I'd be doing myself a disservice by not negotiating for a marked increase in pay. Like any other nurse, I deserve to be compensated fairly for the work I put in, and I have continually gone above and beyond what has been asked of me, out of passion for my patients, for my profession, and for the unit as a whole. It's just unfortunate that passion doesn't pay the bills. I currently make X an hour, and I would like to have that bumped up to X+Y. -- The problem with this whole imaginary encounter is that I don't quite understand the deal with compensation ranges. Should I be asking what the compensation range is for my position, and then asking for the maximum? Or am I negotiating on an individual basis that doesn't care about compensation ranges? I also don't know if this is exactly how the negotiation process would go - like, do I actually have a sit down chat like this? Or do I have to get referred to HR, because my manager can't actually make any quotes or promises? Like, do I just make a case, and ask to speak to HR, or? I also don't really know how much I should ask for - I currently make $42 an hour, and I'd like to be at $50 flat at least. What's the best way to approach this? Any advice?