GlowBear500

Thank you KelRN215! That gives me a much better understanding of what's possible. I know talking about salaries is still a sensitive issue for many people and I truly appreciate your openness! :)

Thank you guys! I understand that there is a big salary difference in different regions. I'm located in Tampa Bay, Florida and I saw the above mentioned salary range for a local RN job posting. Obviously, a new grad would never get offered the $90,000. But I am just wondering how many years of experience it would take to make that kind of money? I know money isn't everything. I'm just trying to decide if I should invest in 4 more years of schooling (with the burden of taking on additional debt) in hopes of making a similar kind of salary upon graduation with a Masters or PhD, or if I could reach a similar salary as an RN. I just never talked to any RN who actually makes that much... Anyway, I appreciate all your thoughts!

Hi All, I'm a new RN and at this point I'm still trying to figure out whether to focus on continuing my education or start gaining more work experience in different settings. I just have a quick question. I recently read about a salary range for RN's of $46,399- $93,833. To me that is a very wide range, and I was wondering how realistic a salary of $90,000 is for RN's in today's job market? Is that something only a select few can hope to achieve? And how many years of experience does it take to get to that level? Thank you in advance! :)

Wow, thank you everyone for taking the time to respond to this thread!!! Reading all the different posts has helped to ease my concern about getting yelled at all the time once I start working as an RN. I'm glad that many of you cleared up my misconception about the expression "being yelled at", and that it is not the same as "being screamed at". In my mind I was imagining doctors throwing tamper tantrums left and right and literally screaming at the nurses. I'm glad to read that most hospitals out there wouldn't tolerate this kind of behavior in this day and age. And I'm relieved to hear that chart-throwing is now a thing of the past (still can't believe anyone calling themselves a professional doctor would EVER act like that!) Again, thank you all for sharing your experiences and insights with me!:)

I'm currently in Nursing School to get my RN license and I noticed something that is bothering me. Maybe I'm still naive, I just find it baffling to hear how it's almost seen as a given that doctors at times will be disrespectful to nurses. My professors, who are all experienced RN's, frequently comment on the fact that as a nurse you can expect to be yelled at by the doctors. In almost every lecture they will say something along the lines of "if you, as the nurse, don't do exactly what the doctor wants he will probably yell at you." What bothers me most about these comments is that nobody seems to find them shocking or is even a bit upset about it. In what other profession do you hear people talk about being yelled at in such a matter of fact way? My other question is: why do nurses accept this kind of behavior? I've never been yelled at by a doctor but my natural reaction to somebody yelling at me would be:" I'm not sure who you think you are talking to, but you don't speak to me like this." Even if you made a mistake you could say: "I know I made a mistake but that doesn't give you the right to speak to me in this tone. We are all just human." Maybe I'm missing something here and I hope some of you will enlighten me. What is the worst that could happen if you said something like that to a yelling doctor? He would probably think twice about yelling at you again. Please help me to understand, what are nurses afraid of? I'd love to hear some thoughts on this from you guys. Thank you!

Hello there, I graduated from LPN school a while back and originally I thought that that would be it as far as my nursing career goes. I really didn't like lpn school very much and I couldn't really see myself working as an LPN. But now I'm wondering if I should go back to school and maybe I will find something that I like in nursing. ( I'm willing to get as much education as I need to in order to find the right job. Maybe with a Masters I would have better chances to find one that I like) But I'm scared that RN school will be very similar to LPN school and that I won't like it either. And that I will just waste my time. So I guess I'm just asking for some encouraging words from people that have been in both in LPN and RN school and who maybe enjoyed RN school much better?! Thank you! Any help is appreciated!!

That sounds very encouraging cozmo_blozmo. Thank you! I'm in a similar situation as you are whatnext. Only difference is that I've only just graduated from LPN school. But I feel exactly the same about the work on the hospital floor.I've tried so hard to make myself like it but I just don't. It had been my plan from the very beginning to go on for my RN and then my CRNA. But when I saw what the RN's job was like, I realized it's almost the same and I know I wouldn't like it much better. The CRNA on the other hand sounds like I would enjoy it much more but at the same time I'm nervous about spending all this time and money and then not liking it again. I hope there will be some more encouraging posts on here. And to all RN's and LPN's out there that enjoy their work please don't take any offense to this. I have very high regards for all of you, it's just not the right job for me.

Just wondering if working in correctional nursing will make you overly cautious? (Not that that is neccessarily a bad thing) I just read a couple of posts where people suggested to watch where you park your car and to never let the inmates see you come and go. Does that mean that it is somewhat common that ex jail inmates will try and stalk a nurse? Please share your stories if you know anybody that this happened to or if it happened to you. And by taking a job in the correctional setting aren't you putting yourself at a higher risk of becoming a crime victim? What do you do to stay safe? I would love to hear everyones point of view on this! Thanks in advance!!

After graduation I'm thinking about working at the local jail. But I'm wondering if it will be too tough for a new grad. So I'm basically asking have you seen new grads doing well in the correctional setting? What could I do to prepare myself? Is there anything I should specifically focus on that will help me on the job? And last but not least, is it very common that young women are given a hard time (sexual comments etc) either by the inmates or staff? I really want to go into the jail as a professional nurse and not be degraded to a sex object. So I'm just wondering how hard that side of it is to deal with. Thank you in advance for your help and input!

Thank you Txspadequeen921 for sharing that information. I think that's probably the catch of these programs that they will charge you an arm and a leg for their material. It's good to know that befor you sign up. So I take it you didn't finish their program? Did they give you any of your money back or did you at least get credit for the classes that you took through them? Btw, I noticed the 921 in your sreenname. Is that your b-day? If so we have the same birthday. Just thought I mention that

Could you please explain why you think so? I was thinking about doing their program but wasn't sure how good of a program it really is.... So any eye-opener would be highly appreciated!:wink2:

Hello everyone, I was just trying to find out what the average hourly pay for RN's in nursing homes in Florida is. I heard that nursing homes pay much better than hospitals. Also can somebody break down for me what the exactly the dutys of RN's in nursing homes are? P.S.: I'm an LPN student but I want to go on for my RN Thanks so much for your time and help!

Hello everyone, I just started nursing school and I'm still trying to figure out what area I eventually want to specialize in. I know I have some time to figure it out but I would like to read up on the different nursing specialties. It seems as if there are a lot of options out there but I don't even know half of them yet. So I was wondering if there are any websites or better yet books that give details on a lot of different specialty areas? Like the training needed, salary, the work you would be doing etc. The best thing would be a book that covers a lot of different areas, that way I would get a good overview. Any suggestions would be highly appreciated!!! Thanks a lot!

What do you think makes them age faster?? Is it only the sleep depriviation? Because if that's the case then anybody who can sleep well during the day should be fine?! (I don't have a problem with sleeping during the day. I can sleep anywhere, anytime. Just give me a big comfy pillow and a blanket. :) ) Or do you think that there are other factors that play a role in the aging process of night shift workers?

I am considering night shifts myself. But what I'm wondering is, can you work nights forever or does it eventually take a toll on your own health? What kind of nurses work nights in your hospital? Are there more younger ones or are there as many older ones that have worked nights for many years?

I'd be curious about that too. Does anyone know more about this. Or is it just wishful thinking?

Thank you guys for sharing your point of views. I feel actually reassured now that nursing is indeed the right career choice for me. I think it will be more rewarding for me on a personal level. And nursing has so many great advancement options. I'm very excited to get started with school in september. Cant wait to learn all that medical knowledge

I'm just curious about what made you decide to become a nurse instead of a doctor.Or did becoming a doctor never even cross your mind? It took me a while to figure out that I wanted to work in the medical field. After that was done I only had to figure out in what profession I wanted to be in. I always thought it would be great to become a doctor but although I think I have the potential to be a good doctor and would like their work, I decided that nursing was the better way for me. Some of the reasons for that were that I liked the schedules better, schooling takes less time, it's easier to get into the schools and I'm not willing to give up my family life or marriage for a career as a doctor. It would be intersting to hear why you guys think that nursing is the better career (or not?!)

Thank you so much Kona for that link. That's exactly what I was looking for!!

I'm a little confused by all the different fields of nursing. As a nurse I would like to take care of babies (and/or kids), but I'm not too sure yet what nursing field would be right for me. So could you please name the different options that I would have as an LPN or RN? And a rough outline of the main duties in the specific fields would be very helpful as well! Thank you so much!!! :)

WOW, some of these stories are really sad and shocking at the same time. I can't believe how little common sense some people have.

Thanks for your help, John! I contacted PTEC and they sent me some further information and it really seems like a good school for me. But you are right the waiting lists are way too long. Nadine

Hey everybody, I'm still new to this forum so please be patient with me :) First of all, let me introduce myself a little bit. I'm 20 years old and currently still living in Germany but I will be moving to the Clearwater Area next year. I would like to become an LPN so I started looking for some programs in that area. A friend told me about the Practical Nursing Program of the Pinellas Technical Education Center. It sounded good to me because it wasn't that expensive either. But then I checked out their website (http://www.ptec.pinellas.k12.fl.us/ ) which isn't very informative at all and now I'm wondering whether the school and the program are really good. Is there any way I can find that out? It would be nice to hear from somebody who has made some experiences with that program /school. Oh and by the way, what is the average cost of an LPN Program? Thanks in advance for your help! Nadine