wiggingout

I'm a psych nurse and artist/musician. It's always been my dream to make a living being involved in the music/arts world. That didn't pan out, so I turned to my second passion, caring for others, particularly those with mental health issues. I'm very early in my career but want to start thinking about what I can do to combine these two passions. I would love to start some sort of non-profit charity (concert series, awareness group, hold different events/fundraisers - I know it's very broad right now, hoping to sort out the specifics over time), but I'm curious as to whether it's possible to make a living doing something like this... How do those that start-up a charity make a living out of it? I know it's a very basic question, but how do you actually get paid if it's a non-profit organization? I'm not looking to get rich, would just love to make what i make now (50k) doing what i love, being my own boss, and not at the bedside.

yikes, i typically can't stand people on here calling out others for going into nursing for a particular reason (e.g. "Shame on you for becoming a nurse for any reason other that it's your one true passion). I think it's perfectly fine to enter the field for more practical reasons (e.g. money, time, job security)... ...but, based off of your last comment, please leave any and all direct-care nursing. Do it, now. You have zero compassion. Really, you'd probably get along much better with computers.

Thanks for the insight! After learning more about benefits this last week, I definitely think people take them for granted often. Heck, I always have. I've always just looked concerned myself with hourly salary and health coverage...never really thought out how important the rest can be.

We have been living almost exclusively off of my wife's salary which was right around 23/hr. We weren't just getting by, either - we paid off both cars and are moving into a cheaper home within the next year. I'm almost 100% going to accept the offer, just trying to get a handle on the benefits first. Thanks!

Sorry, like I said, I'm totally new to benefits (especially retirement) so I'm running it by some friends who work for the state. From my understanding, I have 2 options to choose from: Opt 1 - Employer will match up to 12%, and if I leave anytime before vested (5 years), I get back what I put in. Opt 2 - Employer puts in 25%, I put in nothing. If I leave before vested, I get nothing. Pension = time worked x 2.5% x average of monthly (highest 36 months). You can buy 5 years.

Anyone else? What's typical as far as vacation/sick days/holidays?

Awesome, thanks for the info. Yep, definitely the job I was looking for. It's the state psych hospital and it's what I've wanted to do from the start. Like I said, it's never been about the money - I'm just starting to realize, given my benefits, I might be on my more even ground with my peers than I thought.

I have been offered an RN job for my state. It's basically exactly where I wanted to be in nursing, so I wasn't worried about it paying considerably less than the jobs offered to my peers. But, when I tell people about the offer, I am constantly being told how great the benefits for the state are. I've now been informed of exactly what those benefits are, but, this being my first job with benefits, I'm not really sure how they compare. I was wondering what everyone's thoughts were on this. I know without using real numbers to compare you won't be able to give me a real estimate on what benefits are "worth," but I was hoping to hear some experiences/opinions. What's a good amount of vacation/sick time? How much of a salary cut are you willing to take for better benefits? In case you were curious of real numbers, I'm starting at 23.21/hr., 3 weeks vacation, 3 weeks sick, 11 holidays, apparently "great" medical/dental, pension/retirement plan. Like I said, I'm new to benefits so I'm going to talk with some friends in the same system. I'm wondering if these benefits make up for my lower salary. Most friends working in private hospitals in town are starting at 28-32/hr.

thanks a ton for the responses (btw, I didn't move this to the Psych Nursing forum - i thought it was a pretty general question). Anyways, I basically had to let them know by today so I decided to take the sure thing - starting in March. I asked specifically if I would be able to leave if my wife were to call and say she had gone into labor. When they said the answer was "no," I knew what my decision was. I'm hoping to stick around in my current job so we have some kind of money coming in. Also going to talk to some friends I know have done temp/agency work and maybe get something going in the meantime. Thanks again!

just wanted to clarify - I didn't say ASAP to be pushy (I always feel that acronym comes across as pushy, digitally) - I actually have to let them know tomorrow. As far as taking the job now - I'm not quite sure what that means (hopefully find out a little more tomorrow). Does this mean if my wife goes into labor, I will not be allowed to leave work for the birth? Will I be fired if I leave for the birth? (rhetorical, of course) I'm guaranteed the job in March - it's not a take it now or take your chances later thing.

So, I've been offered a state psych job. HR just called today to officially offer it to me after finishing my background check. When she asked if I had any questions, I mentioned that my wife is due to give birth to our first child feb. She said this might be an issue, spoke to the DON, then called me back. She said I have two options: start when I'm supposed to (jan 7) but not be able to take anytime off, or start March 4 with another group (I'm assuming) of new hires. She is due Feb 8 and we have no indication of whether she'll be early, late, complications, etc. My wife will be out of work starting at Christmas (she is the primary earner) and I'll be laid off my seasonal jobs at likely in January (11 bucks/hr - this will be my first RN job). Money wise, we'd be ok but I think I'd prefer to work those few months. Not sure how to approach this right now. Thanks for any advice.