luauchic

I know GBMC (Greater Baltimore Medical Center) was offering $5,000-10,000 bonuses for experienced nurses, especially in critical care, OR, ER, and tele. I'm pretty sure Johns Hopkins doesn't offer sign on bonuses but nurses make pretty good money there, with a $1000 bonus every six months as a full time RN. University of Maryland was offering $1500 bonuses for new grads who accepted positions early. As for general salary, it really depends on the area. Where are you relocating from? Depending, you might find cost of living in certain areas a lot higher than you might expect here- downtown nice areas in Baltimore, a good 2 bedroom is 1200-1800 easily, and that's without parking. Good luck in your job search!

If you do not want to work as an RN why did you go to nursing school? (didn't mean for that to come out mean-sounding!) You will probably be a great NP but remember the first word in nurse practitioner is NURSE. Psych is a little different, but all inpatient managers I've talked with at my hospital say they would never hire an NP without at least a few years RN exp.

I'm graduating school with my BSN in May. I just wanted to say that you should go to nursing school even you don't have to want to work as a "Regular" med surg nurse. But when you are in school, don't discount every other class as being boring or unimportant. Knowing about other medical conditions is important, as pregnant women can have/develop them too. Remember that an L&D or postpartum nurse is still a nurse- not all of your time is spent bathing newborns and helping with the actual delivery. A lot is still giving meds, both related to the birth and not. For example, you may be checking glucoses and giving insulin, giving seizure prophylaxis meds for an epileptic patient, monitoring for adverse effects of narcotics. You will still change beds, put in Foleys, check IV's and PCA's, deal with gross body fluids from both mom and baby, help mom when she's throwing up or in pain, and have to assess your patients critically. So if you want to be an L&D nurse, great, you can go to nursing school just for that. But if you think nurses in those specialties don't do what med surg nurses do, you are wrong. It's different, but not just cuddling babies and watching deliveries. But you really don't have to be a med surg nurse first- that's absolutely not true. I'm interviewing for new grad positions in PICUs and adult trauma ICU's right now, no regular med surg first. Good luck! -Julie

$11-16 an hour in Texas?? I know cost of living may be different but WOW. I made $13 as an nurse extern (student) this summer in DC. New grads in Baltimore, Maryland make around $24 an hour, plus differential, and cost of living is moderate I guess, depending on where you live, but going wayyy up. -Julie