question regarding nursing pay

[srleslie]

Most nurses in hospitals work 36 hours a week...do they get paid for 36 or actually get paid for 40?

[RN_2012, BSN, RN]

I am pretty sure you get paid for the amount of hours you put in. They are not salaried positions.

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

The actual hours worked.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

Unless a contract states otherwise, you'll receive 36 hours of pay if you worked 36 hours in a particular work week.

[Crux1024]

Ditto what everyone else said, but if you're on a floor/unit, all where they encourage you all to fill the schedule holes, or have some kind of shift plus, 4 more hours a week may be possible.

[srleslie]

Ditto what everyone else said, but if you're on a floor/unit, all where they encourage you all to fill the schedule holes, or have some kind of shift plus, 4 more hours a week may be possible.

This sucks...puts me at making a little over 35K when I graduate (if I can get a job at one of the larger hospitals, which aren't hiring right now), and people say there is money in nursing. Even APN's only start in the low 70's in my market.

[FlyingScot, RN]

This sucks...puts me at making a little over 35K when I graduate (if I can get a job at one of the larger hospitals, which aren't hiring right now), and people say there is money in nursing. Even APN's only start in the low 70's in my market.

Yeah, but it still beats working at Wendy's:yeah:

[llg, PhD, RN]

This sucks...puts me at making a little over 35K when I graduate (if I can get a job at one of the larger hospitals, which aren't hiring right now), and people say there is money in nursing. Even APN's only start in the low 70's in my market.

Did you include the shift differentials in your calculations? They can add a lot to the total pay sometimes. A lot of hospitals have low base pay -- but pay generous shift differentials for evening, night, and/or weekend hours.

[srleslie]

Did you include the shift differentials in your calculations? They can add a lot to the total pay sometimes. A lot of hospitals have low base pay -- but pay generous shift differentials for evening, night, and/or weekend hours.

No, but as a single parent and no family in town, working nights and weekends is not a good option for me.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

No, but as a single parent and no family in town, working nights and weekends is not a good option for me.

I don't know of many hospital nurses who can completely avoid working weekends. Working weekends and holidays comes with the territory of being a floor nurse.

As a new grad, you might have to start on night shift. Day shift is generally a desired and coveted schedule in hospitals, and therefore, it tends to be worked by experienced nurses with seniority. It is a possibility that you might have to work night shift for 6 months, 1 year, or however long it takes until a day shift opens up.

[sunnycalifRN]

Back in the day, when RN's were "in demand", some hospitals used to pay for 40 even though you only worked 36. But, not today, with the economy the way it is. They also used to have something called a "sign-on bonus", too!!!

[mikeicurn, ASN, RN]

The RN's in our local hospital went on strike about 3 years ago, one of the big sticking points was the fact that they had been paid for 40 hours when they worked 36. The hospital wanted to change that, saying that they did that when the hospital was making more money, but now they had to stop doing it. The nurses were saying that the hospital was "cutting their pay". I am still in school, so I can't say 100%, but I believe in the end the 40 for 36 thing came to an end.