For those that didn't see it before it closed, after over 60 responses, Florida came in 1st place in the "Salary Hall of Shame" thread on the general discussion board.
This is really a reply to Eagleriver's suggestion in the aformentioned thread (that is now locked) about sending the compiled responses to the FL legislature. I have a better idea of where to forward the information (and outrage) from this thread--the Florida media outlets! There is so much in the media now about nursing shortages, maybe they should do a story about the real reasons why, especially in FL. Let the public know how poorly FL nurses are compensated r/t the rest of the country. Many nurses stay away from FL due to high licensure costs/requirements and the very low pay (compared to other states). I would work elsewhere too, if I didn't miss it so much and didn't still have my family there ( I grew up in and lived in FL for 21yrs, before becoming a nurse). I went to nursing school in Illinois and have worked only here (SW Chicago burbs) as a nurse, but will be moving back to FL at the end of this year. After calling a few hospitals in Jacksonville,FL today, I realized that I will have to take almost a $10/hr cut in pay to move there--much bigger difference than the 3% state income tax (80cents/hr) that I will save by moving to FL. The cost of living used to be much lower in FL than up here, I was amazed by that difference when I first moved up here (9yrs ago). It is not that way anymore. My parents still live in FL and I know what their utilities, food, etc. cost; and the housing market has increased dramatically--I was recently there home shopping. The hospitals in FL can't keep using these reasons/excuses for why they pay so little. I will make the move, but ONLY b/c being near my family again is so important to me (and the warm weather doesn't hurt). Most nurses from other areas of the country will go elsewhere, where they are paid better, unless they have a strong personal reason to move to FL. This is not good news for FL, who has a nursing shortage worse than most states. And the answer isn't recruiting nurses from other countries that are willing to work cheaply, which I have been reading more about lately. Nurses in FL deserve better. None of us (or few of us) went into nursing for the money, but why should FL nurses be treated/paid so much more poorly than those in other states? No wonder the shortage is so bad in FL. I can help people and care for the sick (why I really went into nursing) here in IL and still make a decent wage--why can't the same be said for FL? Instead my family will suffer financial hardship so I can care for the sick in FL instead. I know I have made that choice, but my point is, it shouldn't be that way.
At one time I was REALLY excited about the possibility of moving to FL, however, after doing a little research we decided against it d/t what was, in our opinion, very low pay. I was hoping that the cost of living would be lower to justify the lower wages, but I found the cost of living to be much more expensive than I imagined. Interestingly, some friends of ours were considering a move to FL because of family there, but they decided against it for the same reasons that we did although the husband is an electrician. Although I was a bit disappointed b/c we'd been considering FL for about 2 yrs., we just didn't think it would be worth it in the end. Just my 2 pennies.
we just moved to Fl and were VERY disappointed in the wages . I have alot of experience and still is was BAD !!! My husband is retired and he will need to get a job to support our cost of living in Fl.
Someone in the media should do a story regarding the cost of living in florida not REAL and the LOW LOW wages especially for the nurse's . Nurse's tend to be caring and a little too good hearted at times . SOmetimes we are stomped on and Florida seems onlt too willing to hurt us.
So nice to hear you made the transistion well from CT. I am moving from Michigan at the end of the month and am so very excited. It has been a dream of mine since I was 21. I am 56 now. I have been a Nurse for 34years
and last year made between 55,000 and 60,000 in Phone Triage.
I plan to get back in Home Care and know the wage is much less than I make in Michigan. I have found a reasonably priced apartment in Sanford and have family in the Orlando.... Have you found the "new way of life" in Florida to
be a gentler easy way of life? What type of Nursing do you do? I would love to hear your thoughts on this....
:)
This was an interesting thread to me because I recently moved to FL from CT I have found the same thing...my salary is about $10.00 an hour less than I made in CT and the cost of living isn't all that much lower here. I am looking for a house and I do think that, at least in Volusia County, I can get more home here for my buck than I could in CT but otherwise my bills are pretty much the same.
I am an OB nurse and the birthing culture here has not kept up with the times so that is discouraging but I am also finding that because of my experience with more evidence-based practices I am going to be able to be a pretty big fish in this small pond! I love the weather, the people are wonderful and there is lots and lots to do here so all in all things are pretty good! :)
In 1995 I was making 58,000/yr doing HHC RN visits with benefits in Florida and loved my job.
My income had risen to that point from the time I had graduated from college in '91. I remember starting at 12.50/hr as an RN newbie. At the time you could buy a house in Tampa Bay starting at $35,000 and my grocery bill was $60/wk. By the time I left my first hospital job in '93 I was doing pool w/o benes for $20/hr.
Now, I make less than $30,000/yr. Govt pay ---- Thank you Florida for thinking so much of your public health nurses. Benefits have been whittled down, cost for benes is up. I do work FT. I have this job for other reasons besides the pay and I love my job. No I didn't HAVE TO settle for this pay, but I choose to accept it and move on.
So, since I can no longer live on this measly pay it's back to the bedside for me. I negotiated my pay at my new job and did a decent job of it. I'll get $23/hr plus shift and w/e diffs as house super. I plan on doing some OT and figure I'll should make at least $50,000/yr. Still a far cry from the 50 I wanted w/o OT. But, I tried! I will be pushing to get into admin/mngt for the higher pay. (Comparison Now: same house is now over $100,000 and grocery bill is 120/wk.)
The $$ is out there but not like it used to be. What happened? I'll tell you. A huge money hungry Corporation with bosses and CEO's that would even break the law for profits sake, bought every hospital, every HHC, and anything else they could get thier hands on. This Corporation bought the HHC co I worked for and treated us as they did the hospitals. They bought then closed every HHC, and Hospital (2 in my community), thus eliminating the competition. They moved nurses from other HHC co into my office as now we all worked for the same co. Then they thinned us out. Cut our pay. Cut our bene's. Left us w/o ANY benefits at first. They did this b/c they had ALL the control. Eventually, I was laid off too, after several years of service in the same HHC office. They said I could get a job as a NEW hire at another location but I would have to interview for it. I'm sure I could have taken that offer and had a job but I was so mad that they wanted to erase my years of service and start all over again that I told them forget it. Ever since then I have not been able to find a job that paid as well nor that I liked so much, as before they took CONTROL. The state LET them do this, then the state and feds came down on them, but it was too late. They still owned so much of the market. They just changed thier name. A few went to jail. And the nurses got the shaft. They did this all across the state.
Luckily, there is more competition now. Many years later. But they still own a good majority of the hospitals and they set the pace on pay d/t the size.
Wages are set by the hospitals. They call, ask, share, find out what the wages are at thier competition. I have done this job before when I was in admin. You use the info to set "competitive wages", ie: in line w/ what the other place is paying. This keeps wages down.
To top that off, Florida is a right to work state. You can loose your job for any or no reason at the employers whim. Unions have been shut out of Florida for many years. They are just now gaining momentum in this state. No union, No power. But since it's a right to work state, employees are afraid of being fired, which does happen when they start talking union. A few years ago this was common practice. Then you wouldn't be able to get a job elsewhere b/c you were fired, and if they hear about the real reason why, you'd never get a job.
I live here b/c I was born and raised here. I am not leaving just b/c I can be paid more $ in some other state. I hope that many will stop flaming those of us who live and work here. There are reasons that it is the way it is and it is a bigger fish than any one nurse can fix. It will take years to recover from what the corp world did here. More to get us all unionized. AFL/CIO here! And even more years for the state govt to protect employees if ever. The big corps have all the $$ to get the laws they want and the state wants to attract big business, so they will keep the laws on the side of the corps.
I figure that the nursing shortage will in fact become so bad here that we will finally get decent pay to offset, what we Floridians consider a high cost of living.
I really do like Florida. The weather is fabulous and the people are really very nice. Things do seem a bit more laid back here but there are a lot of traffic issues, I have never seen or heard of more accidents than here.
I am a labor and delivery nurse and I am finding things a bit backward here. I knew that was the case before I came because my family members here have had some really bad medical care at times. You should be okay though because being a nurse you can judge good care from bad care.
For me, when I feel down about something here (just because I am adjusting to a lot of changes) I just go to the beach and all is well again! That is why I am here and it is SO, SO worth it!
I hope that your move is successful. If you have any other questions or want to keep in touch during your move feel free to email me at my personal email. Or IM me if you wish. I am an online student so I am online a LOT.
Thank you Karen for your kind words. I too with take a short drive to the Ocean to remind me how lucky I am......
Sue
Hi Sue,
I really do like Florida. The weather is fabulous and the people are really very nice. Things do seem a bit more laid back here but there are a lot of traffic issues, I have never seen or heard of more accidents than here.
I am a labor and delivery nurse and I am finding things a bit backward here. I knew that was the case before I came because my family members here have had some really bad medical care at times. You should be okay though because being a nurse you can judge good care from bad care.
For me, when I feel down about something here (just because I am adjusting to a lot of changes) I just go to the beach and all is well again! That is why I am here and it is SO, SO worth it!
I hope that your move is successful. If you have any other questions or want to keep in touch during your move feel free to email me at my personal email. Or IM me if you wish. I am an online student so I am online a LOT.
an interesting article about one of the biggest problems with florida healthcare (they cause problems everywhere else they are too, but big time in fl):
an interesting article about one of the biggest problems with florida healthcare (they cause problems everywhere else they are too, but big time in fl):
I agree, I moved down here a year ago after me & my husband got married. I am from Mass. I am a homecare nurse....I made $30.31/hr weekdays and $32.75/hr Nights, eves & w/e's and got holiday pay etc...... I work doing the exact same thing down here for $18.00/hr and no diff ....same pay rate regardless if it's day, night, holiday.......holiday pay....what's that? You get nothing here...... it's pathetic...and the cost of things are equal to if not more that things from up north.......problem is it seems like the nurses I have talked to that work from the same company I do complain but no one ever speaks up.......one nurse who has worked for my agency for years told me a few years ago they even took $2.00 /hr away from the nurses.....I couldn't believe it......is that even legal????? I can't understand how anyone can think this is acceptable behavior...... I know people have to work and sometimes don't have a choice depending on their circumstances.....but honestly how can anyone even make a decent living here? If I had known , I probably would of reconsidered coming down here......fun to visit but living here is a whole other thing.....my husband lived in my home town but moved here 18 years ago because his parents moved here & don't have the best health.......we are moving back eventually..just financially can't right now......our house would have to be sold...and that along could take years with the economy .........who knows........ it's unreal to have that $$$$ shock after being used to not busting your butt as hard with work as down here....... anyway it's very puzzling.......
I am planning on moving to Florida this summer. If I were to make $10/hr less then I do here in Missouri, I'll be working for free Honestly after what I have read here, checking into Florida fees and checking other jobs in Florida I doubt I'll be working in nursing there. I will maintain my Missouri license since I do spend time working in Haiti as a nurse there. It doesn't matter what state my license is from so long as it is current for the work I do in Haiti. I will miss nursing and may some day return to nursing in Florida, but I do not think that is what I'll be doing right away in Florida.
DeeDee, From what I understand Missouri nurses make less than Florida nurses. Don't throw in the towel just yet!
i also loveeeeeeeeee florida vs michigan where i grew up. i too go to the beach if i dont like something, then i love everything again :) b4 i went back to college i DID notice how poor the pay was here. always good to have a good room mate or spouse or sweetheart to share expenses with.
Honestly after what I have read here, checking into Florida fees and checking other jobs in Florida I doubt I'll be working in nursing there. I will maintain my Missouri license since I do spend time working in Haiti as a nurse there. It doesn't matter what state my license is from so long as it is current for the work I do in Haiti. I will miss nursing
GinoLPN
3 Posts
Hi everyone