Rich nurses?

Nurses General Nursing

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you guys are mostly from the USA?

I just glanced over a thread and it seems you guys are ridculously overpaid?

In Australia.. nursing is by far not a well paid job. Its maybe just average. My step dad who was a traffic controller - held a sign that said "slow" and "stop" on the flipside got paid $10 an hour more than me.. i kid you not.

Specializes in Community, Renal, OR.

You are still starting out on your career. It is possible to be very well paid in nursing, in Victoria. Identify an area that has a shortage, specialise in this area, and get a lot of experience. Then, join an agency and work full time or more. I did this with both perioperative nursing and renal nursing.

you guys are mostly from the USA?

I just glanced over a thread and it seems you guys are ridculously overpaid?

In Australia.. nursing is by far not a well paid job. Its maybe just average. My step dad who was a traffic controller - held a sign that said "slow" and "stop" on the flipside got paid $10 an hour more than me.. i kid you not.

Cost of living and taxes are not the same in US and Australia

Specializes in ICU, SDU, OR, RR, Ortho, Hospice RN.

I am originally from Tasmania then moved to the USA for love.

My last time home Nursing salaries had improved dramatically so I was impressed.

For me salary has not been the big issue but more a comfort of working where I wanted to, doing what I love and trying to do the best I could.

I pray for me, that if money chooses where I have to work then I am forgetting the reason I went into nursing.

My salary is excellent, we are comfortable but that does not make me forget where I came from and the reason I do the job I do.

I am rich but it is not the money honey. :)

Specializes in Cardiac Medical, surgical, medical, more.

Here in Australia we make less than half of what nurses from other countries do, here we must have a univeristy degree to become a Registered Nurse. We are over worked, underpaid, always working short staffed, and they say no agency staff available, and yet they still slam us with admissions. I work in a private hospital sector and it really sucks, and we are always treated as replaceable numbers. Our unions are some of the weakest and when they can get you a 4% pay raise, they take 5-6%, so there is no getting ahead.:o:o

Specializes in Psychiatric.

I think not. Yes, certain regions nurses make more than others but hardly make them rich by no means. When you take in consideration the hours we work, missing family functions and so on do you really think any of us are rich. We may be rich in spirit and the knowledge we all possess and the desire to help others no matter what nursing field your in. I have been in nursing over 30 years. I still enjoy it to this day. Sure I wish I was payed more but are we ever really satisfied with what we make. I guess I'm from the old school. Wanting to help others and seeing them get well or supporting those in their last minutes of life. That is what makes all nurses RICH!

Specializes in Cardiac Medical, surgical, medical, more.

I did not say anything about being rich, I was just saying things are so different around the world, don't get me wrong, i was an LPN making 10.75 an hour trying to raise 3 kids on that by my self. Moved to australia and things are so different. As an RN-BSN i make a little over 23 an hour and work as much over time to pay my rent, buy food, make my car payment, while dealing with Private patients whom think we are their maids.

I love being a Registered nurse, its all i know,,but would just like a fair go, on night duty you often have 28 patients with 2 staff for 10 hours. Day and evening shifts not much better, you might have 2 staff for 12 patients.

If i could afford to do state boards i would move back to USA, but its a little expensive and such, expensive to get study guides shipped from america to australia.

I work as much over time as i can just to survive

Nurses in the USA work VERY HARD and are just starting to receive the pay that they deserve! We work understaffed and deal with insurance company cut backs that many other countries with socialized medicine do not have to deal with. Our pay rates place us in the "middle class" not "rich" by any means. :nono:

Specializes in oncology, surgical stepdown, ACLS & OCN.
Overpaid!:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl::bow::bow: You really crack me up!

I agree with you, we are definately underpaid! We carry a lot more resposibility

than nurses in other countries. I am comfortable but far from rich. Nurses in other countries do not do what american nurses do. Therefore there is no comparison.

scooterRN52:nono:

well.. heres my theory: it all depends on how u live now and where you came form. i grew up not "well-off" at all. to ME, being able to live at "middle-class standards" IS being rich, although in society's eyes it's just NORMAL. if i was to b RICH in society's standards. to ME id be ridiculously wealthy!!!!! everyone has different life situations... where one person, who has no kids and barely any bills to pay, may make $xx an hour, may feel they are "rich"... when another person making the same amount has 3 kids to support, by his or herself, is struggling just to get by.

nurses become who and what they are because they want to HELP people. NOT to have a huge debate over SALARY. if your NOT happy with what you are going home with at the end of the day, monetarily, emotionally or otherwise, NURSING IS NOT FOR YOU. :nono:

i don't think someone was saying that nurses are rich but in my hospital it is a joke that goes around the rn= rich nurse and lpn= low paid nurse. we all know the facts tha rn's make more an hour than the lpn's so thats how the joke got started around our hospital !

oh my goodness!!

im a nurse (an RN to the forum member that asked) why would i say that we are overpaid? i was simply saying that alot of people have the conception (misconception in my books) that nurses are well off. in another thread someone said the pay is decent. i thought this must be a US thing.

68 grand a year for an aussie nurse? must be a manager and/or experienced nurse, clearly non victorian nurse with salary packaging and maybe a gross income estimate also. and definatly not a base income. must factor in shift allowances and weekend penalty rates.

i really hope i havent offeneded any of you, just found it strange. and clearly im not jelous of anyones pay.. like ive said in previous posts.. no one (including me) i know enters nursing "for the money" its ridiculous to think we're well paid. HOWEVER, i made this thread thinking that in the USA nurses must be well paid becuse so many forum members have mentioned that its not a bad living and some have put their incomes on the net which seemed at the time to be quite well off. prior to considering the cost of living in each state differing and so forth and so on.

i hope ive made myself clear and dont further offend anyone.

cheers!

If anyone was taken aback or offended, it probably had to do with the phrase "rediculously overpaid." My interpretation of that is we are paid an excessive amount for the work we do. I do not think that is the case, particularly when you compare our wages to other professions that require equal education and/or responsibility. My husband is a teacher; more education, less responsibility; he makes just a little more than me.

I think I understand what you were trying to say--that we appear to be better compensated than equivalent nurses in your area; but perhaps thinking twice before posting would be beneficial in the future. You know, reread and think about your choice of words. The internet facilitates some wonderful communication; but it's easier to end up with mis-communication problems as well. I tend to stick my virtual foot in my virtual mouth pretty often, despite my best efforts.

you guys are mostly from the USA?

I just glanced over a thread and it seems you guys are ridculously overpaid?

In Australia.. nursing is by far not a well paid job. Its maybe just average. My step dad who was a traffic controller - held a sign that said "slow" and "stop" on the flipside got paid $10 an hour more than me.. i kid you not.

tiij, I wasn't offended by your remarks and I concur with your thoughts on nursing in this country. American nurses are some of the highest paid in the world and we whine about how hard the work is. If U.S. nurses went abroad to work maybe we'd better appreciate how well we have it here in this country. Unfortunately, most of us never leave the country.

I've stated on my job that I'd be willing to make less money if it meant that everyone who needs healthcare recieved it. My co-workers thought that I had lost my senses and requested that I keep that tidbit of info to myself, as they were afraid that management might here it.

If nurses trully went into nursing for the right reasons, salary wouldn't even be an issue. The real issue would be having the proper equipment and the proper staffing to do an adequate job in caring for the sick and infirm.

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