Richmond VA salary questions

nursn4me · May 20, 2006

Heaverboo2006,

I was told by several people who applied to different local hospitals in the area that the general starting pay is $13.00-$14.00. Now this does not include shiff-diff or if you are already working in a local hospital a few years as a PCT, obviously these two things will increase your earning potential. For an lpn to take home a decent salary you would have to take an LTC job. Skills wise, your best bet would be a hospital job. Good luck to you!

quietgal · May 29, 2006

I'll soon be graduating from J. Sargeant Reynolds LPN program in august and will hopefully become licensed the first time taking boards. Working in a hospital about how much do LPN's make? Then how much do they make with shift differential etc?

I have a question for you about reynolds. I am currently a CNA (2 years) and have worked in nursing homes. I have had a few lpns suggest for me to go back to school to become a lpn. I have thought about it for a long time now and have considered it. I'm having a hard time choosing a school. I have asked advice from the nurses at my job but their opinions are so different from one to another. Since you have attended reynolds I would like to know about that school. How long did it take to complete the program? Do you have to take a lot of pre reqs? What are the class hours like? Do they have night classes as well as day or evening? You can throw in any extra info if you would like. Thank you.

heaverboo2006 · May 29, 2006

To be honest, the program is unorganized but a lot of people said that goes for other nursing programs also. The only people that could get into the summer pne 188 class were those that are graduating in july because they dont have enough clinical teachers or teachers to teach the class. But, the president of the college is aware of the situation and said they would work on it and lets hope they do.

The only pre-req for the LPN program is an english, health/pe elective, psy, orientation class (which all reynolds students have to take) and 1 anatomy class. For the RN program they require a few more classes, you have to have 2 english classes and 2 anatomy classes, sociology class and I think that's it.

As far as the hours, they usually take place in the morning. For my first semester I was in school from about 9-2. For the first 8 weeks we had clinicals from 7-1, one day a week. The second 8 weeks we had it twice a week from 7-1 also. The second semester I was only in class for 2 hours with clinicals once a week but a 10 hour shift or you could do clinicals 2 times a week for 5 hours a day. The last semester of school varies. Right now i'm doing my PSY rotation and we have class from 9-12 one day and 2-5 the next day with clinicals on friday from 7-1230. One of my friends is doing her PEDS rotation and she's in school one day from 9-4 then the next day is 1-4 with clinicals on saturday from 7-330.

As far as the program length, it depends on how long you have to wait because it's starting to back up. I waited 1 semester, got in in august and i'll be finished in july. Once you get in it's about a year. And you can transition over to the RN program which only takes about a year also.

There's good things and bad things with the program but so far i've been satisfied. And i've heard if you can get through the LPN program you wont have any problems with the RN program.

So if you have any more questions concerning the program dont hesitate to ask and I wish you luck with making a decision on which school to attend.

mamamia · May 29, 2006

Oh nooo.... $14-15? I'm in California and a new grad does like $25-27! How much for an experienced nurse? $48 before taxes (1/3 of your pay aprox.)

How about Virginia? My wife wants to move there, she's from PA.

nursn4me · May 29, 2006

Oh nooo.... $14-15? I'm in California and a new grad does like $25-27! How much for an experienced nurse? $48 before taxes (1/3 of your pay aprox.)
How about Virginia? My wife wants to move there, she's from PA.

That depends. are you or your wife an lpn or rn?? pay is significantly different between the two. Coming from California where your cost of living is way higher than it is in virginia you can't just think about dollar amount when deciding where you will relocate. Our cost of living is much cheaper than California so the pay will be lower as well. My sister-in-law is a nurse manager at a local hospital and she tells me the starting pay for rn's is around $21.00 and that does not include shiff-diff or anything like that, and the pay is $14.00 for lpn's. The cost of living in central virginia is going up, the cost to buy a house is getting ridiculous!! Best of luck to you and your wife wherever you decide to relocate!

NurseyTonyaLPN · May 29, 2006

I'm not far from Richmond. When I started in the hospital I was making a little over $13, but with shift diff/weekend pay it was about 15-17 (I worked nights), home health paid about the same, I'm now agency and it's significantly higher (22-25) but the agency I'm at requires at least a year's nursing experience.

mamamia · May 29, 2006

That depends. are you or your wife an lpn or rn?? pay is significantly different between the two. Coming from California where your cost of living is way higher than it is in virginia you can't just think about dollar amount when deciding where you will relocate. Our cost of living is much cheaper than California so the pay will be lower as well. My sister-in-law is a nurse manager at a local hospital and she tells me the starting pay for rn's is around $21.00 and that does not include shiff-diff or anything like that, and the pay is $14.00 for lpn's. The cost of living in central virginia is going up, the cost to buy a house is getting ridiculous!! Best of luck to you and your wife wherever you decide to relocate!

Sorry, I'm an RN as well as my wife... You are right; money is not everything but coming from such an expensive place like SoCal I tend to frick out about it!