would you be a RN for $11.00/hr?

kdblueey · Mar 9, 2007

This is simply an 'insult' to the nursing profession. PCT's probably make that much money. I know if you work in a doctor's office, you will make less, but not $11.00 an hour. Who is under paying nurses this??

Nursebarebari · Mar 9, 2007

$11/hr is too low, however, remember that nursing is not all about making money. I got into nursing for a few reasons. One is because i wanted to help people who are vulnerable like patients. Next i wanted to be in a field with many job choices, and i wanted a job with different shifts like nursing. As for working for that kind of money, i would rather volunteer one day a week for the love of helping people and have a different full time job that pays my bills.

pattyweb · Mar 9, 2007

New grads at a local hospital start at just under $19/hour. So no, $11/hour would not cut it. I make almost $10 as a CNA!

PickyRN · Mar 9, 2007

I think what you are really asking is, do you love nursing more than the money you make doing it. In other words: if money wasn't an issue, would you still do it?

I love taking care of people, and the whole medical side of things. But I also need to care for my family, providing the money that we need for school, house, cars, food, etc. If I only made $11 an hour, I would not be able to do this (I made this much as a CNA, not going back there).

So if money wasn't an issue for me, would I still be a nurse? Sure, but I don't think I would work as many hours as I currently do. Probably do it part time.

Gromit · Mar 9, 2007

Its not a hobby, its a job -more specifically, my livelyhood.

I don't work for free. And certainly wouldn't bother looking at an $11/hr wage.

romansten9 · Mar 9, 2007

Are you for real?
Are you insinuating that as nurses we should work for whatever crappy wage management deems fit to dole out? That at $11.00/hr we love our job as nurses so much we would do it for practically nothing?
The fact that you would even ask this question demonstrates how nurses in general have the politics of 50 years ago.
Nursing school is hell! Maintaining a license is tedious! Nursing is exceptionally demanding, at times draining, and without a doubt the most important function of a hospital.
The question you should be asking is: would I work for less than $22.00/hr?
We are not angels. We are highly skilled,we have degrees and are well trained health care providers.
Nursing salaries are starting to go down despite the "nursing shortage" Does this make any sense? Yes. Because (I don't mean to be rude) nurses asking your type of silly question are putting us there.
Do plumbers make 11/hr? Do carpenters? Do truckers? Why nurses?

You mentioned carpenters and truckers, well I am a Paramedic (and student RN) ABOUT 99% OF PARAMEDICS make less than $11 an hour in the midwest!! and slightly more elsewhere..And what do they do for this pay?? Well, for example, Paramedics have to go out in all kinds of weather, drive high speed on ice and in heavy traffic, face dangerous people in dangerous parts of town with very little backup. Paramedics have to maintain skills that many RNs are not allowed to do, they have the responsibility to make decisions that MDs make in the hospital. They often work alone, handling a code blue or trauma patient alone without a TEAM of helpers, and often work in cramped/low light, very hot or very cold environments. A Paramedics should make at least what an RN makes, and for the items I mentioned, they could even make more! Everyone will always want to make more, so I understand why RNs complain. I was forced to go back to school to support my family. (no raises and no benefits after 17 years) I can't wait to graduate nursing school and make more than $10 an hour!!!

ibnathan · Mar 9, 2007

Hell NO! New grads should be paid at a min. of $25-30 an hour. An experience nurse with 10-20 years of hospital experience 45-60 an hour PERIOD. This is why nursing is behind in pay, we self sacrafice ourselves for our patients, and in doing so we sometimes lower the standard and let hospitals determine what were worth. I love what I do but nurses should not stand for any kind of pay that is demeaning. No offense but I believe the pay is low because the majority of nurses are women. As more men come into this profession I hope and I believe that the standard of pay will rise. Don't settle for less.

RN BSN 2009 · Mar 9, 2007

no way!

Gromit · Mar 9, 2007

romansten, I too WAS a paramedic -back in the '90s. A BIG reason why we made such paltry pay was "supply vs demand" -a SINGLE opening in Tampa, FL (for instance) would command more than 300 applicants. When you have THAT MUCH of an overabundance of qualified people looking for work in a particular field, you don't have to offer much by way of compensation.

In nursing, there is no excuse for the pay to start decreasing -and if it continues to do so, it will be because we allow it to happen. We are still in demand, we need to act like it.

My last facility tried to keep me when I graduated nursing (RN) school -I was a tech there. They paid the lowest wages around for nurses (RNs or LPNs) -no way was I sticking around for that. Too many facilities around here are willing to pay far better than they were.

celeste7767 · Mar 9, 2007

I'll start right off telling you all that I am probably the most CYNICAL nurse that is a member of this forum. When I started nursing school in 1971, I had no idea what the starting salary was; it was what I wanted to do so I didn't care. In 1975 in Indiana, my first job on nights on a major surgical unit with 26 beds, me and and a CNA on duty, I made $5.27 per hour. I worked 11pm to 7:30am, 8 hour shifts, every other weekend off. We almost never worked any overtime, we got our lunch and breaks, and we got out on time. After working 26 out of 31 years doing 12 hour shifts in Critical Care and ER, mostly without any breaks or any time off my feet, I am now on Social Security Disability at the age of 58. I have lost 2 inches in stature from severe spinal arthritis, I also have severe arthritis of my feet, knees, hips, hands, and right shoulder. I have severe carpal tunnel syndrome of both wrists. I wouldn't become a nurse today because today nurses are the ultimate fall-guy no matter what happens; the nurse is always to blame, (not the pharmacist, not the charge nurse, not the doctor) because the pharmacist and doctor have associations that PROTECT them from liability while the Boards of Nursing exist solely to PROTECT THE PUBLIC FROM THE NURSES and that crap about Charge Nurses being responsible for what other nurse do is just that, CRAP. And NO, I have never been disciplined by the board for anything. But I have seen it happen to 4 other excellent nurses that I know of and I cannot imagine how many others it happens to that I don't know of. I was not a workaholic either; I worked my 3 twelve hour shifts a week and that was it. But when I worked, I gave it 200%. I practically RAN down the halls as I gave my patients the best that I had to give and there are many people who are alive today because I was there when they needed a good nurse. But if I could do it again, I would NOT be a nurse. I would be an attorney or a medical technologist. NO amount of money is worth the emotional and physical toll it takes. Nursing is a job with lots of responsibility and very little authority or power. It is known as a job with the worst of both worlds. To those of you who are still taking prerequisite classes I say: GET OUT WHILE YOU STILL CAN!!

galapcp · Mar 9, 2007

I am just curious because i am new here. Are you a medical technology graduate? Because your username is phlebotomist_to_rn. Please answer me first before I go on to my next question

galapcp · Mar 9, 2007

Gosh my dear celeste7767, you gave me fear! I am a graduate of Medical technology but I plan to study Nursing to get out of here... (I am from the philippines by the way....) Are you that cynical? any suggestions before I dip in my feet in Nursing?