RN salaries in North Carolina?

anzean_rn · Jan 23, 2011

I am a fairly new grad in NC and my base pay rate was $21.00/hour to begin with (however we got raises this month which bumped me up a bit). We just had a nurse move here from out of state who has been a nurse for over 20 years and she told me that she took a "major pay cut" moving here and that the wages "couldn't get much worse". However, I kind of feel like it's just my hospital...Who knows.

Fribblet · Jan 23, 2011

Tell that nurse that they can get much worse. Much, much worse.

bonesrn · Jan 23, 2011

I can tell you that Duke pay is the lowest in the Raleigh/Durham area. Try UNC/Rex/Wake Med. I work in the float pool and have 15 yrs experience so I can't speak for staff salaries. I'm sure HR could give you a range? Where are you moving from? Durham has some very nice areas and I think it gets a bad wrap at times..just don't live downtown '-). Now, downtown Raleigh is a whole different story, very hip, nice, and a lot going on. PM for any other questions. Good Luck!

gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN · Jan 23, 2011

I have 3 years experience in medsurge. I am making 19.25/hour and this is over the line in Georgia. I believe this may be the lowest in the country though I have heard 16's-17's in Alabama. I am a RN with a BSN.

CarolinaGirl1112 · Jan 23, 2011

Here is a chart showing the average salary of an RN in Durham, NC along with salaries for a few specific positions, I hope this helps!

cheddaz · Jan 23, 2011

bonesrn said:
I can tell you that Duke pay is the lowest in the Raleigh/Durham area. Try UNC/Rex/Wake Med. I work in the float pool and have 15 yrs experience so I can't speak for staff salaries. I'm sure HR could give you a range? Where are you moving from? Durham has some very nice areas and I think it gets a bad wrap at times..just don't live downtown '-). Now, downtown Raleigh is a whole different story, very hip, nice, and a lot going on. PM for any other questions. Good Luck!

Hi! I can't PM...haven't met the quota:) I am wondering if you have any thoughts on what hospital has a good cardiac unit (progressive/stepdown or procedures)? I am interested in fair ratios (4:1- would be nice), salary not so much. Any advice would be helpful:) Thanks!

crb613, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2011

CarolinaGirl1112 said:
Here is a chart showing the average salary of an RN in Durham, NC along with salaries for a few specific positions, I hope this helps![/quote
I just went to the link, and put in my area. It is way off....showing 20-30 thousand higher than actual. So you might want to keep that in mind. I would be interested to know if anyone else has checked it out, and your findings.

CarolinaGirl1112 · Jan 23, 2011

crb613 said:
CarolinaGirl1112 said:
Here is a chart showing the average salary of an RN in Durham, NC along with salaries for a few specific positions, I hope this helps![/quote
I just went to the link, and put in my area. It is way off....showing 20-30 thousand higher than actual. So you might want to keep that in mind. I would be interested to know if anyone else has checked it out, and your findings.
Well, the thing about these salary sites is that they show the average. There are so many different factors, such as degree level and years of experience...also what environment the nurse is working in. (eg. Hospital, Doctor's office, School, LTC, etc.)
It's not a perfect science, but it can be used as sort of a loose guideline.

laneymaree · Jan 23, 2011

Duke has lower pay, but better benefits in my opinion. Way better benefits.

And it is a pay cut in NC from a lot of other states, but you have to take into account the cost of living. NJ makes like $27 for a new grad but it is way more expensive to live out there.

It's about $20-$24 an hour for a new grad. Factor in the cost of living and then you can see how worthwhile it is.

Murse_1 · Jan 23, 2011

Thanks, everyone, for the replies. I live in CT right now, which is high pay but high standard of living. Currently I make $33.40/hour -- new grad rate has increased to $28.50. (it sounds like a lot, but consider that my mortgage on a nice-ish 1500sf house is $2400/month).

I had only been looking at Duke, but based on the responses, I'll check out UNC and the other area hospitals as well. Sounds like there's a real lot of variability -- I'll hope to catch HR on a good day :)

Thanks

canesdukegirl, BSN, RN · Jan 23, 2011

You can get a nice house (about 1900sqft) here in the Triangle area for about 250K, and the cost of living is reasonable. My baby brother lives in New Haven, so I understand that your cost of living is high!