Sad state of affairs!

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Now that I am working as an RN I can't believe how bad my health insurance is. With my former job, as a grocery store clerk, I paid $5 dollars for 2 of my scripts and $35 for the most expensive. Those same ones are now $22, $42, and $104 a month! Yikes! So not only am I working nights, paying a fortune for my health insurance (way more than I paid at the grocery store), but now I can't afford the Singulair, as I would like if I would like to also pay my rent. Yay for nursing! :( I am seriously considering going back to my old job. I worked days, got time and a half on Sundays, and my health insurance was cheaper and covered way more. If I ever went to days without the night diff, I would be making less as an Rn than a grocery store clerk after all benefit deductions.

I can't go part time or per diem I am a new grad with no experience. Same for home health, I need to get some experience first. My orientation is up in 2 weeks and then I need to suck it up and try to make it work for at least a year. At that point, if I feel competent, I would love to work per diem and go back to my job at the bakery, I loved the artistic side and got to use my creativity. Sometimes you do not realize how good you have it. I work 100 times harder as a nurse, but the pay and benefits do not reflect it. It also takes a lot more skill and education to work as a nurse, but the pay and benefits do not reflect it. I do enjoy being a nurse, I enjoy using my brain and working hard. But it just seems so "off" to me how badly it pays in my area. I did work as a tech while in nursing school, prn on weekends and holidays, and I really feel like they are the true unsung heros of healthcare. They could make more doing a whole lot less! I really appreciate the ones that work hard and do such a good job, knowing they are not paid what they are worth. It just is not fair!

I love being a nurse, and I worked hard to get here. It is very stressful right now being new, but I am just surprised at how hard it is to make ends meet right now.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

Therein lies the truth.....that is kept a huge secret when you are going to school. There was I time I wasn't sure nurses should unionize nation wide like police and firefighters. Now I firmly believe they should.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Very disheartening =( Yet everyone thinks we're all rolling in the dough....

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Hold that thought Esme!!! My husband is a police officer. We live in Wisconsin. It is not a rosy picture here!

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As long as I've worked in healthcare, I've always used my husband's insurance. Mine has always sucked. Mine sucks now, and I work at a place that brags about the benefits!

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Specializes in Correctional, QA, Geriatrics.

You might consider not using the prescription drug coverage part of your health insurance. Wal Mart, Walgreens and CVS stores all have low priced generic drug plans for many drugs i.e. $4/month for your scripts. My husband and I do this. We have opted out of using the drug coverage portion since the co pays were ridiculously high and for $35 a year we use the Walgreens plan and never pay over $12 for a 90 day supply of our routine meds.

This won't help you with the premium payments of your health insurance but it should help with the prescription part. In addition speak with your PCP about any drug manufacturer rebate or discount programs. You gotta be creative when navigating the bumpy waters of health insurance coverage.

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I work fulltime and can't afford health insurance. Or I could have health insurance but live in a bad neighborhood, where my daughter would have to go to school. It makes me sad.

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Specializes in Peds, School Nurse, clinical instructor.

I have excellent insurance but horrible pay as a school nurse. The only reason I have the benefits is because I am in the teacher's union. I wish I was on their pay scale :(

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txredhead... thank you! you have just saved us over $600/year.

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Specializes in Correctional, QA, Geriatrics.
txredhead... thank you! you have just saved us over $600/year.

you are welcome!

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Hold that thought Esme!!! My husband is a police officer. We live in Wisconsin. It is not a rosy picture here!

There is a difference between the private sector unions and the public sector unions. Unions don't really belong in the public sector. It just doesn't work well. My husband is a private sector union member and has recently had his insurance rates "jacked up" and every year for the next 4 yrs of this current contract it will increase. WI public union members are still paying less than my husband!

Currently WI is finally working on balancing the budget. Its a GOOD thing for the average working man/woman of WI.

But, I'll stop here as I am no longer nursing related. :)

To the OP: We use my husband's insurance and pay the extra because I don't take it through my place of employement. Even though he pays through the nose - its still better and cheaper than what I am offered!

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Keep in mind that you are at the bottom of the nursing pay scale. You should have more earning potential as a nurse than a grocery store clerk. As far as insurance is concerned, ALL business will have to pass on the increasing cost of health care to their employees in one way or another (increased premiums/co-pays or salary stagnation). Some have just started sooner that others.

In the future, when you are making job decisions, take into account the total compensation package.

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