Salary for Director of Nursing

[Onthegonurse]

Hi everyone,

I am interested in applying for a Director of Nursing position for a LTC facility. They ask for salary expectations and since I've never been a DON, I'm unsure what the range is. I've tried searching it on the internet, but a lot of salary ranges are for the US. I was also wondering if your senority (for RN pay scale with ONA) continues to accrue when you are in a non-union position like management?

Thanks in advance for any info.:)

[NotReady4PrimeTime, RN]

Generally speaking, once you go "out of scope", or move from the bedside to management, you lose your seniority. In Alberta, one may be out of scope for a period of less than 6 months and retain their seniority, but at six months + one day, it's gone. From recent applications of this clause on my unit, the clock starts ticking the minute one signs their offer of employment and not the day they actually start their management position. Look at a copy of your collective agreement in the section on seniority and see what it says.

Of course, once you go out of scope, you're no longer covered by any portion of that collective agreement and will have to negotiate your own contract. That includes wages, benefits (health, dental, disability, life insurance, RRSP contributions and so on), vacation, and many other little things. Realise that you won't be entitled to automatic pay raises, overtime payments or call-back pay. Wages are only a small part of the picture and you should be very sure of what you're getting into.

Here in Alberta, middle managers are paid in the range of $100K or so. The next rung of the ladder would be in the range of $175K to $200K I would think.