$200,000 salary as a RN, it's true

Specialties NP

Published

I'm a NP who works in the Stockton/Sacramento area. One of my boating buddies is a RN at Kaiser. He has been there 10 years and is a charge nurse on a med/surg floor. I didn't believe it until he showed me but he does make a base of $200k a year. With overtime he clears a little of $350,000. This is due to Kaiser in Northern California being unionized. He lives in Modesto which is a low cost of living area but the contracts for the union are tied in with San Francisco which leads to high hourly wages. At retirement he is guaranteed at least $110k annually for life and lifetime medical benefits with any medical insurer he chooses whether it is Kaiser or not. I read the contract and couldn't believe what I was reading but there it was.

SO as a NP it makes me want to jump to Kaiser but......if I was to start at Kaiser with 10 years of NP experience under my belt I still wouldn't be making as much as my friend.

Disturbing??? Maybe....I'm happy for him. It just lets me know that there really are those rare RNs who make more than NPs....way, way more and more than most primary care MDs working on the floor. It makes you wonder if this model is sustainable.

2 hours ago, djmatte said:

SF is a pretty temperature climate year round. Very few extremes.

Temperate * climate

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200k for an RN, probably with quite a bit of overtime. Good for you. But this is only an average living in that part of the world.

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Specializes in ACNP-BC, Adult Critical Care, Cardiology.
9 hours ago, OUxPhys said:

Also, how do you not use some heat in SF? Doesn't SF get cooler/colder than southern CA?

It actually depends on where you are in the city. I lived in an apartment in the city close to downtown surrounded by similar apartment buildings and though I would wear a coat when I go out, I never had the need to turn the heat on because the building itself was efficient in keeping it warm inside. After that, I moved to a place in the center of the city in one of highest of hills with a gorgeous view in a 50's era apartment with big windows and large sliding doors and I had the heat on pretty much all year round.

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I live across the San Francisco bay in Richmond and every day this summer I've worn a jacket. Its been said before, the coldest winter I ever experienced was the summer I spent in San Francisco. Thankfully I'm moving next week to a much warmer part of Northern California. We have microclimates here. It can be 60 degrees in downtown San Francisco but over 100 degrees if you drive 30 miles east away from the ocean.

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Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.
On 8/6/2019 at 6:47 AM, NurseBlaq said:

I call shenanigans because Cleveland has RTA, rapids, buses, specialty buses, etc. that even go from Cleveland to Kent, to Akron, to Lorain etc. counties away, and Cuyahoga County, where Cleveland is located, is covered east and west side. You can have your preferences, that's fine, but don't make things up to validate them. SMH

The buses and RTA are more expensive and less extensive than public transportation here. Getting to a grocery store in Cleveland was not possible without a car. I lived in Shaker - the buses and trains are not nearly enough to be functional.

Add on to that, in the winter and the summer, it becomes difficult to conduct the same activities outside. I can't ride my bike comfortably year round. Maybe some people bike in the snow, but they're crazy.

You can find places to go using buses and RTA, but trying to actually live without a car? I dare you to try it for a month or two. Preferably in the worst of winter.

On 8/6/2019 at 8:00 AM, OUxPhys said:

Yeah, living downtown C-Town does not require a car. In the suburbs yes depending on distance (I know some nurses who ride their bike to work in the summer months).

Also, how do you not use some heat in SF? Doesn't SF get cooler/colder than southern CA?

Downtown C-land does not have the vibrancy nor the availability of services as a city like SF or NYC has.

Riding a bike to work is possible in the summer in C-land, if you have the ability to shower at work. Otherwise it's not actually feasible, unless you don't sweat.

Our lows in the summer/winter at at worst mid 40s, it never gets freezing here. I live in a high rise and like cooler temps. In the coldest times, I close my windows. But thanks to global warming, we´re having more hot days ? In general though, our temperature here is between low fifties and high sixties. I don't think there's been a day that hasn't reached the mid fifties, even during July. You wear layers and just adjust PRN ?

Fun facts about that quote: https://www.anchorbrewing.com/blog/the-coldest-winter-i-ever-spent-was-a-summer-in-san-francisco-say-what-says-who/

https://www.sftravel.com/article/san-francisco-weather

For the micro-climaters - I live in the so-called "east cut" (self named that no one likes) but most consider us either Rincon Hill or the border between SOMA and South Beach. Personally, I'd prefer to live in Pacifica, the Presidio or the Sunset, but I can't beat the convenience to Mission Bay where I work. ?

It is technically possible, but very difficult to not have a car in Cleveland. In SF it's difficult to have a car. That's a luxury. The city is far more friendly to walkers and bikers. There's bike shares, scooter shares, buses, muni, bart, caltrain, ac trans, etc. I can get to the IKEA in Oakland in less time by taking the bus than by driving. I can go to San Jose by train in almost the same amount of time it would take driving (faster if there's traffic). It takes nearly three times the amount of time it would take to drive to take the bus from Shaker to Kent. My son goes to Kent and has had to take the bus before - but it takes far longer and far more limited as to when you can use it.

Again, ask most Cleveland and its suburbs residents to give up their car, they would say it wouldn't be possible. Especially if you ask them in winter when there's a few feet of snow on the ground.

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Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

To be clear, I love Ohio (O H I O) I am a two-time Buckeye and grew up in Columbus. But I remember needing to get my driver's license ASAP because I needed friends and parents to drive me places.

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Excellent breakdown of how things can be done in SF or other comparable city LilPeanut. Hearing things like that put in that way causes me to rethink how I view the higher costs of living in CA. However my current job would not allow me to live there as my overseas job salary is independent of where I live so it's far better for me to remain in a cheap place like TX because my salary would be insufficient for CA but its excellent for TX. Perhaps I'll casually look into RN positions in places like CA now keeping what I have heard in mind here. I'm still leaning toward what some have suggested; travel RN. That would get me a higher salary than I can get here in TX but I would still get the lower Tx cost of living.

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4 hours ago, LilPeanut said:

The buses and RTA are more expensive and less extensive than public transportation here. Getting to a grocery store in Cleveland was not possible without a car. I lived in Shaker - the buses and trains are not nearly enough to be functional.

I still call shenanigans. There's a grocery store in Shaker right on the bus and rapid lines. Buses go literally every damn where in Cleveland. If you don't know how to utilize them, say that, but don't make things up as you go. I know this because I have lived all over Cleveland, east and west side and my family still lives there and we used buses to go everywhere as teens and had no problem. RTA has since created tons of new bus lines and rapid stops. All facts!

Add to this, my mother STILL lives in Shaker so I know it's shenanigans.

Add on to that, in the winter and the summer, it becomes difficult to conduct the same activities outside. I can't ride my bike comfortably year round. Maybe some people bike in the snow, but they're crazy.

This is the same whether you have a car or use RTA. Matter of fact, more people use RTA in the winter than summer just because it's easier to get around that way, especially without risk of crashing due to snow/ice.

You can find places to go using buses and RTA, but trying to actually live without a car? I dare you to try it for a month or two. Preferably in the worst of winter.

I've done it! I didn't drive until 15 but was using RTA from 7 til then. They have since created even more routes so I know this is wrong. And again, winter is when RTA is most utilized.

Downtown C-land does not have the vibrancy nor the availability of services as a city like SF or NYC has.

Cleveland has literally every major sports team, a casino downtown, the flats, etc plus several places to go and things to do throughout the county. If YOU didn't know where to go just say that but don't trash the city with fallacies.

Riding a bike to work is possible in the summer in C-land, if you have the ability to shower at work. Otherwise it's not actually feasible, unless you don't sweat.

OK, this is true of many cities. Cleveland is humid in the summer because it's right on Lake Erie plus Cuyahoga River runs right through it and separates the east and west sides. This has been the same all my life and will be the same until I die. Humidity has nothing to do with transportation being available so I don't even know why this came up.

Our lows in the summer/winter at at worst mid 40s, it never gets freezing here. I live in a high rise and like cooler temps. In the coldest times, I close my windows. But thanks to global warming, we´re having more hot days ? In general though, our temperature here is between low fifties and high sixties. I don't think there's been a day that hasn't reached the mid fifties, even during July. You wear layers and just adjust PRN ?

Again, humidity is irrelevant to my gripe. But since you're on this kick, Cleveland doesn't have mountains collapsing, earthquakes, water shortages, etc either. No city is perfect. They all have their own unique problems.

Fun facts about that quote: https://www.anchorbrewing.com/blog/the-coldest-winter-i-ever-spent-was-a-summer-in-san-francisco-say-what-says-who/

https://www.sftravel.com/article/san-francisco-weather

For the micro-climaters - I live in the so-called "east cut" (self named that no one likes) but most consider us either Rincon Hill or the border between SOMA and South Beach. Personally, I'd prefer to live in Pacifica, the Presidio or the Sunset, but I can't beat the convenience to Mission Bay where I work. ?

That's your preference and it's perfectly fine. But don't create false "wrongs" to validate why you'd rather live elsewhere. Just do it because that's what you want to do and no one can judge you for it. Do whatever makes you happy. Let me be clear here, I'm not trying to go tit for tat, I just know Cleveland.

It is technically possible, but very difficult to not have a car in Cleveland. In SF it's difficult to have a car. That's a luxury. The city is far more friendly to walkers and bikers. There's bike shares, scooter shares, buses, muni, bart, caltrain, ac trans, etc. I can get to the IKEA in Oakland in less time by taking the bus than by driving. I can go to San Jose by train in almost the same amount of time it would take driving (faster if there's traffic). It takes nearly three times the amount of time it would take to drive to take the bus from Shaker to Kent. My son goes to Kent and has had to take the bus before - but it takes far longer and far more limited as to when you can use it.

It's the same in NY and several other cities. Just because people aren't compacted in an area doesn't mean it's hard to get around without a car. You're just not used to it or don't know how to use the system. RTA pretty much everywhere in Cleveland and surrounding counties.

Again, ask most Cleveland and its suburbs residents to give up their car, they would say it wouldn't be possible. Especially if you ask them in winter when there's a few feet of snow on the ground.

Because most Cleveland residents have used RTA since grade school. I was one of them. When you use RTA for years on end it gets old and you don't want to. Plus most Cleveland residents go everywhere, in and out of Cleveland, and traveling in a car in Cleveland isn't as bad as it is in compacted cities. I know many NY residents who don't know how to drive because it would be a hassle to own a car in NYC. Doesn't mean I bash non car owners. i now live in the south and transportation systems are nonexistent and the cities that do have them stop at a certain time. Stop? RTA rolls all night. I haven't caught a bus since jr/sr year of high school and I caught an attitude at the lack of transportation in the south. I also found out it's the reason a lot of these people don't go far, meaning many never leave their hometown and haven't been any further than a few counties away from home. I don't judge them, I do encourage them to travel to other places because they're ignorant to a lot of things outside of what they're used to in their small circle.

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4 hours ago, LilPeanut said:

To be clear, I love Ohio (O H I O) I am a two-time Buckeye and grew up in Columbus. But I remember needing to get my driver's license ASAP because I needed friends and parents to drive me places.

I was about to throw a buckeye at you ?

We caught the bus/rapid. My grandparents were like you better learn to catch RTA or stay home. We wanted to run the streets so we learned how to use them quick. When I got to high school and learned how to drive my mother had the nerve to go get a job at RTA. Ain't that a ..... I didn't need the hookup on bus passes then!

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Specializes in NICU/Neonatal transport.

I know how to use public transport and used it while I was in Cleveland. To get home from the airport, I had to take the train, then get the bus. I needed to budget two hours for travel to the airport. In a car, it would take 30 min.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/13800+Fairhill+Rd,+Shaker+Heights,+OH+44120/Cleveland+Airport,+Riverside+Dr,+Cleveland,+OH/@41.452368,-81.7908589,12z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8830fc89769dc2f9:0xad96864c9ff5d428!2m2!1d-81.5880192!2d41.4899226!1m5!1m1!1s0x8830eced544890cd:0xbbaf031e9364e392!2m2!1d-81.8538669!2d41.4057985!3e3

To get to my son's allergist, which was the closest allergist our insurance would accept (because I was not thrilled about going to twinsburg.) it would take >2 hours while driving was 30 min.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/13800+Fairhill+Rd,+Shaker+Heights,+OH+44120/Twinsburg,+OH/@41.2833081,-81.8498518,10z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8830fc89769dc2f9:0xad96864c9ff5d428!2m2!1d-81.5880192!2d41.4899226!1m5!1m1!1s0x88311ee1cdf4800f:0x717e21af3de8996e!2m2!1d-81.4401129!2d41.3125552!3e3

To get to Aldi's, it would take over 45 min by RTA, 8 min by car.

https://www.google.com/maps/dir/13800+Fairhill+Road,+Shaker+Heights,+OH/ALDI,+10815+Kinsman+Rd,+Cleveland,+OH+44104/@41.477754,-81.6280388,14z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m14!4m13!1m5!1m1!1s0x8830fc89769dc2f9:0xad96864c9ff5d428!2m2!1d-81.5880192!2d41.4899226!1m5!1m1!1s0x8830fb5ea8de4a77:0x23ec995ca5835e2b!2m2!1d-81.6083969!2d41.4697878!3e3

It's possible to get to places, sometimes with more walking than others, in often inclement weather, but you are going to spend way more time doing it, to the point where it is not worth it to do anything. It's possible to not have a car, I know not everyone has a car. But living in a dense city vs spread out city is a no brainer when it comes to cars. Everyone who lives in the city travels out of town. I'm probably the only person who doesn't regularly go to Tahoe or the Russian River or some other place when they have a couple days off. I can even get to Monterey for under 5 bucks, only take 30 min longer if I go by bus than car. It's often *faster* for me to go by bus or muni train or bike than by car.

The vast majority of people living in Cleveland would say a car is necessary. The vast majority of people living in SF would say a isn't necessary, and might be a hindrance.

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Public transportation vary wildly from city to city, and in many cases a car would be a requirement or a hindrance as LilPeanut said. I've been to cities like Singapore where if you used a car it was purely a status symbol as it was far more difficult to get anywhere with a car than using public transport in most cases. Opposite with places like San Antonio, where the busses take quite a while to go places and do not run everywhere so a car is most likely needed unless you live really close to your job. Even in that case food/entertainment/etc is probably not easily accessible by bus so would require intense planning/a lot of travel time to get somewhere that a car could reach in minutes. It all depends on your own city and what the landscape looks like. In cities where the local government places a high value on public transportation you will see a well-funded and efficient transportation system that makes owning a car not necessary. Other cities may place a low-priority on public transportation and thus the system is inefficient or otherwise not entirely a accessible as it should be.

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