Should new grads negotiate their pay??

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  1. Should new grads negotiate their pay?

    • 20
      YES
    • 22
      NO

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So, this is a topic that was brought up by a friend of mine and I decided to ask all the nurses here on allnurses.

I am a new grad RN and I did not negotiate my pay. I am a new grad so I did not really feel like I have a good reason to negotiate my pay and plus I was very happy with the pay that was offered.

However, I have heard quite frequently the topic of negotiating your pay. What is your guys' opinion on this? Should new grads negotiate pay? When is a good time to negotiate pay? How many years should you be employed as an RN before you ask for more than what was offered to you?? Let me know

Xox Alex

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It's not really a question of "should." You are welcome to try it if you want to, but you're unlikely to be successful. Few new grads have anything to offer employers that sets them apart from and makes them more valuable than any other new grad. They require long, expensive orientation and are a financial liability to the employer for the first 1-2 years. If a new grad wants to try to make a case that s/he should get more money than a particular employer's standards "new grad" rate, s/he is likely to get passed over for the next new grad in line.

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Specializes in NICU.

Most hospitals have a set new grad pay rate. After working for 2-3 yrs, you apply for a nursing job at another hospital, you might have room to negotiate with the new hospital if your current pay is less than what the new hospital offered to pay you for 2-3 yrs experience.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Med-Surg, Psych, Geri, LTC, Tele,.

This is one reason I'm so glad I work in a union facility. Pay rates are published and are awesome.

I never was good at negotiating salaries.

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It's not really a question of "should." You are welcome to try it if you want to, but you're unlikely to be successful. Few new grads have anything to offer employers that sets them apart from and makes them more valuable than any other new grad. They require long, expensive orientation and are a financial liability to the employer for the first 1-2 years. If a new grad wants to try to make a case that s/he should get more money than a particular employer's standards "new grad" rate, s/he is likely to get passed over for the next new grad in line.

Well, there are some new grads that work as like paramedics or AEMTs before going into nursing and I feel like that qualifies as experience.

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This is one reason I'm so glad I work in a union facility. Pay rates are published and are awesome.

I never was good at negotiating salaries.

Thats great that your pay rate is just cut and dry, I'm sure that makes your life easier.

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Well, there are some new grads that work as like paramedics or AEMTs before going into nursing and I feel like that qualifies as experience.

What exactly is it about paramedic or AEMT experience that makes you "feel" that it should count as nursing experience?

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What exactly is it about paramedic or AEMT experience that makes you "feel" that it should count as nursing experience?

I would say the majority of people I know that are paramedics or AEMT end up in the ER (if they go to nursing school) and because they have that on the scene experience and have ACLS experience and know the protocols and/or worked in many code situations, I feel that gives them an advantage over other new grads. I have a friend who was a paramedic, went to nursing school and got hired in the ER, he was far quicker and noticed signs of patient deterioration far better than his new grad counterparts.

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I agree with most of the others on here, it's usually a set pay for new grads.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Unfortunately what you "feel" ought to qualify as experience just doesn't in the eyes of the hospital. There is a lot a nurse knows and is expected to know that those professions don't. That is why they have to go to school to be an RN and can't just train over to it without that hoop. It may look the same in some respects, but it isn't.

There is nothing to negotiate as a new grad. You can try, but as mentioned above, there is usually a line up these days of new grads hungry for the opportunity to get a foot in the door of acute care. Chances are you will lose your slot if you try to insist you have more to offer than the next new, inexperienced grad.

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Just wanted to add that the only time I've ever heard anyone recommend salary negotiations in nursing is for NPs.

The vast majority of bedside nurses are paid on a salary scale set by HR (or the union) with a set schedule for salary increases, which are based on cost of living, merit, and/or 'steps' (i.e. increasing years of experience). There is a remote possibility that you could negotiate to be placed in a higher 'step' (depending on the hospital's policies), but I personally don't think it would be worth rocking the boat and potentially losing an offer. Your background may make you a better applicant, but from a logistical perspective I doubt that the hospital would be willing to pay you more when they could readily fill the position with another run-of-the-mill new grad; I'm sure they'd appreciate your background, but probably not enough to pay you for it.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Eh. I am an experience RN, not an NP and I always negotiate my pay and come out higher because of it. I never take the first offer on the table.

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