Should I ask for a raise?

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello all!

I have been a BSN RN now for 2 years. 1.5 years in adult ICU, now 6 months in the NICU. I switched over to NICU and accepted what they offered to me because it was the same I was making at my previous job. Looking back now, I should've asked for more but I figured I was being greedy since I was going to be going through training.

well now that I'm discussing with other new grads hired in the residency, two of them are getting paid THE EXACT SAME as me. And their experience is just tech experience!

So now that I'm nearing the end of my training and at my 2 year as a Nurse mark, I was wondering if I should ask for a raise. I guess the worst thing they could do is say no?

what do you guys think? Advice?

thanks in advance.

Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I've always discussed compensation, but discretely. To be successful managing those types of career issues, you have know how to "play the politics." I usually discuss salary, not it terms of specific pennies, but in terms of the salary range for the position. Every hospital I have ever worked for had a salary range for each position -- and I always think and talk in terms of where I am within that range -- and assure that I am at the appropriate point within that range given the circumstance. Am at the very bottom of the range? near the bottom? Around the middle? A little above the middle? Near the top? At the very top? etc.

The OP should have asked that when she was hired. Was she hired at the very bottom of the range because of having zero NICU experience? That's what it sounds like. Had she known that and been unhappy with that, she could have made her case that her previous experience should count at least a little. She can ask at her next performance eval and then make her case that she is not a new grad and explain why she should not be at the very bottom of the pay range. Maybe she can get a little bump.

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Two years would be ideal. After 4 years in nursing I was in a similar position. New graduates at several area hospitals were making more than me. I was offered $5 an hour more to leave. My hospital offered me $6/hr more to stay. Turnover is a major expense for hospitals.

So these other hospitals published the starting wage they were offering?

That would be nice, but I haven't seen it a lot lately.

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There is nothing wrong in sharing salaries, ultimately that led to increase in the experienced nurses wages as some of them were earning the same as the new graduates nurses. Once that information was found to be true, the experienced nurses threatened to leave if they're wage were not increased, the HR department had to do a wage evaluation and increases were given accordingly. To the OP, once you have some experience in this new speciality, you can discuss a wage increase with your current employer and also look another hospitals and pick your best option. Ideally, before accepting a new job, one should assess their financial needs because pay raises tend be minute amongst nursing employers.

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