Starting Salary.

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Just wondering....have you started out making at least $60,000/year?

i will be starting out in a nj hospital making just under $70,000 for my first year. the hospital i'll be working in actually pays on the "low end" for nurses in my area. people i went to school with have taken jobs that start around the $80,000 range at different/bigger hospitals.

:banghead:

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Anyone know starting salaries around New Haven, CT?

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I am starting at just a bit under $25/hr for the evening shift (3p-11p) with no benefits..LPN, brand new.

That sounds like a ton to some people but the cost of living in Connecticut is insane! I'm heading to North Carolina as soon as my older daughter starts college (Sept 2010) and I finish up my RN schooling.

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Specializes in ER.

Don't pay attention to my ID, I just finished my 1st year as an RN in the Silicon Valley area, starting pay $46/hour + $7.35/hour night shift. I'll clear 100k in my first year. HOWEVER, my mortgage is also over 600k.

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Just wondering....have you started out making at least $60,000/year?

57675 in MPLS MN (sans differentials and OT)

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Specializes in Tele.

i just accepted a job in socal for $36/hour with a 3 dollar night shift diff. I'm only going to be working part time so thats just under $45,000. but thats only working 8 days/month. I still have little children at home and don't want to be sleeping the whole time they are home. fulltime at that rate would be over $60,0000/year.

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wow, you guys. i live in grand rapids, mi, and we are all starting at $21.62 and hour. that adds up to around 40k before taxes, give or take depending on your vacation allowance. all the hospitals in town are giving or are about to give a $0.60/ hr adjustment based on comparisons with other hospitals in our state, which is about an extra $1,000 per year.

because i live in a city, the cost of living is higher, but the surrounding hospitals in smaller areas pay less, including those outlying hospitals that are part of a major health care system. you can make $2 and hour less, working in the same position for the same company, just 1/2 an hour away.

i made $11 as a nurse aide, and our unit secretaries made more than $15. i understand that the cost of living is much higher in ca and some areas on the east coast, but it feels kinda harsh to see how much people are making there!

i have been trying to work out a budget, and when i add in student loan payments, car insurance, 6% to the retirement fund, and all the necessities like groceries and health care, i can't afford to get my own rented apartment. and i don't even have a car payment!

making this much money feels great, even when i see how much taxes are taken out. but, you know when people ask you what you do and you tell them you are a nurse, and they tell you how awesome that is and how smart your choice was because you will always have a job and all that?

well

sometimes that really gets to me, because people seem to assume that nurses make a ton of money. i have at times told people what the starting wage is (because i don't know, i suppose to a lot of people that is a ton of money), and everyone has been surprosed- they thought we made much more.

also, the whole idea of a nursing shortage- people always bring that up, and job security, but in reality, when i go home after a day spent working incredibly hard to just get the basics done, i feel terrible because i did not have enough time to give as much care as i feel my patients deserved. some days it's not as much as they needed. (not just because i'm new- it's the other nurses too). and, it's not because there's a shortage and my floor doesn't have enough nurses- my floor is fully staffed, they are not trying to hire more- we are that busy because where we work they think that 7 patients is an acceptable load. shame.

all that said, there is a huge variation in pay. i got loans from the state of michigan that i don't have to repay if i stay here, so i will happily stay. and i love my state. one major difference though: unionized hospitals in the area pay significantly higher wages. that's definitely something to consider.:)

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I agree with you guys. If the demand for nursing is so high, why are we paid so low? Here in Texas the new nurses don't get paid very much but it seems after you have about a year experience then is steadily increases. I think it also depends on what specialty you are in.

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my starting salary as a new grad is just a few dollars short of $80,000 a year (36 hours per week).

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Specializes in ER.

People can talk about cost of living all they want, but here in CA, salaries went up with unionization and ratios (state mandated). Nurses that I work with saw their salaries nearly double over the course of a few years because of this.:yeah:

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wow, you guys. i live in grand rapids, mi, and we are all starting at $21.62 and hour. that adds up to around 40k before taxes, give or take depending on your vacation allowance. all the hospitals in town are giving or are about to give a $0.60/ hr adjustment based on comparisons with other hospitals in our state, which is about an extra $1,000 per year.

because i live in a city, the cost of living is higher, but the surrounding hospitals in smaller areas pay less, including those outlying hospitals that are part of a major health care system. you can make $2 and hour less, working in the same position for the same company, just 1/2 an hour away.

i made $11 as a nurse aide, and our unit secretaries made more than $15. i understand that the cost of living is much higher in ca and some areas on the east coast, but it feels kinda harsh to see how much people are making there!

i have been trying to work out a budget, and when i add in student loan payments, car insurance, 6% to the retirement fund, and all the necessities like groceries and health care, i can't afford to get my own rented apartment. and i don't even have a car payment!

making this much money feels great, even when i see how much taxes are taken out. but, you know when people ask you what you do and you tell them you are a nurse, and they tell you how awesome that is and how smart your choice was because you will always have a job and all that?

well

sometimes that really gets to me, because people seem to assume that nurses make a ton of money. i have at times told people what the starting wage is (because i don't know, i suppose to a lot of people that is a ton of money), and everyone has been surprosed- they thought we made much more.

also, the whole idea of a nursing shortage- people always bring that up, and job security, but in reality, when i go home after a day spent working incredibly hard to just get the basics done, i feel terrible because i did not have enough time to give as much care as i feel my patients deserved. some days it's not as much as they needed. (not just because i'm new- it's the other nurses too). and, it's not because there's a shortage and my floor doesn't have enough nurses- my floor is fully staffed, they are not trying to hire more- [wiki]we are that busy because where we work they think that 7 patients is an acceptable load. shame.[/wiki]

all that said, there is a huge variation in pay. i got loans from the state of michigan that i don't have to repay if i stay here, so i will happily stay. and i love my state. one major difference though: unionized hospitals in the area pay significantly higher wages. that's definitely something to consider.:)

wow california nurses do have it good. max patient is 5. and yes i suppose the cost of living is more if you are talking about rent... but isn't everything else about the same... like food, and gas? so to have such a increase in pay to be a california nurse i think is worth it.

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definately agree with you on this one. If it werent for that I'd be going over to huntington. At least in WV though you can get a nice home for less than 100k. I think nurses are grossly underpaid in charleston.

Wow, maybe I should move. I'm from Toronto, Ontario and here a nice home (say 3 bedroom, bungalow in a middle-class area) costs at least 400K :(

First year Nurses start at around $53,000 here.

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