starting wage for lpn

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I hopefully am about to begin an lpn course and wanted to know what is the average starting wage for a lpn who just graduated. stats i read say 18 dollars and hour, and i wanted to know if that is accurate. i live in NWI, and i think nurses make less here anyway. i love the nursing field having been a cna and didnt know whether to choose lpn or surgical technologist, i liked both and was going to pick which ever made more. help!

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
RNs only start at $18.75 an hour here. LPNs make around $13 I think.

What state are you talking about? Thanks

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I am a new graduate PN going to take the nclex this friday. I am located in West Virginia the lowest wage I had heard for a LPN in this area was 10.00 hrly at a local nursing home and goes up to around 14.00 hrly at a different nursing home and the local hospitals. This past week though I had a interview at a local chain of doctors offices during this interview I was asked my expected wage. When I said around 10.00 hrly they acted like they were shocked. They did not tell how much they do pay at this 1st interview but said that 10.00 hrly was to much to ask for in this area!!

I am shocked to hear the salaries of nurses in other states. In New York, I have not heard of practical nurses making $10 per hour. I am not saying that we are rolling in the money, but from what I see, the $10 hourly money would be paid to a Medical Assistant or a Patient Care Associate. Goodness! I have heard from a friend that is an RN that she decided not to move to Virginia because RNs in that state do not make the salary she is accustomed to making.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

[if you can find a hospital you will make at best $14 an hour. I have heard of LPNs working for agencies and making as much as $23 an hour and more with no more than 1 year of experience...I would say the pay rate here is alright...but it seems that New York is where the money is...

I live in New York, and I'd suggest that a person should not work for a city hospital. They are underpaid compared to the private sector, unless you work for an agency. Our salary started at $37,000 per year, and because of the cost of living, I'd say that it may not be much. Private sector starts at about $40-$45 per year. Sounds better to me. I hear that the agencies pay better than the hospitals. I just received my license, started orientation last week, so, I don't have the experience to venture elsewhere just yet. RNs here begin at about $49-$54 a year to start. My job paid my way through school, and I owe them about 2 1/2 years of my time, so, I am gaining my experience and moving on.

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In MO, most places I have checked is between 16.00-18.00

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
What state are you talking about? Thanks
Under her avatar it states that this particular poster is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.
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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
Under her avatar it states that this particular poster is located in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

Thanks. I have to be more observant...another nursing skill that needs horning in on. :specs:

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Specializes in Brain Injury Rehabilitation.

I live in Columbia, MO and we aren't paid very well either. We are right between two BIG cites; KC and St. Louis. Much depends on where you work. Clinic LPNs start high end of nine bucks. Our VA around eleven. Where I work 13.65. NH around 16. Many pay based on experience too. where I work they will give me one year LPN experience per two years of nurse assistand work, so I will have around three years LPN "experience". not sure yet what my pay is. I know the least amount whichi s above. Gonna go to bed now, will c u later :)

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Specializes in OB Nursery.

Well first of all I am from Arkansas, Our hospital starts out 2 year nurses @ $10.87. I am really disharted to have a college certificate and still quailify ( if I applied) for welfare and foodstamps and subsidized housing. Where is the justification in this??? Is this just a horriable paying hospital or all NWarkansas hospitls this pitiful? I am just having a bad pay period LOL I love what I do but my kids love to eat.

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here in Texas with 31 years of expierence - I am only making $20.00 an hour- I do not think that LVN/LPN ever get paid for the type of work that we do- if you are getting over $18.00 just starting out- that is pretty good.

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Specializes in floor to ICU.

min $13.87. max $20.87 acute care hospital in Texas- West Houston area

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Specializes in Geriatrics, acute hospital care, rehab.

Ive been an LPN for 14 yrs now. Started out in LTC at $9.00/hr. I moved to Minneapolis in '94 and my wage in LTC went to $11.00. I thought that was big bucks after coming from the sticks. Well, after three years at that LTC facility I still wasn't making even $12.00/hr. I quit there and went to work for a Minneapolis hospital and started out at $15/hr! Now, after 9 yrs of hospital nursing I'm making about $23/hr. Not so bad for a

LowPaidNurse:lol2: Least I don't think it's so bad!

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Back about 19 years ago, I started out at about $7.50 an hour. By the time I got my RN, I had been getting about $19.00. True, I had worked other jobs, where I had gotten paid from $13.00 to $19.00 an hour. All depends on where you work/what you are doing.

Suebird :p

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