Take your wage and plug it into this inflation calculator... Discuss

[tater.jake]

There are exceptions, but I find it shocking that the new grad RN salary has remained in the ball park of $20/hr for so long. Are we becoming slaves?

http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

I should not have used the word "slave," but inflation is something we should be mindful of as we head toward the future. All I know is that I have seen new grads THIS YEAR being started at $20/hr, and I also know RNs that started in the 90s with that same wage. I guess you can consider yourself lucky if this has not been your experience, but don't tell me that wage stagnation isn't happening.

Of course it's happening :) The economy hasn't had positive growth in several years.

[Trekfan]

I resent that! I am not a slave.

I am a workhorse.

ME TOO:D:D I e happy to take $20.00 hr I think I somehow geting less each year:mad:

More work for less money

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

Here's an interesting tidbit:

1946

Nurses returning from war are reluctant to work under the conditions that exist in peacetime hospitals. A labor survey shows that the average wage for a staff nurse is 78 cents an hour, compared to 95 cents per hour for women working in manufacturing. This year, the American Nurses Association will endorse collective bargaining as a means for nurses to achieve better pay and working conditions. MNA will establish a professional placement and career counseling service to assist nurses in finding work in the peacetime economy. http://www.massnurses.org/about-mna/history

That $.78 would be worth a whopping $9.03 today, barely above minimum wage (8.00 in Mass) vs 85,000 current avg salary in real dollars ($40.86)

[tater.jake]

vs 85,000 current avg salary in real dollars ($40.86)

I dont know where you got your info, but those are fairytale numbers in most places

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

I dont know where you got your info, but those are fairytale numbers in most places

http://www.indeed.com/salary/q-Nurse-RN-l-Massachusetts.html

[tater.jake]

Yeah, fairytale numbers in most places. Glad Massachusets has it figured out.

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

Ha, ha. I didn't know why this was bothering me this morning, but now I know. I redid my calculation from when I quit working 10 years ago. Nope, I make about $10 less an hour with inflation. (Stupid me actually forgot to use the inflation calculator; without inflation my hourly now is a bit less than it was 10 years ago.) Oh, well. At least I make more as a newbie in nursing than I did as a newbie in my previous job (that one I calculated correctly).

[nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN]

I use the McDonald's calculator. When I was in school for my BA in 1980-84, a small hamburger, small fry, and small coke was 1.04. Now it's 3.86 in rural areas, more in specialty markets. So, I need to make 3x what I made them, adjusted for inflation, just to hold ground. And I'm not.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

i should not have used the word "slave," but inflation is something we should be mindful of as we head toward the future. all i know is that i have seen new grads this year being started at $20/hr, and i also know rns that started in the 90s with that same wage. i guess you can consider yourself lucky if this has not been your experience, but don't tell me that wage stagnation isn't happening.

i don't remember what i started out at in 1977, but i remember vividly when i went to straight evening shift charge i had a whopping raise to $7.00. that was in 1980. i don't think $20/hour is anything to sneeze at in this economy. the economy in the 90s was a whole different animal.

[jlpsu]

I don't know...$20 + an hour seems pretty good for a job that you CAN get in 2 years or less of schooling. And yes, I know that the BSN's go for 4 years, but they will still come out with the same RN license as someone who went to school for 2 years. So you could theoretically be 20 years old making approx. $42,000 a year. And people are unhappy with that? Yes...I'll be 42 when I'm done - but that's my problem because I started late.

Maybe I'm in the minority - but I'm just fine with STARTING at $20+ an hour....

[MannaKay]

Coming from a job at a hardware store making $7.50 an hour, I will also be glad to start around $20/hr. I'll be making what my mom does after 13 years w/JB Hunt straight out of the gate. Now how is that a bad thing? Granted, that is if I can actually find a job...

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Just to give some perspective.....I'm a Canadian RN. We make between 28 to 34 dollars an hour as new grads. Experienced RNs make 50 and up here. In the year 2000, Canadian RNs made 20 dollars an hour.

So regardless of the economy, many American nurses are being exploited. That pay is too low, especially when you also consider that the mailman and the city bus driver make more than 20 an hour for a very limited skill set.