The Pay - Military vs Civilian

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Just curious, who do you think makes more money a civilian nurse or a military nurse? Try to take in consideration the tax breaks and extras the military gets as well as the possibility of extra hours. If at all possible. If you can say why you think one makes more than the other I would be curious to know that too.

Oh I am so sorry. How scarey that is. It sounds like you are lucky to be alive. Thank goodness you are.

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Oh I am so sorry. How scarey that is. It sounds like you are lucky to be alive. Thank goodness you are.

I believe in the old saying: "G-D didn't want me and the devil wouldn't have me" :rotfl:

Grannynurse :balloons:

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Specializes in Anesthesia.

There are two parts to the military pay. One is your base pay, which is taxable, and then there is all your other pay, which is usually not taxable.

Currently as a 1Lt at three years my base pay is 3541.00 a month. My housing allowance for this area is about 1000.00/month and my subsistence allowance is 170.00/month both of which are tax exempt. I work about 84hrs every two weeks, I get 30 days of leave a year, and 10 federal holidays.

In general after you make Captain (which is usually around the 4th year for most nurses) your pay will slightly exceed what most civilian staff RNs make and after you make Lt Col and above your pay will be on par with that of a DON at most mid-size facilities.

Currently for the USAF if you have enough experience as an RN with their BSN (minimum) you can come in as a Major. There are a lot of things other than just pay to consider about joining the nurse corps in the military. Most of the nurses I know where either looking for educational benefits, something other than just regular nursing, and/or were prior enlisted. Pay is usually not a top priority.

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Specializes in Med-Surg/Telemetry.

i'm thinking of becoming a navy nurse after graduation. and i just need clarification regarding how a nurse in the military would get paid.

wtbcrna, you can probably help me out here. what is a base pay? can you go into detail on that? also you mentioned that there is also the "other pay". what is the "other pay"?

Is that the income the nurse makes per hour working as a nurse at the hospital? Do they get paid by the hour?

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Military nurses are paid base pay (set amount every month that is subject to taxes) as well as an allowance for housing and subsistence (i.e. meals) that is non-taxable. For example, if you were to come on active duty this year and were stationed at National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, MD (just as an example) this is what you would make (these pay tables are available for anyone to look at on the internet, I posted the website on this thread a while back):

$2343.60 (assuming you have no prior military experience and no civilian nursing experience - you would be an Ensign (O-1) with

$183.99 - standard subsistence rate for all officers (nontaxable)

$1290 - housing allowance for an Ensign with no dependents (spouse, children - it would be $1502 if you had dependents) - nontaxable

So, your gross pay for the month as a brand new officer would be $3817.59. Military nurses are not paid on an hourly basis and get no overtime. On the flip side, you get the same amount of income even if you don't work 80 hours in the pay period. And you get 30 days of paid vacation (aka "leave") accumulated per annum. But, as many of us have said, there is more than just the monetary incentive to join the armed services.

Hope that helps.

Jana

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Here is the link for the military pay scale for you to view.

http://www.dod.mil/dfas/money/milpay/pay/

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Never have been in the military but work for the VA...I think the choice is what you are looking for....I worked in the civilian sector 15 yrs...After 10yrs in a local hospital had $2300 towards retirement & any of the jobs did not have any healthcare for employees at retirement.

Now, for 19yrs for the VA, I have a retirement, 401K & SSI, plus Health Insurance when I retire9got another 10yrs to go)...Many nurses in the local area have come to work for the VA to get health insurance so they can retire....

So it depends on your longterm or short term goals..

Just curious, who do you think makes more money a civilian nurse or a military nurse? Try to take in consideration the tax breaks and extras the military gets as well as the possibility of extra hours. If at all possible. If you can say why you think one makes more than the other I would be curious to know that too.
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You give great answers for these questions.

KUDOS to you MA'AM

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I served 11 years in the Navy NC. No where I have ever seen such an organization that rewards incompetence! It rewards those who work the least and punishes those that work the hardest. The senior ranking NC officers were underachievers as RNs who were assigned from clinical job to clinical and failed at eat to where they eventually ended up in administration. Participating in hot dog sales for fund raisers and raising money for the NC Association. That earned them points. The Navy Nurse Corps is for you if you are incompetent.

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, US Navy.

Out of curiosity, when did you finally end up getting out? What made you leave? Sounds like you had a rough time of it? Your thoughts are appreciated.

Dan

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Specializes in ED, Cardiac Medicine, Retail Health.

Just retired from the military after 25 years but was not a nurse (I was a Chief Hospital Corpsman). The difference that I see in military and civilian pay is the rate of taxation. On paper I make $71,000 a year as a new nurse (I live in Boston and am counting my weekend only diff), but I am taxed on every penny I make. When I was in the Coast Guard, I was only taxed on my base pay which was $3,800/month. I was not taxed on my housing allowance, cola, or meal money which added up to $25,000 a year, which made a huge difference in what I actually took home. Being an O-4 or O-5 with 10 or more years in, I imagine that person may out earn their civilian counterpart with similar time as a nurse. Although a nurse I work with who has 10 years of experience makes $91,000 without overtime ($44.50/hr). Now factor in overtime and civilian nurses may out earn their military counterpart. As an example my overtime rate as a green nurse is $50/hr for time and a half, and $58/hr for time an three quarters which I turn down every week (not mandated yet). One overtime shift a week nets me $600.00 a week in extra pay. There is no overtime in the military and I am sure some of the nurses work more than 40 hour weeks. Of course the pay rate for nurses vary, so there is a lot to factor in. But I would recommend doing a career as a military nurse. Every first of the month for me is like Christmas (the day my retirement hits my bank account) and I am still young enough to try and get another pension (43).

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Specializes in ER, Trauma, US Navy.

HMC-

Let's not forget the things like having to pay for your health insurance out of the money you make as a civilian. Also, the 30 days paid vacation per year in the Navy, not too mention the other stuff.

Congrats on your retirement, I for one, appreciate you leading the way for the rest of us.

Very Respectfully,

LCDR Dan D'Aurora

US Navy Nurse Corps

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