To all who starts the program at OCC in the fall

WayneStateKatie · May 22, 2008

Im not all about money, but Im sure as heck not going to bust my butt and take out loans to make $14 an hour. I sure hope that isnt the going rate for a nurse these days. (I saw that in another post)
I see ads in the paper all the time (from nursing homes, to agency) for more than that, but have seen posts from other people a lot lower. Do you think those ads are misleading?

Unfortunately health care professionals aren't always compensated fairly for the amount of work they do.

When I was taking my prereqs at OCC for my BSN program there were a few ladies in my classes who were already LPNs. They were doing a few more classes in order to get into the LPN to RN bridge program. They would always comment that what LPN really stood for was "Low Paid Nurse":chuckle

Unfortunately working in a hospital as a new LPN grad you really would be making around 14 an hour (UofM hospitals would pay you 13 and some change look it up on their website) You would see starting pay jump dramatically (like 8 more dollars an hour) if you were a RN. If LPN salaries seem too low for you I'd suggest you invest the tuition money and time in a few more semesters of school so you can make a salary you'd be happier with. As unfair as it is, new LPN salary for those without much experience is often equal to or less than what STUDENT nurses in RN programs are paid after a semester or two of nursing courses (which is usually 14-16). It's so unfair, but I don't make the hospital payscale.

I had always thought nursing homes usually pay less than other employers.... I could be wrong-- Someone feel free to correct me. Agency pay would usually be a little more but I don't know that it would be THAT much more than a hospital salary for a LPN....

And as for your other question the RN program at OCC is harder to get into than the LPN (probably easy to understand why when you see the difference in pay....)

Good luck to you in your prereqs and getting in the program!