We make as much as maids

Sweetpea00 · Nov 5, 2004

I know that more than half of my May 2004 graduating class would probably kill for a job that pays 20.00/hour....I know that nurses seems to be under alot of stress but that basically comes with any job. My point is only the nurses that graduated from college with me came straight out of school and was lucky enough to find a job that pays 20.00/hour. Every other field had to pretty much settle for a job that pays around 12.00/hour (if they were lucky)!!!

eltrip · Nov 5, 2004

If someone who is self-employed is earning $20 an hour, they still have to pay for their own SSI & medicare (15%). Those of us who are employed pay a smaller percentage (7.5%). She also doesn't have paid vacation time, sick leave, jury duty pay, or any of the other benefits that we employees enjoy. These things are not figured into our hourly wage. Self-employed individuals also must pay for their own supplies. Plus, if they're going to earn that $20 an hour, it won't be in one place. They lose time for working by needing to travel from point A to point B...time for which they aren't paid. They wind up spending more than 40 hours per week away from their lives in order to earn that $20/hour.

Here in the south, wages & expenses are not as high as those in California & New York. $20 an hour is pretty good around here. It's not the best, of course but I certainly have heard of worse.

angel337, MSN, RN · Nov 5, 2004

the average maid does not make 20/hr with benefits. and first and foremost i like being a nurse. i would not want to be a maid, even if it paid 50/hr. i'm serious. everything isn't about money. why do we nurses constantly find something to whine about? never satisfied. i'm not saying that we don't deserve more money because we do, but so do other professions that don't get a lot of respect....like maids. i don't like to constantly compare the nursing profession to others because in my eyes it is uselss. i work with 2 year degree nurses who make 80-100k a year. do you know how disgusted some family practice docs were when they discovered that a nurse with 2 years could make as much as they do for their 10 years or more education. the bottom line is everyone feels they deserve more than what they are getting. nurses make above average hourly salary. if you don't believe this just ask around or go to http://www.bls.gov and look up average jobs. i say if a person is happier being a maid then so be it. maybe being a nurse just wasn't mean to be anyway.

palesarah · Nov 5, 2004

When I was a student, the mother of one of my pedi patients was a former RN turned maid (private homes). Less stress, better hours for mommyhood, and better pay for the hours she worked. More power to her, I thought.

lifeisbeautiful · Nov 5, 2004

That's great for the people say that they "love being a nurse", but that isn't what this thread is about. We are discussing wages. Call me a complete idiot, but if someone paid me $50 and hour to clean houses, I'd drop my nursing job in a heartbeat. Nurses always say money isn't everything, but to me it is a lot and just because I want to be paid what I feel I am worth doesn't make me a less caring, less compassionate, or less intelligent nurse than the next person. Also, maids probably aren't knee deep in debt with student loans. Nurses have to take that into consideration when factoring in their hourly wage. Plus, where I work, I have to pay for monthly parking, my scrubs and special work shoes so I can still walk by the end of the say. This $$ adds up quickly!

PS Where do 2 year nurses make $80-$100 a year? I'm married with no children and I can move anywhere I want.I'm there!

angel337, MSN, RN · Nov 5, 2004

That's great for the people say that they "love being a nurse", but that isn't what this thread is about. We are discussing wages. Call me a complete idiot, but if someone paid me $50 and hour to clean houses, I'd drop my nursing job in a heartbeat. Nurses always say money isn't everything, but to me it is a lot and just because I want to be paid what I feel I am worth doesn't make me a less caring, less compassionate, or less intelligent nurse than the next person. Also, maids probably aren't knee deep in debt with student loans. Nurses have to take that into consideration when factoring in their hourly wage. Plus, where I work, I have to pay for monthly parking, my scrubs and special work shoes so I can still walk by the end of the say. This $$ adds up quickly!
PS Where do 2 year nurses make $80-$100 a year? I'm married with no children and I can move anywhere I want.I'm there!

i agree with everything you are saying dear, believe me. the point i was trying to make is just because something makes more money does not mean i would stop my career as a nurse to do it. i'm not one of those nurses that act like i don't want a paycheck like the next person, because i do.i just think when you choose a career, money is not the only thing that should be main focus. i would not want to mop floors my entire life. i make 48/hr as a per diem ED nurse when i want. and yes, nurses here in big windy city chicago can make 100k a year easy. we have tons of agencies, tons of hospitals. if you know where to work and if you are willing to put in 60+ hours a week, you can bring home after taxes over 6k a month. please move here. we need you. and you are right, just because you want to be compensated does not make you a bad person. i personally pursued my RN because i was tired of making 10/hr as a medical assistant. i am much happier with my pay checks now. my regular job pays 27/hr, but if i want a little extra cash, it can be made through an agency or OT. i'll say it again, if being a maid makes one happpy, go for it. and if i find something that makes me equally happy and compensates me at the same time, i would probably switch careers too.

tmiller027 · Nov 5, 2004

Here in north central Indiana, $20 is considered big money, at least by most people i know. I know people with Bachelors degrees working as Wal-Mart managers for $35,000 a year. And thats salary. Other than that, if you have no degree, its factory work making around $8-10/hr. Unless you want to work piece rate, then its around $600-800 a week, but you are running your butt off, standing in one spot doing the same repetitive motion over and over and over and over for 10 to 12 hrs a day 6 days a week. That is until the economy slows down, then your just out a job. When I found out I could go to school for 2 years, be an RN and make between $20-25 an hour, plus benefits and overtime and everything else, I was all over it. My wife and I have never had a COMBINED income over $45,000 in one year, and I'll be able to make that by myself when I get my RN. I can't complain about that.

RN4NICU, LPN, LVN · Nov 5, 2004

I know that more than half of my May 2004 graduating class would probably kill for a job that pays 20.00/hour....I know that nurses seems to be under alot of stress but that basically comes with any job. My point is only the nurses that graduated from college with me came straight out of school and was lucky enough to find a job that pays 20.00/hour. Every other field had to pretty much settle for a job that pays around 12.00/hour (if they were lucky)!!!

The problem with nursing is that, yeah you START OUT doing well, but look 5-10 years down the road for the real picture. When those other people you speak of salaries have tripled, nurses salaries will have barely kept up with the cost of living (if they even managed to do that). That is what makes nursing unappealing in the long term.

Jo Dirt · Nov 5, 2004

I'm treating my nursing career as an "in between" job and a stepping stone to get where I want, which is a Ph.D psychotherapist/grief counselor. I went into nursing realizing the pay is mediocre yet it pays the bills and is generally more stable than a housecleaning service. I say if the woman is making $20 an hour for her cleaning services that is a good deal. Also take into account it doesn't take her 8-12 hrs. to clean a house (I hope not) and that housecleaning is very hard work and her time is worth something as your time is worth something as well.

vortex72 · Nov 6, 2004

The problem with nursing is that, yeah you START OUT doing well, but look 5-10 years down the road for the real picture. When those other people you speak of salaries have tripled, nurses salaries will have barely kept up with the cost of living (if they even managed to do that). That is what makes nursing unappealing in the long term.

That is very true. However, you have to consider that many other professions can be very cyclic. I know people in the "business" world with office jobs that may end up making more money over the years, but they also can get laid off quite easily or forced to take cuts in pay. I even know an RN who is an attourney but because of his family expenses, he couldnt afford to practice law full time because of the initial pay cut he would endure for the first few years. Hell, look what is happening to airline pilots right now. Nurses will always have jobs and will always be able to make at least middle income or more based on where and how much they work. If you want big money, look at side jobs/business/investing etc. MULTIPLE streams of income is the key.

susanna · Nov 6, 2004

I think that $20/Hour is way too little to be paying a hard-working nurse in today's economy unless he/she is getting really kick-*** benefits with his/her salary. I agree that it is true that they are exposed to too much risk and stress and responsibility to be paid a salary that barely lets them save anything for a rainy day. How can hospitals do this too nurses without feeling like they are cheating them and exploiting them as cheap, cheap labor?

However, I do also know that nurses are not alone and that a lot of people who strive hard for educations are also very much underpaid for the amount of work, responsibility, and risk they are exposed to. Thats the way the world is, I guess.

laurakoko · Nov 6, 2004

I made more money waiting tables and bartending in a fine dining restaurant 10 years ago, then I do nursing. I feel like waiting tables and nursing are very much alike now also! HOWEVER, the patients lives weren't in my hands, their drinks were.