After going over this forum I've come to the conclusion that most RN's feel that they don't make enough money...when I think you guys make a great salary when compared to other careers...especially starting out in the field. I understand how a nurse that has been in the same careers for 10 or 15 years should indeed make more than a new grad ( it's my understanding that they rarely do though)...MY QUESTION IS HOW MUCH DO YOU THINK IS A FAIR SALARY FOR A NEW NURSE?
1). 40000-45000
2). 55000-65000
3). 70000-80000
Keep in mind that NURSING is one of the very few careers where you can indeed start out making 40000 fresh out of college....
Personally, if a RN has ten plus years experience, we should be making 50,000 minimum. When I work fulltime, I can easily gross that amount as a nurse, but want 55,000 and up since the cost of living expenses are high and getting worse as time goes by.
You MAY earn a lot right out of college, but across the nation, nursing wages grow at an increasingly smaller rate, and some out and out stagnate with experience. THAT Is WRONG, period. NO WAY should a new nurse out of school make nearly what a nurse of 20 years' experience does. Yet this is exactly what happens so many places.
I totally agree with you!!! The big problem with nursing is not the starting salary. It's it that we get our review (after working our butts off all year in very stressful often understaffed situations) and we are thanked for a "job well done" and get a wopping 15 cent hourly raise! That's the point when I usually give them my walking papers. We hear all the stories of budgets budgets budgets....oh it's not in the budget....but I look around and new building construction for almost all hospitals is in the budget. Go figure. Nursing is one of the only professions where you are not adequately paid for your experience nor for your degree. I don't get paid anymore with my BSN than someone else with an ADN. Not that one of us is a better nurse...but I do have more education and more educational costs to go along with it. This is why I do not recommend people go to BSN programs unless they intend to get a masters. Nursing is a profession in which we are not treated as professionals....WHY is that???!!!
Specializes in med/surg, day surgery, psych as a CNA.
Been doing nursing for 20 years all together. RN's with 10 years of experience like I have should make about $40 an hour, or about $80.000 a year. Why? Daily I'm exposed to all kinds of hazards like MRSA, TB, C. diff. Stress that would kill some people who aren't nurses, etc, etc.. just my opinion.
Of course where you live and who you work for plays a roll when you talk adequate salary.
For the Southeast in an urban area, starting out at a hospital at $40K is reasonable amt.
Experience should be valued and needs to be compensated for with raises, increase in PTO, bonuses or combinations of these. I'm P/T making about $40K for 24 hours/week with 20 years of experience in one area. It would be about $60K if I was F/T.
FYI: I started at the same hospital as a new grad in 1985 for $9.57/hr which included 0.15/hr for having my BSN!
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I totally agree with you!!! The big problem with nursing is not the starting salary. It's it that we get our review (after working our butts off all year in very stressful often understaffed situations) and we are thanked for a "job well done" and get a wopping 15 cent hourly raise! That's the point when I usually give them my walking papers. We hear all the stories of budgets budgets budgets....oh it's not in the budget....but I look around and new building construction for almost all hospitals is in the budget. Go figure. Nursing is one of the only professions where you are not adequately paid for your experience nor for your degree. I don't get paid anymore with my BSN than someone else with an ADN. Not that one of us is a better nurse...but I do have more education and more educational costs to go along with it. This is why I do not recommend people go to BSN programs unless they intend to get a masters. Nursing is a profession in which we are not treated as professionals....WHY is that???!!!
It's the same old thing. Hospitals and other institutions spend WAY too much money recruiting/luring new nurses in, not nearly a fraction of that to retain them. Til someone figures this out, experienced nurses continue to get short-changed unless they job-hop. To me, it's a big "duh"; take care of your PROVEN and EXPERIENCED staff, and you will do better in the LONG run. But so MANY managers/admin are very shortsighted and I doubt this will come to pass in the majority of workplaces. It's cheaper and faster to suck them right out of school, before they see what it's like there. They think "appreciation" means a cake and pen for Nurses' Week is sufficient "thanks"....hmmm....Vicious cycle.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Been doing nursing for 20 years all together. RN's with 10 years of experience like I have should make about $40 an hour, or about $80.000 a year. Why? Daily I'm exposed to all kinds of hazards like MRSA, TB, C. diff. Stress that would kill some people who aren't nurses, etc, etc.. just my opinion.
I make just under $40/hour now after 28 years of nursing! I remember starting out at just about $7 an hour, so alot has happened in all those years. I truely believe, with today's shortages, new grads shouls start out at between 25 to 30 dollars an hour and nurses with over 10-15 years experience should be in the $50 an hour range. I know this sounds great and hospitals would laugh at these wages but one post above sid it all:
"Been doing nursing for 20 years all together. RN's with 10 years of experience like I have should make about $40 an hour, or about $80.000 a year. Why? Daily I'm exposed to all kinds of hazards like MRSA, TB, C. diff. Stress that would kill some people who aren't nurses, etc, etc.. just my opinion."
Now I work in the OR so with my OT, call time I made just over $121,000 this last year and I also work part-time elsewhere for another $6,000. So I do very well but work my butt off to do it. I am not complaining because I like what I do, %90 of the time. Mike
Been a nurse almost three years now - this past year I made 59,500. I work primarily day shift. Given that I have only been out of school for three years, I am quite happy with what I have made.
I hope all the non-nurses can understand how physically and emotionally demanding the nursing field is. I can tell you as an RN with 3 years experience, it's not an easy profession. Nurses don't receive the respect that they should.
Not to mention how underpaid and overworked they are.
live4today, RN
5,099 Posts
Personally, if a RN has ten plus years experience, we should be making 50,000 minimum. When I work fulltime, I can easily gross that amount as a nurse, but want 55,000 and up since the cost of living expenses are high and getting worse as time goes by.