Why is it that many laypeople think nurses make a ton of money? It's kind of annoying that just about every other time I say to someone what I do professionally, they say "oh, there's a lot of money in nursing because of the shortage" or "oh, my aunt Sally is a nurse- she works for XYZ medical center and makes, like, $90,000 a year." I'm not venting because I expected there to be a lot of money when I got out of school (I just recently graduated); I worked as a CNA and know that many nurses don't make nearly as much as the public thinks they do. Hence, I certainly didn't get into nursing for the money- I chose to be a nurse because I thought it would be a great way to help others while working with people who value learning and intellectual challenges. But seriously, I don't take home much more than other people who are in the helping or public service professions. It just blows my mind when people I've met who are in business/law/finance talk so casually about how they're expecting $10-20,000 performance bonuses or how much vacation time they have coming up. I'm sure they work 60-70 hours/week for their salaries and are scared fudgeless about the prospect of layoffs. However, it's still mind-boggling how people who don't help others in their daily work lives get away with that much cash. So here's to hoping that enough future nursing students who want to quit their investment banking jobs do their homework and go to nursing school for the right reasons (not just the money). And here's to hoping that we as nurses can further educate the public about what we do and the fact that many of us don't get paid a lot for doing it.
I agree .. Compared to a lot of people I do pretty great financially.. Especially in my area which was one of the 5 worst hit in the nation during the recent economic problems. I make about 73k and it goes pretty far because our cost of living is pretty low.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
I have a friend who will periodically snap at me and say I don't deserve to make what I do. She's, "worked hard all her life and hasn't made any money. Never mind that I can't even work anymore because of permanent disability.
My base pay is $20.00/hr as a new grad with only a $2.75 shift diff for nights... I have no idea why people say nurses make good money! That's less than 40k per year, and that's before taxes. Nurses do NOT make good money, especially not in the South.
One of the reasons I decided to go back to school for healthcare was the salary. Back in '09 in the middle of the financial crisis, I worked for a real estate company evaluating the finances of prospective tenants. A young new nurse grad in her early twenties-only six months after getting her associates-was earning $68K a year, no overtime. I felt like a fool with my fancy 4 year ivy degree earning $30K less than her while having both a f/t and p/t job. Of course she absolutely deserved it! Another nurse friendof mine at Sloane Kettering does private nurse jobs for the very wealthy and makes $1100 A DAY! Granted, she only does it a few days a month, but JEEZ! This is in NYC where I've lived most of my life making max $50K a year (comfortably, though VERY frugal and not much extra to save that doesn't get spent when something breaks). 2017 now and starting clinical in January! I also was a high school teacher (Catholic schools) and made $40K a year. I adored the job but had to work two other p/t jobs to make rent. If I can make a difference like I did with teaching AND be rolling in it ($65K or more is a very nice living to me!) then that's fantastic!!
Actually according to the Federal Department of Labor nursing as a whole to include CNA's, LON's, RN's and BSN's have had the lowest % pay increase since 2008 through 2017. They have received a total of just over 7% increase altogether since 2008. The cost of living has gone up over 10%. That means as a nurse your dollar today is worth less to you now than it did in 2017. There are people dipping fries in oil making $15 and hour while CNA's providing care and maintaining a license make less. LPN's make just a little more than that in some cases. A lot of hospitals are demanding that ADN's get their BSN's in order for the facility to acquire Magnet status while not wanting to compensate the. It's for either the time it takes the to acquire their BSN or the new level of knowledge and proficiency attained. Combine that with th fact that in order to have any chance of upward mobility past staff nurse you would need to invest even more time and money to get your MSN. Obviously hospital settings are more demanding than LTC and or Rehab facilities are. Nevertheless, in many case LTC and Rehab RN's make more than hospital staff nurses do. This is not a function of a stagnant economy. According to the Federal Department of Labor there are many professions that over the last 9 years have had double digit up to 26% increases since 2008. Why is it that as the demand for nurses increase pay has stagnated or gone down. Yes it is possible by working 60 hours a week, if allowed by the facility, a nurse can bring home a good salary. But he or she does it at the expense of their personal life and family time. Talk to nurses who have been practicing for 30+ years and they will all tell you that the nurses workload has only increased... more patients, more responsibility, more charting and more treatments. Pay has not increased accordingly.
Different parts of the country, salary varies widely. As a community College associates degree RN I have made over 110k working less than 40 hours a week in home health in CT. On track to make 100k this year working in a doctor's office full time with regular small amounts of OT. If I chose to pursue a RN to BSN program it would open up more roles and higher salary, but I am not willing to spend that money because I do not see it having good return on the time and cost involved. I know nurses in the southern and Midwestern states with lower cost of living make far less.
You have to think about it like this. In most of the business careers, you don't start at the top, you have to work your way up and in nursing, you can start with a good salary. For example, I have never had a job, but when I get out of school with my BSN, I will be making around 75K as a base salary without any experience. My sister on the other hand is going into human resources and the starting salary for something entry level is about 40K. Also she is expected to get a master's in a few years, and that might even be required for entry level work. In nursing, it's not required you get a master's degree to move up on the RN scale and people only get it if they want to be an NP, educator or management.
So from my perspective, to make 75K at 22 years old without any prior job experience at all is something that I consider good and I'm proud of. Sure I'm going to work hard for that but its still considered a lot to my friends who are new grads in other professions who don't nearly start off in that level.
So, above are all the reasons why the public has a perception of nurses making a lot of money. When it is on the news that nurses in Chicago, New York City, California are on strike for more wages and then follow that with the average hourly wage, the public wonders why nurses need a higher wage?
It is all dependent on where you live and the market. If you live in a high cost of living state, you will make a high wage to offset that. If you live in a state with lower cost of living or an oversaturation of nurses, wages will be lower. Living in a town with a single hospital decreases competition and allows the employer to set the wage, not the market.
Expecting to make $75,000 a year as a nurse right out of college is not realistic. Most hospitals pay based on years of experience and many also pay based on education, paying more to those who have a BSN or MSN than the ADN/AAS nurses. As more and more nurses advance their education, it is not uncommon to see job postings state they want someone with a MSN or DNP/PhD for the role. Employers know with that education comes an additional set of skills that cannot be learned on the job.
I have been a nurse for 24 years and I feel, for the most part, nurses are paid fairly for the job we do. Tired of being a bedside nurse? Go back and advance your education so you can do something else in nursing like teaching, NP, CNS, CNL, CRNA, informatics, etc. As this country heads rapidly towards a single payer system, hospitals will not be able to attract nurses with higher wages because of reimbursement issues. There will be a single wage based on zipcode and years in the field which translates to what you bring to the job. Enjoy the wealth while you have it!
Seattle area::::Union hospital-RNs that have been there a while make$84/hr. I know CNAs making 70k a year. (Plus, there's usually overtime)My LPN friend works in a nursing home& makes $53/hr. My family member RN is making $47/hr in a tiny town in Iowa. So yeah, Nursing is lucrative. 🤑
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I agree .. Compared to a lot of people I do pretty great financially.. Especially in my area which was one of the 5 worst hit in the nation during the recent economic problems. I make about 73k and it goes pretty far because our cost of living is pretty low.