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.
The public does get the idea that nurses do make a "lot of money" simply because nurses DO make a lot of money... but it's all relative to local markets. Nurses make more than most, less than many. It's not a bad gig and it pays decently well. The vast majority of nurses won't get rich doing this nor will they be dirt-poor either. For what I do, for how long I've been a nurse, and (more importantly) in the local market I'm in, I will easily make over $120k/year. I'm well aware that should I change to a different market area, my earnings will change. That would mean I'd have to make some adjustments but all do-able. I used to work as an EMT. People working at In-N-Out made a higher hourly wage than I did. Nearly EVERYONE had higher earnings annually than I did. I made enough to get by. I also think most people think that nurses are worth what they're paid and earn every cent of it.
If I were to go back to working as a Paramedic but not for a local Fire Department, I'd make roughly half what I do now. To some people, that's still a LOT of money...
akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P
3,533 Posts
The public does get the idea that nurses do make a "lot of money" simply because nurses DO make a lot of money... but it's all relative to local markets. Nurses make more than most, less than many. It's not a bad gig and it pays decently well. The vast majority of nurses won't get rich doing this nor will they be dirt-poor either. For what I do, for how long I've been a nurse, and (more importantly) in the local market I'm in, I will easily make over $120k/year. I'm well aware that should I change to a different market area, my earnings will change. That would mean I'd have to make some adjustments but all do-able. I used to work as an EMT. People working at In-N-Out made a higher hourly wage than I did. Nearly EVERYONE had higher earnings annually than I did. I made enough to get by. I also think most people think that nurses are worth what they're paid and earn every cent of it.
If I were to go back to working as a Paramedic but not for a local Fire Department, I'd make roughly half what I do now. To some people, that's still a LOT of money...