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 reason that the public has that perception is the media. The news media will always report the highest salary numbers that they can find, and neglect to mention that they're talking about NYC or SF Bay area with 5-10 yrs experience!
As long as we're being tongue-in-cheek about things....
Did you ever stop to consider that to the vast majority of "media" workers, the money the average RN makes sounds pretty good? I'm not talking about Anderson Cooper, Katie Couric, or those types - I'm talking about the everyday media workers (especially those in print journalism). Making, say, $25-30 an hour with perhaps five to ten years of experience sounds awfully good to those who have at least a bachelor's degree and make a little more than half that wage with ten to fifteen years of experience. They are sworn at every day and threatened with lawsuits all the time, especially when doing their jobs the right way. They're asked to do more and more duties - "Tweet about stories and recent issues during your off hours! Blog at least once a day! Moderate our reader forum! Host lengthy chat sessions on recent stories with readers at least once a week! Oh, and turn in an average of two stories per day worked!" - during the same number of paid hours (and there better not be any overtime) as jobs in the profession are cut left and right, all while the number of (extremely well-paid) management jobs increases. In some ways, it sounds like nurses and journalists have a lot in common!
Look at it this way - they may not get to clean up much puke or poop, but they get to hold in their puke while working on stories that require them to deal with people who love to spew out a lot of, er, poop!
That is you find a job,market is very hard for nurses these days unless you dont mind moving to some rural,god-forsaken middle of nowhere-but there you most likely wont be making big bucks since pay in remote areas tends to be less. Making 75,000 per year? Where in California maybe???? Because most new grads dont make this kind of money,unless you work both hospital and homehealth,but most likely you wont be able to get a job in home health right after nursing school,so that leaves you with one job only...People need to stop promoting this false high salaries for new grads,seriously.
Ps.Do you seriously believe you are entitled to this kind of money with zero nursing experience and just starting your career? What do you bring to the table except enthusiasm? Before jumping to a conclusion I'm a new grad but I know my limitation..Rome wasnt built in one day.
Kudos to this post. There is something that a poster wrote that irks me. Why should a nurse who specializes get paid more?
The reason it irks me is because I do home health and work in the nursing home(the so called two worst areas of nursing)I should get paid less than the med surg nurse or the or nurse,even though in the end we both made sure someone feel better? (I'm not talking about advanced practice nurses)
5Think of this:An rn I know makes 30.00/hr doing home health and has been doing it for 24 years but an rn whose been a nurse for 5 years makes 45/hr working in the OR. How fair is that?
Extra certification, specialized training, and increased liability costs more time, money, and stress than home health or long term care so YES you should be paid more. Do you think a family practice physician should be paid the same as a surgeon since they are both MD's ?
Do you think a family practice physician should be paid the same as a surgeon since they are both MD's ?
Maybe he should make more if he kills fewer pts. Seriously, shouldn't the pt be able to compare doctors' outcomes? Wouldn't that be a major part of an informed decision? And hey, it might also have the side benefit of reducing health care costs.
Extra certification, specialized training, and increased liability costs more time, money, and stress than home health or long term care so YES you should be paid more. Do you think a family practice physician should be paid the same as a surgeon since they are both MD's ?
As nurses no matter what field you are in we all have increasing liability.Especially in ltc residents are prone to falls and families threatening to sue all the time. In hh sometimes I feel I'm risking things by going into dangerous places. You can get specialized training for both but pay doesn't increase.
I like trying different fields of nursing so that's one reason I didn't specialize. I don't know if it will help me or harm me, though it seems like it helps to be cross trained in this day and age.
Maybe he should make more if he kills fewer pts. Seriously, shouldn't the pt be able to compare doctors' outcomes? Wouldn't that be a major part of an informed decision? And hey, it might also have the side benefit of reducing health care costs.
No offense but that has nothing to do with the topic. Not sure how it's relevant...
I have worked in many different areas of nursing and private duty, home health, and LTC are nothing compared to ER, OR, and ICU. Just can't be compared in terms of stress and skill level. To each his own though.
I think we make a reasonable amount of money. Some nurses would say that we don't make enough for the work that we do. So, the debate could really go both ways. "The Right Reason"... well, that's just another discussion within it's self
Where the heck do all you new grads starting at double my salary (70-90k) live?! I know here $26/hr is about the highest you'll see base pay for an RN and most are about 22/hr.. clinics 19.50/hr. For all the knowledge and skills and not to mention school loans! I have I don't think low to mid 40k per year is fair but in this economy you take what you can get.
haha I agree although it seems like your new grad RNs would probably get high 20's I would imagine? Which is about what I just stated as our top RN new grad salary locally so it seems to be similar.. however it does depend where you are in the US (only a few hrs away in NYC could get $30 or more an hour easily as new grads.. if they could find a job in NYC that is :)) so I would imagine being in different countries certainly makes a difference as well. I really had expected about 50k/yr as a new grad but am getting just shy of 45k/yr. At least I have a job I guess :) And hopefully in time I will steadily get increases..
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And I really love good "Carolina" BBQ. :) I could probably eat a ton.