Why are Florida RNs paid so low?

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I know that as a NYC RN i get paid more money...my cost of living is almost similar then yours. (I rent, I have car, I pay taxes etc...) i lived in FL for 8 years prior to moving to NYC...I hope to move back to FL but it frustrates me. I just don't understand why nurses do not demand higher wages, and why they receive ridiculously low raises...It is really frustrating because we are all doing the same job. Some NYC hospital have phlebotomist,and have the same work conditions as Fl. Maybe someone can explain this to me. How is your work condition? Do you have a "voice" in your hospital? or are you expoected to accept what they give you? :eek:

Well what are nurses in Northern Florida making (Panhandle area)? I'm from GA, and thinking of moving to FL once I am officially an RN.

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Specializes in TELEMETRY-MED/SURG-PULMONARY-STEP/DOWN.
Well what are nurses in Northern Florida making (Panhandle area)? I'm from GA, and thinking of moving to FL once I am officially an RN.

Actually,

I spoke to nurse recruiter from both GA and FL and it appears that you would make more money in GA. I have alot of RN friends who have left FL for GA.

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I definitely think there is more money in FL, but would love to move to FL. I went to kindergarten there (been in GA since then though) and I just love it down there. Would love to raise the children near the beach. I still have a few yrs, but being the planner that I am...I can't help but to look ahead. :)

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Specializes in Tele.

:eek:

I know that as a NYC RN i get paid more money...my cost of living is almost similar then yours. (I rent, I have car, I pay taxes etc...) i lived in FL for 8 years prior to moving to NYC...I hope to move back to FL but it frustrates me. I just don't understand why nurses do not demand higher wages, and why they receive ridiculously low raises...It is really frustrating because we are all doing the same job. Some NYC hospital have phlebotomist,and have the same work conditions as Fl. Maybe someone can explain this to me. How is your work condition? Do you have a "voice" in your hospital? or are you expoected to accept what they give you? :eek:

they (hospital) tell us that we have a "voice" yet nothing changes. What changes is that we have more work to do. we are now require to clock out for our 30 minute lunch break of a 12.5 hr shift. that we turn in our mars where we write our report to see if we are doing report correctly and require to clock out at 8pm and not after 8pm, so a lot of the girls I work with opt to clock out then stay to chart because of a busy busy day. how can they expect us to do all that work when we are getting 5 kids without a nursing assistant? without residents on the floor to ask for orders? and yet we can get a 4.7 rating out of 5 stars and still only get a merely 2.75% raise? yet they spend money on murals all over the hospital, make books about the history of nursing in the hospital, make us take a moral way class that supposedly is suppose to help make people act better. :eek: Nursing is definitely not what I thought it would be.

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Specializes in Tele.
We do have a sales tax in Florida. State income tax no, but sales yes.

It is really hard to compare NYC with the entire state of FL. Florida has many different places to live with cost of living varying quite a bit. I am in south Florida and I would say that wage/cost of living is really not balanced.

I very much agree with you. it is not balanced at all. with my RN pay I cannot afford to buy a place of my own.

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:lol2::yeah:To the OP can you say "bayside"? I KNOW Queens. I graduated from St. Francis Prep. Fact is...comparing here to there is apples and oranges. Craigslist.... QUEENS - Astoria...2BR 2BA = $2250 or $1800!!!! I have a 4 BR 2 BA HOUSE that is 2000 sq ft on 1/4 acre 2 car GA for $1300!!! is that a DUHHHHHHH!!!!!??????

You cannot reasonably think they are equivalent! Plus, my house was built in 2008. Your apt was built????1945??? dunno, but you know there is noentral Air and you have heat through radiators. I have pleasant weather year round.

Yes we have sales tax....the SAME as you pay in NYC.

You can't compare them and say they are the same. I am saying from experience....you can get MORE from the smaller pay check in FL than you can get from that higher NYC paycheck. PERIOD.

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Specializes in TELEMETRY-MED/SURG-PULMONARY-STEP/DOWN.

Well,

that is your experience. I lived in FL for 7 years, then NYC for 8 years...my experience was different...enjoy your house :)

:lol2::yeah:To the OP can you say "bayside"? I KNOW Queens. I graduated from St. Francis Prep. Fact is...comparing here to there is apples and oranges. Craigslist.... QUEENS - Astoria...2BR 2BA = $2250 or $1800!!!! I have a 4 BR 2 BA HOUSE that is 2000 sq ft on 1/4 acre 2 car GA for $1300!!! is that a DUHHHHHHH!!!!!??????

You cannot reasonably think they are equivalent! Plus, my house was built in 2008. Your apt was built????1945??? dunno, but you know there is noentral Air and you have heat through radiators. I have pleasant weather year round.

Yes we have sales tax....the SAME as you pay in NYC.

You can't compare them and say they are the same. I am saying from experience....you can get MORE from the smaller pay check in FL than you can get from that higher NYC paycheck. PERIOD.

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Its because its a republican state my friend, every nurse i speak to is afraid to join a union. When its all infront of there face the only high paid nurses where jackson hospital nurses many making 35 to 42 pluss diff. Much more than the average all the other local hospitals make ......obviously because they have unions

everyone here just works and if you speak out your considered a bad apple, putting ideas in employeees head

californi mass and new york all have much better pay all due to unions

we should have a massive walk out here in florida and demand higher pay!!!! Im all for it

im sure if we all got together and called out for a week things would definetly change

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Ok and then you have a bankrupt state and all the businesses leaving the state because they can't afford (1) the cost of doing business in the state and (2) the cost of personnel.

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i see allot of people saying there are lots of places in FL to live,um.... there are also lots of places in NY,(upstate NY is cheaper) i think the op is just basing observation off of new York city(NYC) and the Miami/ft. Lauderdale area,.....

i might be a little bias as i'm from NY, i'm in FL, getting my education but as soon as i'm done i'm going back up north if not NY somewhere north of fl, dont get me wrong love the sunshine and all but i need to see what i'm working for.

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Well lets compare 2 areas with very similar costs of living. Central Florida with say, Vancouver, WA (a place I would LOVE to live). According to Salary.com and other sites, the cost of living is essentially the same. However, starting nursing salary is 25% less in central Florida.

That's comparing apples to apples.

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.... I'll get back to you on that....

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