Xray tech~ more $$$ than RN???

Trauma Columnist · Oct 22, 2004

At our hospital (central Illinois), new grad RN's make $17.35 and new grad x-ray techs make $16.50. So - no I don't think you're wasting your time or effort. Good luck...let Miss Braggart go on and on and on!

Jo Dirt · Oct 22, 2004

I personally know an RN who is one of these "career student" types. She went back to school and became certitified as an x-ray tech. and she said she could not find a job because they told her she was overqualified. In other words, they wouldn't be able to pay her the kind of pay she would get as an RN.

You might tell this Braggart woman that you don't consider living beyond your means and in debt a status symbol.

If she brags about how much she makes just simply tell her she's full of it...be confrontational with her, because she is certainly being snobby to you.

sabradie · Oct 22, 2004

Oh my gosh, 17.35 hr for a new grad? That just floors me! I guess I've been a nurse for too long. At a hosp in Atlanta, I left making 33.00 hr. Granted, that's with experience but nurses work too hard for that pay!!! Am I just out of touch? Also, don't believe the x-ray tech. People brag when they feel inferior. Kind of feel sorry for her.

ItsyBitsySpider, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2004

New grad x-ray techs here start at $18.00/hr. RN's around $21. Don't get the rationale behind that but I still wouldn't trade careers either way.

nuttyRN · Oct 22, 2004

Hi everyone. I'm a little confused about something. I know this girl, let's call her Miss Braggart. Anyhow, she's a friend of a friend of a friend and after speaking to her a few times i've come to the conclusion that I don't like her and I like just about everybody and anybody. She and her husband are those obnoxious type people who brag about EVERYTHING. Example- My son wears this brand, what does your kid wear? We have a boat, do you? Etc... Anyway, to my point...she is an x-ray tech (for 3 years, oh and don't let me forget to mention she has a best-friend relationship with all the doc's at the hospital, they all love her and say she's the best ...EVER! ) and when I told her I was going to school to be an RN (I'm taking my pre-req's now) she laughed in my face and said "I'm in x-ray and I make more money then most nurses that work there, besides nurses get no respect" Of course I just smiled because I was so shocked by her blunt comment I didn't know what else to say. This can't be true can it? A big part of me thought she is one of those "try too hards" , you know those people who try so hard to impress they leave the opposite impression? If I remember correctly she said she made $18 an hr. Well, of course I'm not following my dreams for money....BUT...I do have 4 children and a husband who is the breadwinner and I want to know that if something ever happened where I'd have to support my boys I could. I'm sure most of you can relate. My question is....will I go to school and bust my rump for 3 and a half years in nursing school to make less income than someone who finishes school in a lot less time? (Not that an x-ray tech is a bad thing, please don't get me wrong, but money does come into play when you're poor and eating beans and cornbread so you can pay for college.) I live in KY and I'm not sure what the starting salary is for new nurses here. Can anyone shed some light on the average pay for new nurses in your state/area please?
Thanks,
Christy

I live in Oregon, just got into it with an xray tech about pt care (long horrid story) but heard xray techs start out at $27/hr while RNs start at $25! Don't know the truth behind the rumor though. just an FYI!

Jo Dirt · Oct 22, 2004

Oh my gosh, 17.35 hr for a new grad? That just floors me! I guess I've been a nurse for too long. At a hosp in Atlanta, I left making 33.00 hr. Granted, that's with experience but nurses work too hard for that pay!!! Am I just out of touch? Also, don't believe the x-ray tech. People brag when they feel inferior. Kind of feel sorry for her.

Sabradie, I got into a heated argument with a woman on a non-nursing board about how much nurses make. She had mentioned she knew a nurse who made $35 an hour and no wonder health care costs were so outrageous when NURSES made such unreasonable salaries! When I confronted her she shot back that she did "elder care" on the weekends so she knew what she was talking about.

It still infuriates me to think of her...:angryfire :angryfire :angryfire

INtoFL_RN · Oct 22, 2004

This doesn't pertain to X-ray techs exactly, but at the hospital I work at MRI techs make $18.25/hr. I have one year experience as an RN, have my BSN, and ACLS and I make $17. Talk about insulting!

angelac1978 · Oct 22, 2004

This doesn't pertain to X-ray techs exactly, but at the hospital I work at MRI techs make $18.25/hr. I have one year experience as an RN, have my BSN, and ACLS and I make $17. Talk about insulting!

why it is insulting? to become an MRI tech, you have to go through additional training beyond the 2 year program for rad tech. Which in most states in turning into 3 years because the competition is so fierce to get in that most people have to have their prereqs completed before even applying. Does that $18.25 include working call where they can be woken up at all hours of the night to come in a do a scan? Their pay is probably that much because they are certified in MRI and diagnostic x-ray.

I would pay no mind to that tech. Any time people discuss salaries, numbers tend to get inflated for all sorts of reasons, whether she feels inferior in some aspect or anything else. Just my 2 cents.

A

BittyBabyGrower, MSN, RN · Oct 22, 2004

MRI techs make as much as I do and I have been a nurse for 18 years! Their pay scale is very similar to ours. Reg. techs make lower, but not much. There is a big shortage of techs, so hospitals are making more attractive to be one.

SoulShine75 · Oct 22, 2004

This doesn't pertain to X-ray techs exactly, but at the hospital I work at MRI techs make $18.25/hr. I have one year experience as an RN, have my BSN, and ACLS and I make $17. Talk about insulting!

That is pretty insulting.

(Gotta vent again) What kills me about this woman is that everything she does is better and everything she's gone through is worse and so on. You all know the story. You cannot carry on a conversation with her because she never lets you speak and as soon as you jump in she interupts you. My husband landed his dream job about 6 months ago and his work gave him a cell phone. We have been thorugh a lot financially over the last 2 years and we were proud he finally found something that he loved and made a good living at. When he told her about the job her reply was...my cell phone is better, and she meant it! LOL Who in the he** says that?? Who cares??? Anyhow, I asked her a while back about the diff careers in the healthcare fields just to know a little about each, considering she works at the hospital and knows everything. :uhoh3: Her reply was, "become a nurse because x-ray is full and you ain't gettin' my job honey". ( as if I wanted it ) She also stated that x-ray school was harder than RN and if she could get through x-ray I coud breeze by in nursing. She just knocks me down every chance she gets. I was appauled but kept a tight lip considering some people know when to speak and some people know when to listen and some people know when to sit on their hands so they don't choke someone. He he. :chuckle I don't have anything against x-ray tech's so please no haters..it's just her......HERRRRR!

It just pains me to think I'm going to work so hard and make less money for more education! Her arrogance just drives me further towards my goals and hopefully someday I can ask her....did you get those x-rays done yet?? I have a patient waiting!

Thanks for listening guys.

angelac1978 · Oct 22, 2004

are you going for your BSN? RT programs are 2 years long, not including the pre-reqs. Are you going to be insulted that you are making the same amount of $$ as ADN nurses because they don't have as much education? I'm not trying to be catty, I really want to know. I just don't understand why someone would get insulted that another medical specialty gets paid more than you do. Diagnostic imaging and nursing are 2 very different fields and require different types of people to do them. And yes, RT school is very difficult! We have physics, radiation protection, radiation biology, patient care, and on and on. I can't compare it to a nursing program because I've never been there, but it is hard none the less.

A