3 years experiece 26/hr. Am I paid fairly?

[happyn]

Hi Everyone!

I have been working in the same hospital for 3 years after got hired as a new grad. Now I am in a step down unit and the hourly rate is $26. I am in school for BSN and will be finishing in a few months. I am just wondering if I am paid fairly. I tried to discuss this with my coworkers but they were not open to discussing it (I guess they do not feel comfortable). Hopefully you can help me here!

Thanks for your input!

[S.G.]

Pay really varies depending on facility and region. My first RN job I was paid $19/hr. when I left that facility after 4 years I was making $23-ish but my pay was union contracted. When we moved, I got a new job and my base rate was about $21/hr but I gave up benefits for a pay increase. I changed positions again and made $38/hr at the same facility 2 years later. So I can't really tell you if you're being paid fairly. There are a lot of factors. Many facilities discourage talking about pay because new employees can negotiate pay rate. If you've been getting raises with you annual evaluation, I would think your pay is fair.

ETA - one facility I worked for offered a $500 annual bonus for BSN. The other facility offered no additional benefits for the degree a d there was no raise after getting your BSN.

[dansamy]

It's against most facilities' policies to discuss your pay rate & compare.

Considering it's Florida, yes you're doing well. For comparison, I have 6 years of experience and I am in southern Alabama. For night shift, with my differential, I make $24.45.

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

As previously pointed out it all depends on sooooo many factors. An RN could be making 46 an hour in one town and 20 miles away that same RN would only make 16 an hour (I've seen it in OR). You name it, it is probably a factor.

Where I live most places will pay RNs union scale or better but I have also lived in OR where in some of the smaller towns RNs were paid very little while in the bigger cities they made 3 if not 4 times as much per hour.

I live on a small island out in the middle of the Pacific so I think that might factor into how almost all RNs make the same in whatever facility.

On the mainland smaller towns don't pay close to union wage. The excuse was that the cost of living (wait while I laugh) was different. Not so much as I did some investigating. I only lived there for two years after I got out of school but I must say the RNs are paid wildly different in that state depending upon where you live. I don't think FL is any different.

I wonder if the patients are also included in this practice of payment according to area? I'll bet a hip is a hip no matter what part of the state you're in.

Are you in a union or is there a process where your wage will increase along with your increasing experience at the place you are now?

[floridaRN38]

I have five year experience. South Florida rate is around 26 an hour for specially areas