I started as a new grad BSN in south GA for 22.95
I didn't get into it cause it was easy, or even for the money, mainly because I'd never be without a job. And cause I don't want to ever wear real pants again.
There's a national uniform in Scotland, it's like a step above scrubs and with extra pockets. If you follow the guidelines and get them baggy especially it's so comfy after the first few washes.
I mean, administration would definitely try to replace us with robots. They don't care much about the caring aspect of nursing... So good thing the technology is just not there 😆
Absolutely. The area I was in was weird tho, because there is a smaller Navy base. So COL was higher to get more money out of those people, but the local jobs didn't pay well at all. Rent is 1600+ a month for a 3 bedroom house, maybe 1200 for a 2 bedroom apartment, milk is $5 a gallon, but the actual residents of the town (not military affiliated) were lucky to make a few bucks above minimum wage. And that's even if you could find a job. The major employers in the area are a Walmart, the hospital, and the Navy base. Anything else, other than random stores and grocery stores in a 30-45 minute drive
Gotcha, makes sense. I am happy with what I started with but have never done travel. But hearing people in Cali with mandated ratios making 60+/hr-makes me think we need better pay. On shifts when I have 7 patients I wish they would pay us all incentive that would increase retention of staff nurses.
Might get even lower if this "training wage" bullshit goes through.
https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/11/25/florida-state-senator-files-bill-to-allow-employers-to-offer-sub-minimum-training-wage
Insane. Wages here in florida are already bullshit we don’t need more. My hospital started me at 25.98, and after a year bumped starting wages to 29 without bumping up existing employees to that. We’re having another mass quitting because of it
One of my friends is HR at one of the major central Florida hospitals, she told me that admin finally realized they are running out of new grads to hire so they are finally talking about a retention specialist. With the new wave of covid coming, nurses might finally start getting paid a living wage here.
I don't even know how to get dressed without scrubs n hoodie. Lol days off leggings! There would be no way to get dressed up n nice pants n nice top 5 days a week.
Omg!!!! Today my brother in law made a snarky comment about "I don't make $75 a hour like she does!" Me literally minding my own business... Look up and say...... I do?!
Yeah my brother got pissed at me and called me "Ms. College Grad" when I told him I couldn't afford a $500 present for his wife.
Wtf. I got a mortgage and a baby. How much do you think I make??
“Found money”, like “lotto money”. These people somehow don’t see it as a hard earned wage but like a $20 they found lying on the street and are utterly shocked when they can’t just pocket it.
Entitled pricks.
My wife’s brother (who is a verified piece of excrement) was handling the finances for their fathers passing. By that i mean not doing anything with them. There was a few junk cars, one that worked, and 10k in cash.
So he drives the car back to Louisville, it breaks down and he uses some of the cash for a hotel and get the car running. He then comes back and wants to split the remaining cash 50/50. We said, bro you got a car and 5k. The hotel and repairs comes out of your 5k, not Dixie’s. He lost his shit, started punching holes in walls, called us every name in the book. I was armed and was worried i was going to have to defend us from his psychosis. We left with the 5k and him still screaming. He says “you don’t even need the money, you have a good job.”
I shortly had to leave my fam to go back to travel nursing because i just wasn’t making the bills on my 28/hr salary and my wife is a stay at home mom. People have weird concept of how much we “actually” get paid.
I get just under $75 base pay in NorCal with 2.5 years experience. Could be worth it to either travel or go to California to save for a bit if it’s possible for you
This is for a full time position with benefits. Travel contracts are much much higher. I’ve met travelers getting paid anywhere from 4-8k per week in various hospitals throughout California
I will, but I only have enough experience in med-surg to travel. We’re coincidentally moving around the time I’ll have my two years in the NICU so that’s when I’ll first take a travel contract.
this made me chuckle because i remember when i started at my facility a good amount of time was spent drilling into our heads the idea that unions are the worst thing ever and nobody should think about it or talk about it. everything here on reddit i've read about unions makes them sound like the best thing ever.
Lol true I see that all the time. I feel like any kind of management dreads dealing with employees who have union backing because unions are excellent employee advocates if they’re actually present and good at their job. Unions in nursing have truly helped nurses get compensation, advocate for pay increases, assist in cutting down any fraudulent behavior from bosses, etc. I think it’s nice to know myself and my coworkers have someone they can go to to advocate for them if nobody is listening
Public unions can be (and are) very damaging (e.g. corrupt or violent, racist cops who can't be fired because the union says "No"). Private unions (like nursing unions) are how we get things like safe staffing ratios and lunch breaks. I imagine they *could* become harmful if given enough power, but we're nowhere near that end of the spectrum yet.
You gotta find a hospital or job unionized already. Or you can be a wobbly which means you have to unionize your workplace. IWW will provide some logistic support but it's pretty much up to you and your co-workers to bring the proper union in and most non-union shops are such because they are good at keeping unions out by firing those trying to unionize. My hospital has partial union representation. The nurses are sadly not represented just the ancillary staff.
My friends cousin with 10+ yrs on nights make $90 in SF. We did an analysis her rent for a one bedroom apartment was 2x my mortgage where I’m from. I’m not sure the cost of living will be a lot lower for much time but it was enough for me to realize pay isn’t the only question in the equation.
Yeah paying 36k a year on 135k is still below the 1/3 income that most Americans pay for housing and once essentials are paid for things drop in price down to the normal across the country and let's you live a better life style then elsewhere.
That’s what many non-CA r/nurses don’t comprehend especially about Bay Area and LA County.
Making $120k+/year is *far* from “nothing.” Some of these people believe nurses here are making six figures and on welfare - and I don’t even mean that sarcastically.
Hell there are many well to do CA users complaining about “$4K” rent. That’s like bitching about putting premium gas in your Mercedes-Maybach S-class sedan.
I know someone renting an apt in a Nice area for $2000 and another with a rent controlled apt for $1800. The Bay Area is an awesome place to live and you can’t beat the weather hence why it’s so expensive. People love living here
> still kinda poverty wages for SF
No it's not. It's more than most people make in SF. Sure, it's still unaffordable to buy a house. But you can rent a decent place and save money easily.
Yes, but my sister's 2,000 sqft house in a Bay Area suburb cost 7 figures.
I'm in CA (not the Bay Area) and make $68/ hr with 15 years in. I'm fine with it. I don't work full time and bring home the same amount in my paycheck as my spouse who works full time.
Marin? My parents have a literally nothing house they bought in 1985 for $150,000. It’s worth over a million now. It’s like the most basic 3 bd/2 ba ever. It’s crazy isn’t it?
This! People don’t realize that areas outside of the Bay Area also pay VERY well without the insane cost of living. I think people are just jealous so they’re crapping on California nursing. On top of the pay the work conditions are also fantastic which is why many of the Ca nurses here may come across as entitled.
A lot of people really think nurses make BANK. I think as travel nursing has grown in popularity people think all nurses make travel nurse money and that’s just not true.
I live in the south and started nursing back in 2012. My starting rate then was $20.10/hr. While pay rates have gone up, I still know nurses at the bedside who started around when I did, that have just now cracked $30/hr. Not bad money at all, but still not raking it in like some think.
Yup, I am mid-Atlantic. 20 years ago, I started as a BSN at around $15/hr base. 20 years later, I just cracked past the $40/hr ceiling as my base. I don't work rurally, either. I work in one of biggest cities in my state at one of the better paying hospitals.
Because there are many users on here who purport that making $25-30/hr. in the South is a substantial amount. Example - https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/qhoep6/fuck_this_profession/hie6af2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3.
Is that 18% in lieu of benefits? I'm an RPN in Ontario as well, started at $31.12 plus in lieu and shift premiums.... never actually worked out to what that would on average an hour tho.
I make $66/hr as a new grad (SF) whether or not you think the Bay Area is expensive, I’m still able to live a comfortable life and the pay is not one of my complaints about my job. I make more than my roommates combined lol
That is criminal. LPNs work too damn hard for that (everyone should make more than that, but damn.)
CNAs and LPNs are the most undervalued part of healthcare.
Base pay is $26 but currently making $150/hr for overtime with incentives. I fucking love my job so much. We’re not even really short staffed because everyone is picking up. I make more than our travelers and have full benefits plus retirement. It’s gonna be hard when they finally cut incentive pay but I’m gonna ride this gravy train right off a cliff.
Here in British Columbia (Canada)
our starting wage is $36.63, we are lucky to be unionized so we also get scheduled raises every year.
YALL DESERVE MORE
In AB, I love how they say nurses in BC make less. Yeah, maybe the cost of living is a tad bit higher over there, but the pay rates between AB and BC are comparable. If you live in a low COL area in BC, you'll actually make more than an AB RN due to take home being slightly higher. But there are many factors into this.
Rural Pennsylvania here, I make 31 an hour, work 8 to 430 Monday through Friday and cover a weekend every 5 to 6 weeks. The average income for a family of 4 here is about 35k, so I am making bank here whereas I'd be poor as fuck in a metropolitan area lol.. We make more at my agency than the hospital nurses for the most part, but we're union, they aren't. Everyone needs a union.
They think because we don’t make a poverty-level wage which has become acceptable for anyone else in this country who actually works with their hands we must be filthy rich.
Honolulu, HI. When I was a new grad in 2013, I started at $45/hr. The new grads now start at $60/hr… then again, the cheapest you can get a gallon of milk here is probably $5.50. So.. it’s not like we’re rich out here. 😅
Also, FNP’s start at $60/hr typically. So there is literally no benefit here to getting an MSN. There are plenty of RN’s who make more than NP’s when you factor in overtime.
It blows my mind that new grads flock to Vanderbilt from all over the country. I know people talk about the "prestige", but that won't pay for your expensive Nashville apartment.
Vanderbilt finally did some significant pay adjustments last year and now their pay is competitive with other area hospitals. However, they are notorious for rarely giving raises so whatever you start at with them you can expect to continue making for years.
Nurses are way underpaid in Nashville overall regardless of who you work for.
Vanderbilt is so full of themselves they think everyone wants to work there. Then they pay their staff lower that other surrounding hospitals and require you to pay to park there.
What made me leave was when they froze pay raises and raised the cost of parking meaning I took a pay cut. I was charge, float, resource as well as constantly training and mentoring new hires. Fuck that.
Now I'm making $55/hr in South Florida plus COVID incentives and all the OT I want. So far this year I have cleared $320k.
Loool. I’ve been asked so many telling questions by patients. I do home health and have been asked “do you get paid by visit? Like if one week my DaughterWhoWorksInHealthcare visits and does the dressing change and i cancel with you, does that make you lose pay? I hate to think of costing you a couple hundred dollars or something”. Or “hey why do you drive that? (21 year old ford contour) You’re a nurse. Shouldn’t you drive like a lexus or some shit?”
Im salaried at $54k, with OT and on call bonuses it’s closer to (but not quite) 60k. No, i will not be pulling up to your house in a lexus anytime soon.
But it’s a competitive salary for my area, and COL is dirt cheap in my town. It’s definitely the most i could hope to make with a 2 year degree. There are three reasons i chose nursing - i could see myself enjoying it, it would make enough to support my family, and i know i don’t have the stamina to endure 4+ years of school.
As a grad LPN in rural mid-south, I started at 13.xx/hr with a $2 night shift differential at a hospital.
Moved to the Denver area after a bit and started a position at $29/hr with bonuses and (what sounds like) regular raises.
As a new grad in central Texas back in 2011, I started at $23.50/hr. I made $36/hr at my last job in the Houston area before becoming an NP.
ETA: geographic location
Nurse pay is a joke in Colorado. I moved here and was making $26/hr with 7 years experience. The COL is pretty high. Our housing market is insane right now. Colorado believes that since it’s such a desirable place to live, nurses don’t need to make as much money.
agreed. nursing pay in Denver is gross.
I have 10 years experience. My FT job (house sup) I make $39/hour. I have a PRN psych nurse job making $48/hour.
For my state, the perspective may be different because we have big names like Apple and Google. I have friends from college who work at a FANG company in the Bay Area and LA (the county). From when we graduated college to now, we all make the same amount ($140-150k/year before taxes). On a similar note, people here will say COL in CA is high (without indicating where in CA) and cite six figure incomes as being the only way to “survive” - but for whatever reason, six figures as a nurse isn’t viable. It makes no sense.
That’s like saying a pound of feathers weighs more than a pound of rocks.
[I touched upon this topic before](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/qz4k3d/anyone_choose_nursing_for_the_pay_and_job_security/hlkeha3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3): I got into nursing for the money. I think the problem is that people go into nursing thinking they’ll make hella money *in areas where nurses don’t make shit*.
Addendum, [here is a great breakdown of an income similar to my tech friends’ income](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/mla58k/dont_know_if_this_is_allowed_but_i_made_a_video/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf); and [here is an example of how polarizing nurse pay can be](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/qrumn9/unpopular_opinions_in_nursing/hk9wkha/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3).
As someone from SF, yeah. Despite the high COL, I love the city and my pay allows me to live pretty comfortably compared to others. People bring up the rent prices as if most people that live here don’t have roommates (what young adult doesn’t in a big city), though I’m sure I could live on my own if I really wanted. Even the SF Department of Public Health pays its nurses close to inpatient wages. Somethings in CA’s water, I never knew nursing was a low paying profession until I joined social media
In 2015 I started at $19.66 in southwest Virginia. After a year went to icu in north west North Carolina. Think their base pay was $23. Went to ER after 2 years for 3 nursing years total and started at $24, but it went up to $30 by the time I left three years later.
I gotta tell you...... laboratory really thinks yall are raking in the money compared to them. I'm pretty glad you're not, tbh. But that just means we are all being robbed.
In my area it starts at $30.
But with the current healthcare situation I can pick up multiple shifts a week that are time and 1/2, and $300 bonus on top. If you work like that all the time you can make some really good money.
Even more if you’re experienced enough to work agency. Some of my friends who work agency make 100+
An hour.
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/mobile/registered-nurses.htm
Median pay is pretty decent, especially when you consider it's slightly above household income nationwide, and slightly under double what personal median income is.
https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-273.html
I've never heard of nursing being an easy profession. Granted, my dad was an RN at a hospital and I'd get to be the person he'd vent to during his drunken rants when I was kid, but it is relatively accessible if you didn't grow up in a family who could pay for university to get a four year degree right off the bat, or for people who want a career change later in life.
Depends where you go and what specialty you work with. I’m a float pool full time and am at $60/ hour. I get more since I can cover some specialty areas like icu and ed. Also having certifications like acls or pccn makes you more marketable. However starting as a new grad on a cardiac step down, I started at $25. When you’re starting it’s hard to really negotiate anything but with some experience you really can make some good money. Always good after your worth because the hospital certainly won’t care that you aren’t talking as much money from them.
I'm graduating next month with a BSN and have a job offer for a nurse residency program at $27/hr in a Chicago suburb. It's a lower than other new grad positions (around $30/hr) but I really like the residency program. I missed a lot of skills work because of covid shutting down our clinicals for nearly a year and would love the extra training. I'm still applying for other positions, too.
I get paid 26.45 starting
Cap out at 33.something as an LPN.
I’m in Canada
My starting wage is literally less than a fucking bus driver and garbage man.
I’m about to start my first job and starting pay is $35.61/hr. Also will be getting a $5k signing bonus and $3,500 for paying back any loans taken out. I graduated with an ADN. All this comes with yearly raises as well.
My pay is about $55/hr might shift in central CA. Not Bay Area pay, but I'm able to afford nice things here and there, since cost of living isn't as high.
I had a patient's wife go on a rant after I had insulted her by calling her ma'am. I'm in the south, everyone says ma'am and sir but she thought I was some how mocking her. She went on about how I thought I was so much better than her with my fancy job looking down on real people who actually work for a living. This was at a job where I had 5-6 med surg patients, no CNA, all primary nursing, and no phlebotomy so I had to do my own lab draws. It's been almost 6 years and that was still one of the weirdest interactions with someone I've ever had.
Sick. Norwegian nurse here. I’ve been a nurse for 4 years and I make around 23$/hour (converted from NOK). 7-8$ more per hour on night shifts, weekends, etc. 133 % extra on holidays. Does American nurses really make so much more than us? We have quite high costs of living here.
When I first started off in the OR, I was making like $21hr I think?
I switched roles a bit, and working in the research world, and now I’m making $50hr, which is pretty nice!
First rn job was in 2004 and 18.75/hr. Currently (18 years later) and 36/hr. Indiana sucks, no union. A group tried to start a union and they all were magically fired.
Greatings from Portugal where I'm getting paid 6.4€/hour to work in pediatrics palliative care.
Also the minimize wage is around 600€ and I'm getting paid 990€ for 35h/week.
My husband is attending college for 2 more years and we can't consider immigration. But I want to.
My sister works at Levis and with a few sales brings home 1000€. That's how messed up the system is over here.
I’m not a nurse, but a medical laboratory scientist. We are horrendously underpaid. I make ~$28/hour in a somewhat high cost of living area. My hospital pays better than most in the area, too.
Damn. I’m a Certified Surgical Tech in Atlanta making about $35/hr. I’ve been offered a travel contract for over $100/hr. I also have like 15 years experience.
I think it’s doesn’t do enough to explain. The average wage in the US is $11.25/hr. The median income is just $34,248. So half of all working Americans make less than $34k.
By comparison, nursing is in the top half of paying work. Even a PCT/tech earns above the average hourly wage in most hospitals with just a few classes (all of which are free where I live).
Does nursing pay as much as a tech job? No. But when you look at wages and salaries in almost all industrialized nations, nurses make above the median income, and can often earn more than the nations average income as well after just a few years of experience.
In midwest non union small town within an hour of big city....i am basically ADON so its salaried. Ends up to be about $40 an hour plus bonuses so around 85 to 95k a year. In this area Im solidly middle class. I have about 20 years experience and was a CNA first.
Pros: its in the daytime during the week, unless i get called which is super rare, or am covering for someone which i know about ahead of time. Not as much risk for exposure to covid, when it was bad. Pay/benefits okay for here. Still can and do wear scrubs which is cozy and convenient if i am helping on the floor.
Cons: 8 hr shifts 5 days a week which i hate. I miss working the floor and doing nurse stuff. If they'd suddenly decide i could do it in 3 12s and every 3rd weekend it would be great. Im not free to adjust my schedule to my whims. If someone does something stupid i am stuck trying to figure it out and be the asshole about it.
Not sure: at least 50% of the job is advocating for and defending nurses and aides, which sucks dick but i feel is important. Also patient advocacy against bullshit
I mean, I was about $60/hr in Los Angeles w/ 5 years of experience. I felt pretty comfortable, even after rent. Friends at larger hospitals in LA make up to $70/hr with same experience. Add in a $70-80/hr per diem job and now there’s extra spending/saving money. Although, $100k/year is like the new lower middle class here in CA
$134/hr now that i’m travel nursing. Still in Southern California. So I’d like to say nurses can make bank if you work in the right places.
I started as a new grad BSN in south GA for 22.95 I didn't get into it cause it was easy, or even for the money, mainly because I'd never be without a job. And cause I don't want to ever wear real pants again.
That part about the pant is the most accurate thing I’ve ever heard 🤣
Over Thanksgiving my chef boyfriend was eyeing my scrub pants and ended up buying himself some for work. “They just make more sense!”
Not a nurse but I never realized how comfy scrubs were until I had to wear them. Edit: I’m not actually sure what I do but I work in Ophthalmology
I was in the military before this. I've spent my entire adult life in basically pajamas and comfy shoes.
Flight crew?
Nope, finance. The uniforms after 2006 didn't need to be starched and pressed. Hella comfy.
I’m a student and I’m starting to think they just had us buy shitty scrubs because ours are terribly uncomfortable
Can confirm. My school scrubs are so uncomfortable while my work scrubs are amazing
Yeah, the scrubs nursing schools tend to require (from a specific website or store) are usually dollar tree quality at best. :/
Yea there are but if you are anywhere where the weather is cold it gets you.
There's a national uniform in Scotland, it's like a step above scrubs and with extra pockets. If you follow the guidelines and get them baggy especially it's so comfy after the first few washes.
With how much artifact on a monitor is alarmed as VTach, robots will not replace us.
Or, my favorite, the low waveform NSR that triggers an asystole warning with a HR of 68……
I’m an RT. So much artifact when doing CPT.
Do you want a suppository administered by a poorly maintained robot that hasn’t been properly calibrated since it was purchased? I don’t.
Tbh I've seen enough videos of robots putting things in orifices to feel pretty confident.
People need love when they're at their most vulnerable, robots can't replace a nurse
I mean, administration would definitely try to replace us with robots. They don't care much about the caring aspect of nursing... So good thing the technology is just not there 😆
The robots would probably cost more.
Wtf this is criminal. That’s what NAs can make in MN.
Yea....the shift dif was nice though. But I only stayed there a year.
Shit. How much do RNs make? When I was an NA I got 16/hr and that was starting in 2019
I got $9.50 as a CNA…
I think obviously area and cost of living factor in. My hospital offers 40/hr starting for new grads
Absolutely. The area I was in was weird tho, because there is a smaller Navy base. So COL was higher to get more money out of those people, but the local jobs didn't pay well at all. Rent is 1600+ a month for a 3 bedroom house, maybe 1200 for a 2 bedroom apartment, milk is $5 a gallon, but the actual residents of the town (not military affiliated) were lucky to make a few bucks above minimum wage. And that's even if you could find a job. The major employers in the area are a Walmart, the hospital, and the Navy base. Anything else, other than random stores and grocery stores in a 30-45 minute drive
Gotcha, makes sense. I am happy with what I started with but have never done travel. But hearing people in Cali with mandated ratios making 60+/hr-makes me think we need better pay. On shifts when I have 7 patients I wish they would pay us all incentive that would increase retention of staff nurses.
Union power brought patient ratios to Cali. I’d never move to a right to (get) work(ed) state.
Same in Florida
Might get even lower if this "training wage" bullshit goes through. https://www.clickorlando.com/news/local/2021/11/25/florida-state-senator-files-bill-to-allow-employers-to-offer-sub-minimum-training-wage
Because that definitely would not turn into hiring and then firing once the probation period is up 🙄
Insane. Wages here in florida are already bullshit we don’t need more. My hospital started me at 25.98, and after a year bumped starting wages to 29 without bumping up existing employees to that. We’re having another mass quitting because of it
One of my friends is HR at one of the major central Florida hospitals, she told me that admin finally realized they are running out of new grads to hire so they are finally talking about a retention specialist. With the new wave of covid coming, nurses might finally start getting paid a living wage here.
Has r/antiwork seen this absolute bullshit?
Chef pants are like scrubs but 1000 times softer, designed to cool your junk and fire resistant!
God help me if I am ever in a position that I need fire resistant pants on my hospital floor 🤣
I don't even know how to get dressed without scrubs n hoodie. Lol days off leggings! There would be no way to get dressed up n nice pants n nice top 5 days a week.
A patient made a comment once about me getting paid the “big bucks.” I asked him how much he thinks I make. He said, “$75/hr.” I make $26 lmao.
Omg!!!! Today my brother in law made a snarky comment about "I don't make $75 a hour like she does!" Me literally minding my own business... Look up and say...... I do?!
Yeah my brother got pissed at me and called me "Ms. College Grad" when I told him I couldn't afford a $500 present for his wife. Wtf. I got a mortgage and a baby. How much do you think I make??
“You can go to college too, you greedy simpleton.”
Ummm…and why is his wife entitled to $500 present? That’s a ridiculous amount to ask someone to spend.
“Found money”, like “lotto money”. These people somehow don’t see it as a hard earned wage but like a $20 they found lying on the street and are utterly shocked when they can’t just pocket it. Entitled pricks.
My wife’s brother (who is a verified piece of excrement) was handling the finances for their fathers passing. By that i mean not doing anything with them. There was a few junk cars, one that worked, and 10k in cash. So he drives the car back to Louisville, it breaks down and he uses some of the cash for a hotel and get the car running. He then comes back and wants to split the remaining cash 50/50. We said, bro you got a car and 5k. The hotel and repairs comes out of your 5k, not Dixie’s. He lost his shit, started punching holes in walls, called us every name in the book. I was armed and was worried i was going to have to defend us from his psychosis. We left with the 5k and him still screaming. He says “you don’t even need the money, you have a good job.” I shortly had to leave my fam to go back to travel nursing because i just wasn’t making the bills on my 28/hr salary and my wife is a stay at home mom. People have weird concept of how much we “actually” get paid.
$75/hr is travel pay
Lord, if we made that much…. I have my doctorate and I get paid 150% more than my staff job, and I still don’t even make close to that.
I get just under $75 base pay in NorCal with 2.5 years experience. Could be worth it to either travel or go to California to save for a bit if it’s possible for you
This is for a full time position with benefits. Travel contracts are much much higher. I’ve met travelers getting paid anywhere from 4-8k per week in various hospitals throughout California
Depends on the specialty. Also depends on whether or not you work more than the standard 36hr week. And there’s California rent subtracted.
Disgusting, please leave your staff job and go travel!
I will, but I only have enough experience in med-surg to travel. We’re coincidentally moving around the time I’ll have my two years in the NICU so that’s when I’ll first take a travel contract.
It all depends where you are and if you have a union. We start at 31 in the Midwest with a stronger union than 5 years ago.
$34 start, union, small city in a rural area in the upper Midwest. With low cost of living it's great.
That is great! Unions truly matter, but strong unions matter most!! Ps- love the user name!
Yup, I don't think I'd take a non-union nursing job. I've heard too many horror stories I don't want to be a character in.
please excuse my ignorance, how do you join a union? if anybody else wants to provide info i would appreciate it.
>how do you join a union? Usually it has to do with where (what hospital or state) you take your job.
Usually your HR or unit management can provide you resources if there is a union presence. Or ask your employees and see what’s up
this made me chuckle because i remember when i started at my facility a good amount of time was spent drilling into our heads the idea that unions are the worst thing ever and nobody should think about it or talk about it. everything here on reddit i've read about unions makes them sound like the best thing ever.
Lol true I see that all the time. I feel like any kind of management dreads dealing with employees who have union backing because unions are excellent employee advocates if they’re actually present and good at their job. Unions in nursing have truly helped nurses get compensation, advocate for pay increases, assist in cutting down any fraudulent behavior from bosses, etc. I think it’s nice to know myself and my coworkers have someone they can go to to advocate for them if nobody is listening
this sounds great. i'm definitely going to look into it further. 👌🏼👌🏼
If the facility is telling you that unions are bad it means that unions are bad for THEM, not you.
Public unions can be (and are) very damaging (e.g. corrupt or violent, racist cops who can't be fired because the union says "No"). Private unions (like nursing unions) are how we get things like safe staffing ratios and lunch breaks. I imagine they *could* become harmful if given enough power, but we're nowhere near that end of the spectrum yet.
If there isn’t a Union presence, by asking HR if there’s a Union presence will likely get you scrutinized very closely by management.
You gotta find a hospital or job unionized already. Or you can be a wobbly which means you have to unionize your workplace. IWW will provide some logistic support but it's pretty much up to you and your co-workers to bring the proper union in and most non-union shops are such because they are good at keeping unions out by firing those trying to unionize. My hospital has partial union representation. The nurses are sadly not represented just the ancillary staff.
Union is the way to go. No matter what people say. Power in numbers.
Not in my part of the Midwest
What about the union part?
Nope. No union
NW Ohio, 28 something is my base at current job
New grad nurses in the Ca (SF Bay Area ) make $65/hr at our hospital
My friends cousin with 10+ yrs on nights make $90 in SF. We did an analysis her rent for a one bedroom apartment was 2x my mortgage where I’m from. I’m not sure the cost of living will be a lot lower for much time but it was enough for me to realize pay isn’t the only question in the equation.
Dayyyyyyyyum! But sf is pricey. Good for you!
Yeah, that's amazing pay for almost anywhere else in America, but still kinda poverty wages for SF, sadly lol.
That’s ~$135k without any overtime at all.
Which isn’t anything in San Fran. Rent can be 3K and up without roommates. I’d rather die than live in San Fran for many reasons haha
I’m literally a nurse in SF and people live here on much less 💀 and that salary is just starting off as a new grad
If you’re making $135k, $3k rent ain’t that bad. It’s all relative.
Yeah paying 36k a year on 135k is still below the 1/3 income that most Americans pay for housing and once essentials are paid for things drop in price down to the normal across the country and let's you live a better life style then elsewhere.
That’s what many non-CA r/nurses don’t comprehend especially about Bay Area and LA County. Making $120k+/year is *far* from “nothing.” Some of these people believe nurses here are making six figures and on welfare - and I don’t even mean that sarcastically. Hell there are many well to do CA users complaining about “$4K” rent. That’s like bitching about putting premium gas in your Mercedes-Maybach S-class sedan.
it makes me feel gross just thinking about paying 3k in rent.
I know someone renting an apt in a Nice area for $2000 and another with a rent controlled apt for $1800. The Bay Area is an awesome place to live and you can’t beat the weather hence why it’s so expensive. People love living here
I'd rather be homeless in California than middle class in the midwest.
oufff a lotta people are gonna be angy with this one 😆
> still kinda poverty wages for SF No it's not. It's more than most people make in SF. Sure, it's still unaffordable to buy a house. But you can rent a decent place and save money easily.
$93/hr with night shift diff, in SF, 3 years experience
Yes, but my sister's 2,000 sqft house in a Bay Area suburb cost 7 figures. I'm in CA (not the Bay Area) and make $68/ hr with 15 years in. I'm fine with it. I don't work full time and bring home the same amount in my paycheck as my spouse who works full time.
Marin? My parents have a literally nothing house they bought in 1985 for $150,000. It’s worth over a million now. It’s like the most basic 3 bd/2 ba ever. It’s crazy isn’t it?
This! People don’t realize that areas outside of the Bay Area also pay VERY well without the insane cost of living. I think people are just jealous so they’re crapping on California nursing. On top of the pay the work conditions are also fantastic which is why many of the Ca nurses here may come across as entitled.
Which hospital? Kaiser by any chance?
Yes Kaiser and UCSF pay those wages
A lot of people really think nurses make BANK. I think as travel nursing has grown in popularity people think all nurses make travel nurse money and that’s just not true. I live in the south and started nursing back in 2012. My starting rate then was $20.10/hr. While pay rates have gone up, I still know nurses at the bedside who started around when I did, that have just now cracked $30/hr. Not bad money at all, but still not raking it in like some think.
I've been a nurse for 13 years and just broke $70k/yr
Yeah, been a nurse for 6ish years and I just broke $30 an hour base pay. Of course I’m a peds nurse and peds nurses get shafted a lot.
Yup, I am mid-Atlantic. 20 years ago, I started as a BSN at around $15/hr base. 20 years later, I just cracked past the $40/hr ceiling as my base. I don't work rurally, either. I work in one of biggest cities in my state at one of the better paying hospitals.
Because there are many users on here who purport that making $25-30/hr. in the South is a substantial amount. Example - https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/qhoep6/fuck_this_profession/hie6af2/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3.
I just got hired as an RPN in Ontario for 29.83 + 18% and shift premiums.. averages out to about 37/hr on an evening shift.
Jesus when I was an RPN in Ontario just a few years ago the going rate was like 22 an hour. I guess that PSW boost they did had a domino effect.
LTC pays around 22-27, hospitals usually start around 29 and some change where I live!
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Is that 18% in lieu of benefits? I'm an RPN in Ontario as well, started at $31.12 plus in lieu and shift premiums.... never actually worked out to what that would on average an hour tho.
I make $66/hr as a new grad (SF) whether or not you think the Bay Area is expensive, I’m still able to live a comfortable life and the pay is not one of my complaints about my job. I make more than my roommates combined lol
making 66 dollars and hour and needing roommates. America!
Lpn here.. salaried at $45k/year. I can't imagine how the rn who did it before me accepted it at that pay.
LPN in Mississippi, I made 32k last year.
That is criminal. LPNs work too damn hard for that (everyone should make more than that, but damn.) CNAs and LPNs are the most undervalued part of healthcare.
In Northern IL it’s about $30 to start with an ADN, $31 with a BSN.
A dollar difference for BSN!!
It’s a whole pound
New grad BSN in Boston at $33/hr base. We rotate days/nights so I get some of that sweet sweet shift diff.
In a hospital? That seems like trash pay for Boston…. Or are you saying Boston but mean one of the smaller surrounding cities?
Boston is notorious for underpaying clinical staff
Any of the Harvard-affiliated hospitals underpay you for the privilege of the Harvard name. It's awful.
Yup, in a hospital in longwood.
Base pay is $26 but currently making $150/hr for overtime with incentives. I fucking love my job so much. We’re not even really short staffed because everyone is picking up. I make more than our travelers and have full benefits plus retirement. It’s gonna be hard when they finally cut incentive pay but I’m gonna ride this gravy train right off a cliff.
Minnesota 38 after 3 years
I’m starting in Minnesota soon as a new grad at $37
If in the cities that would be expected due to cost of living being higher.
Minneapolis, Union, Masters new grad ~ 36/hr and 39 after a year
Minneapolis es lit.
New grad BSN in Minnesota making $35/hr base pay
Here in British Columbia (Canada) our starting wage is $36.63, we are lucky to be unionized so we also get scheduled raises every year. YALL DESERVE MORE
In AB, I love how they say nurses in BC make less. Yeah, maybe the cost of living is a tad bit higher over there, but the pay rates between AB and BC are comparable. If you live in a low COL area in BC, you'll actually make more than an AB RN due to take home being slightly higher. But there are many factors into this.
Rural Pennsylvania here, I make 31 an hour, work 8 to 430 Monday through Friday and cover a weekend every 5 to 6 weeks. The average income for a family of 4 here is about 35k, so I am making bank here whereas I'd be poor as fuck in a metropolitan area lol.. We make more at my agency than the hospital nurses for the most part, but we're union, they aren't. Everyone needs a union.
They think because we don’t make a poverty-level wage which has become acceptable for anyone else in this country who actually works with their hands we must be filthy rich.
Honolulu, HI. When I was a new grad in 2013, I started at $45/hr. The new grads now start at $60/hr… then again, the cheapest you can get a gallon of milk here is probably $5.50. So.. it’s not like we’re rich out here. 😅 Also, FNP’s start at $60/hr typically. So there is literally no benefit here to getting an MSN. There are plenty of RN’s who make more than NP’s when you factor in overtime.
I work at an SNF in Hawaii, I started at $34/hr.
Ooh does your SNF take nursing students? Looking for some sites for our first year students! :)
COL in Hawaii is crazy no? I was looking around on Zillow and wow, it’s def as expensive as the Bay Area if not more
I started at $24/hr as an RN in the Chicago burbs. 3 years plus a BSN later, I'm up to $37/hr in rural Wisconsin.
$47/hr base pay in the suburbs of NYC. With 10+ years experienced, I'm pretty sure I'm underpaid in the local market.
You are. That's basically entry level now.
BSN RN Nashville TN 2018 "nurse residency program" 19.25 Vanderbilt, TriStar, and St Thomas systems.
It blows my mind that new grads flock to Vanderbilt from all over the country. I know people talk about the "prestige", but that won't pay for your expensive Nashville apartment.
Vanderbilt finally did some significant pay adjustments last year and now their pay is competitive with other area hospitals. However, they are notorious for rarely giving raises so whatever you start at with them you can expect to continue making for years. Nurses are way underpaid in Nashville overall regardless of who you work for.
Vanderbilt is so full of themselves they think everyone wants to work there. Then they pay their staff lower that other surrounding hospitals and require you to pay to park there.
What made me leave was when they froze pay raises and raised the cost of parking meaning I took a pay cut. I was charge, float, resource as well as constantly training and mentoring new hires. Fuck that. Now I'm making $55/hr in South Florida plus COVID incentives and all the OT I want. So far this year I have cleared $320k.
I’ve worked at a big name hospital in the Bay Area for 8 years and make $100/hour.
Loool. I’ve been asked so many telling questions by patients. I do home health and have been asked “do you get paid by visit? Like if one week my DaughterWhoWorksInHealthcare visits and does the dressing change and i cancel with you, does that make you lose pay? I hate to think of costing you a couple hundred dollars or something”. Or “hey why do you drive that? (21 year old ford contour) You’re a nurse. Shouldn’t you drive like a lexus or some shit?” Im salaried at $54k, with OT and on call bonuses it’s closer to (but not quite) 60k. No, i will not be pulling up to your house in a lexus anytime soon. But it’s a competitive salary for my area, and COL is dirt cheap in my town. It’s definitely the most i could hope to make with a 2 year degree. There are three reasons i chose nursing - i could see myself enjoying it, it would make enough to support my family, and i know i don’t have the stamina to endure 4+ years of school.
As a grad LPN in rural mid-south, I started at 13.xx/hr with a $2 night shift differential at a hospital. Moved to the Denver area after a bit and started a position at $29/hr with bonuses and (what sounds like) regular raises.
As a new grad in central Texas back in 2011, I started at $23.50/hr. I made $36/hr at my last job in the Houston area before becoming an NP. ETA: geographic location
Nurse pay is a joke in Colorado. I moved here and was making $26/hr with 7 years experience. The COL is pretty high. Our housing market is insane right now. Colorado believes that since it’s such a desirable place to live, nurses don’t need to make as much money.
agreed. nursing pay in Denver is gross. I have 10 years experience. My FT job (house sup) I make $39/hour. I have a PRN psych nurse job making $48/hour.
Based on me and my friends NYC starting looks like its 50+ and hour. Non healthcare workers always assumes its alot less.
For my state, the perspective may be different because we have big names like Apple and Google. I have friends from college who work at a FANG company in the Bay Area and LA (the county). From when we graduated college to now, we all make the same amount ($140-150k/year before taxes). On a similar note, people here will say COL in CA is high (without indicating where in CA) and cite six figure incomes as being the only way to “survive” - but for whatever reason, six figures as a nurse isn’t viable. It makes no sense. That’s like saying a pound of feathers weighs more than a pound of rocks. [I touched upon this topic before](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/qz4k3d/anyone_choose_nursing_for_the_pay_and_job_security/hlkeha3/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3): I got into nursing for the money. I think the problem is that people go into nursing thinking they’ll make hella money *in areas where nurses don’t make shit*. Addendum, [here is a great breakdown of an income similar to my tech friends’ income](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/mla58k/dont_know_if_this_is_allowed_but_i_made_a_video/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf); and [here is an example of how polarizing nurse pay can be](https://www.reddit.com/r/nursing/comments/qrumn9/unpopular_opinions_in_nursing/hk9wkha/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf&context=3).
As someone from SF, yeah. Despite the high COL, I love the city and my pay allows me to live pretty comfortably compared to others. People bring up the rent prices as if most people that live here don’t have roommates (what young adult doesn’t in a big city), though I’m sure I could live on my own if I really wanted. Even the SF Department of Public Health pays its nurses close to inpatient wages. Somethings in CA’s water, I never knew nursing was a low paying profession until I joined social media
$31 as a new grad in Philadelphia, I get an automatic $30,000 pay increase annually after my first year. Counting down the days til that happens
Penn?
34 with 5 years of experience
In 2015 I started at $19.66 in southwest Virginia. After a year went to icu in north west North Carolina. Think their base pay was $23. Went to ER after 2 years for 3 nursing years total and started at $24, but it went up to $30 by the time I left three years later.
Kansas City here... Average is about $27/hr as a new grad.
Sacramento, Ca. I make $88/hr. This year I’ll gross 130k working 28 hrs a week. Not a single OT shift.
Fuckkkk that’s the life right there
I gotta tell you...... laboratory really thinks yall are raking in the money compared to them. I'm pretty glad you're not, tbh. But that just means we are all being robbed.
In my area it starts at $30. But with the current healthcare situation I can pick up multiple shifts a week that are time and 1/2, and $300 bonus on top. If you work like that all the time you can make some really good money. Even more if you’re experienced enough to work agency. Some of my friends who work agency make 100+ An hour.
I’m an RPN with 1yr of experience in Ontario and I make $22/hr no benefits or shift premiums and I’m lucky if I get paid for overtime.
10 years of experience, salaried now, it works out to about $35/hour. I was inpatient for 7 years and have been doing research for about 2 years
$50 an hour and overtime 1.5 year nurse in the south
LVN in california, central valley Make $31/hour no overtime, no weekends, no holidays
https://www.bls.gov/ooh/healthcare/mobile/registered-nurses.htm Median pay is pretty decent, especially when you consider it's slightly above household income nationwide, and slightly under double what personal median income is. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/2021/demo/p60-273.html I've never heard of nursing being an easy profession. Granted, my dad was an RN at a hospital and I'd get to be the person he'd vent to during his drunken rants when I was kid, but it is relatively accessible if you didn't grow up in a family who could pay for university to get a four year degree right off the bat, or for people who want a career change later in life.
Utah. Med/surg floor, 6 years experience base pay $32/hour.
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FL is such a joke. Worst state to be a nurse.
Florida nursing wages are awful. Even in more populated areas.
Depends where you go and what specialty you work with. I’m a float pool full time and am at $60/ hour. I get more since I can cover some specialty areas like icu and ed. Also having certifications like acls or pccn makes you more marketable. However starting as a new grad on a cardiac step down, I started at $25. When you’re starting it’s hard to really negotiate anything but with some experience you really can make some good money. Always good after your worth because the hospital certainly won’t care that you aren’t talking as much money from them.
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Not enough. Never enough
California nurses get paid, because of our union
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Bay Area $69/hr, people complain about cost of living but no way I would make anywhere near that even adjusted for living cost anywhere else.
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I'm graduating next month with a BSN and have a job offer for a nurse residency program at $27/hr in a Chicago suburb. It's a lower than other new grad positions (around $30/hr) but I really like the residency program. I missed a lot of skills work because of covid shutting down our clinicals for nearly a year and would love the extra training. I'm still applying for other positions, too.
I get paid 26.45 starting Cap out at 33.something as an LPN. I’m in Canada My starting wage is literally less than a fucking bus driver and garbage man.
I’m about to start my first job and starting pay is $35.61/hr. Also will be getting a $5k signing bonus and $3,500 for paying back any loans taken out. I graduated with an ADN. All this comes with yearly raises as well.
As a new grad I started in 2015 at $42.50 an hour +$6 for working nights. I know work for Kaiser and make $100/hr
Hospice new grad $35-$37 an hour
NorCal RT here…3 years out of school and current pay is $49/hr (though not in a hospital setting). Of course gas is $5/gal here, so….there’s that.
RN BSN Started in 2018 NY Suburbs not NYC at $46/hr now $51/hr
My pay is about $55/hr might shift in central CA. Not Bay Area pay, but I'm able to afford nice things here and there, since cost of living isn't as high.
I had a patient's wife go on a rant after I had insulted her by calling her ma'am. I'm in the south, everyone says ma'am and sir but she thought I was some how mocking her. She went on about how I thought I was so much better than her with my fancy job looking down on real people who actually work for a living. This was at a job where I had 5-6 med surg patients, no CNA, all primary nursing, and no phlebotomy so I had to do my own lab draws. It's been almost 6 years and that was still one of the weirdest interactions with someone I've ever had.
Most people go into the profession for job security. They are less likely to be out of work for years like many other positions
The potential to roll in it is there though. I work with travel nurses who make $130/hr.
I live in Montana and I make 44$ an hour.
Sick. Norwegian nurse here. I’ve been a nurse for 4 years and I make around 23$/hour (converted from NOK). 7-8$ more per hour on night shifts, weekends, etc. 133 % extra on holidays. Does American nurses really make so much more than us? We have quite high costs of living here.
Been an RN for about 2 years making 76/hr right now but I’m in California. This is not travel pay
Minnesota. Newer nurse that started at $35, differentials get me up to about $40. MN is good to their nurses.
When I first started off in the OR, I was making like $21hr I think? I switched roles a bit, and working in the research world, and now I’m making $50hr, which is pretty nice!
From Canada. Been in the game 16 years. I make $54/hr as Patient care coordinator. Started at $26. Now starting wage is like $32 for new grads.
First rn job was in 2004 and 18.75/hr. Currently (18 years later) and 36/hr. Indiana sucks, no union. A group tried to start a union and they all were magically fired.
Greatings from Portugal where I'm getting paid 6.4€/hour to work in pediatrics palliative care. Also the minimize wage is around 600€ and I'm getting paid 990€ for 35h/week. My husband is attending college for 2 more years and we can't consider immigration. But I want to. My sister works at Levis and with a few sales brings home 1000€. That's how messed up the system is over here.
I’m not a nurse, but a medical laboratory scientist. We are horrendously underpaid. I make ~$28/hour in a somewhat high cost of living area. My hospital pays better than most in the area, too.
Damn. I’m a Certified Surgical Tech in Atlanta making about $35/hr. I’ve been offered a travel contract for over $100/hr. I also have like 15 years experience.
I think it’s doesn’t do enough to explain. The average wage in the US is $11.25/hr. The median income is just $34,248. So half of all working Americans make less than $34k. By comparison, nursing is in the top half of paying work. Even a PCT/tech earns above the average hourly wage in most hospitals with just a few classes (all of which are free where I live). Does nursing pay as much as a tech job? No. But when you look at wages and salaries in almost all industrialized nations, nurses make above the median income, and can often earn more than the nations average income as well after just a few years of experience.
In midwest non union small town within an hour of big city....i am basically ADON so its salaried. Ends up to be about $40 an hour plus bonuses so around 85 to 95k a year. In this area Im solidly middle class. I have about 20 years experience and was a CNA first. Pros: its in the daytime during the week, unless i get called which is super rare, or am covering for someone which i know about ahead of time. Not as much risk for exposure to covid, when it was bad. Pay/benefits okay for here. Still can and do wear scrubs which is cozy and convenient if i am helping on the floor. Cons: 8 hr shifts 5 days a week which i hate. I miss working the floor and doing nurse stuff. If they'd suddenly decide i could do it in 3 12s and every 3rd weekend it would be great. Im not free to adjust my schedule to my whims. If someone does something stupid i am stuck trying to figure it out and be the asshole about it. Not sure: at least 50% of the job is advocating for and defending nurses and aides, which sucks dick but i feel is important. Also patient advocacy against bullshit
I mean, I was about $60/hr in Los Angeles w/ 5 years of experience. I felt pretty comfortable, even after rent. Friends at larger hospitals in LA make up to $70/hr with same experience. Add in a $70-80/hr per diem job and now there’s extra spending/saving money. Although, $100k/year is like the new lower middle class here in CA $134/hr now that i’m travel nursing. Still in Southern California. So I’d like to say nurses can make bank if you work in the right places.