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Just thought I would add my two cents for the original OP and others. I moved from New England and have been offered an interview (and if I scheduled it, the position too) at every hospital I applied--pretty much every hospital in the area. I only have one year experience and have an associates degree-I will graduate with my BSN in two semesters. I found that a regular full time position pays less here than up North. However, with so much flexibility and with the need EVERYWHERE, so can usually choose other options such as PRN/Per Diem or Flex/Float positions which offer SIGNIFICANTLY more money than I ever made up North.
I find the hospitals down here to be a little further behind than what I am used to and a little harder work (I must have been spoiled at my previous job), but I work 12 hour shifts and love having more days off with my family. I basically work longer, harder days, but less of them and make a lot more money. It's worth it to me. Oh, and I still LOVE my job!
It's a great profession
Maybe, but all I have tried to speak only to 'my' experience in nursing, but I could have invested the same time and money in education and made about 90,000 as an engineer... That is what my ex-husband made with the same education (Bachelor's degree), and his medical insurance was better and less expensive than mine when we were married.... I am looking at my check stub right now, and I brought home a whopping $1195.28 for six weekend nights. Yes I have retirement taken out, but that is to prevent the government (and you) from having to take care of my butt when I am too old to move 200 lb people around in bed anymore...
I am not trying to dissuade anyone from becoming a nurse, my 21 year old daughter is in school to become a BSN, but Mr. Stark does not seem to have a realistic grasp on what is means. I personally think he SHOULD go through school, become an RN, and tell us how it is going in about three years...
Maybe, but all I have tried to speak only to 'my' experience in nursing, but I could have invested the same time and money in education and made about 90,000 as an engineer... That is what my ex-husband made with the same education (Bachelor's degree), and his medical insurance was better and less expensive than mine when we were married.... I am looking at my check stub right now, and I brought home a whopping $1195.28 for six weekend nights. Yes I have retirement taken out, but that is to prevent the government (and you) from having to take care of my butt when I am too old to move 200 lb people around in bed anymore...
I am not trying to dissuade anyone from becoming a nurse, my 21 year old daughter is in school to become a BSN, but Mr. Stark does not seem to have a realistic grasp on what is means. I personally think he SHOULD go through school, become an RN, and tell us how it is going in about three years...
Honestly, you probably are a great person and mother, but I've never seen anyone complain about a job as much as you have in your posts in this thread. If you feel you are so overworked and underpaid then quit and go somewhere else. Just the fact that you are a working professional and don't even know what the fair market value is for someone in your profession, or what the average American family brings in says enough as it is. If you only bring in $1195 every 2 weeks you are either putting a ton in retirement or you are not really making the salary you claim. That only comes out to $28,000 a year gross. You can't be bringing in $2390 a month on a 75k a year income. For every negative comment you make, I hear 5 resembling what WeLoveNC has to say. If I decide to do this I'll bring up this thread from the dead in a couple years.
Quote:
but when people say the pay is "great", I beg to differ. If I had invested five years and all that money in another profession, I would have been paid a lot more in the last 6 years than I have been, and would not have had to work as hard.
The average engineer makes $53k out of college for 4 years and then $66k after 5-9 years. You wouldn't be making any more money being an engineer than you are being an RN now. You certainly wouldn't be working 3 days a week. Now engineering is an easy job as well?
Just another perspective. My wife got into UNC's program which is ranked up high after just one year as an RN. I don't know any of her friends that started under 70k out of school. One is making 85k right out of school. This is salary. If you bill it could be higher.
So I guess there is a wide range of salary.
You are absolutely correct. The 60K figure is the very low end for starting NPs down here. I've met a few NPs and PAs making in the low 60s. I applied for and was offered several positions when I first moved here. I've been an NP for over 10 years....offers were for a low of $84 to a high of 90K. I would say that most of the NPs I've met down here are making in the 70's-80's. And yes, being able to bill would certainly give one more leverage to ask for a higher salary. As far as experience required for admission to school, I mentioned what was required for most schools in the Boston area (where I went). I work with a nurse who is in school at Duke and has only been an RN for about 1 1/2 years.
For Tony Stark - take some of the info you've been given with a grain of salt. The one person who stated they had "never wiped anyone's butt, that there were CNAs for that" is sadly mistaken. In my over 25 years as an RN - I wiped up a lot more than butts...
For the person who you quoted as saying that they never needed to go to the Dr. because the Drs they worked wrote all of their prescriptions - hmmmm....doesn't sound too kosher too me. I would never do this nor would anyone ethical.
And the nurse who mentioned that "nursing school was just as competitve if not more so than medical school"...absolutely false. Yes, nurses are educated but it is not medical school. No comparison. As an NP, I think I do a great job. Came into this with 25 years of experience in critical care, ER, oncology. Managed an ER etc but I am not a physician wanna-be.
Yes, men are the minority in nursing but well accepted. My DH loves it. Also not the profession to enter to meet "hot chicks". It's the profession to enter because you want to work with people and make a difference. The job security is a definite plus.
Honestly, you probably are a great person and mother, but I've never seen anyone complain about a job as much as you have in your posts in this thread. If you feel you are so overworked and underpaid then quit and go somewhere else. Just the fact that you are a working professional and don't even know what the fair market value is for someone in your profession, or what the average American family brings in says enough as it is. If you only bring in $1195 every 2 weeks you are either putting a ton in retirement or you are not really making the salary you claim. That only comes out to $28,000 a year gross. You can't be bringing in $2390 a month on a 75k a year income. For every negative comment you make, I hear 5 resembling what WeLoveNC has to say. If I decide to do this I'll bring up this thread from the dead in a couple years.
The average engineer makes $53k out of college for 4 years and then $66k after 5-9 years. You wouldn't be making any more money being an engineer than you are being an RN now. You certainly wouldn't be working 3 days a week. Now engineering is an easy job as well?
I think it is time for me to throw in the towel here, I don't feel that my posts said I 'hated my job', I was simply trying to let you understand that it is not the 'easy money' some people think it is... Again, I can only speak from experience, but my husband (at the time) made about 90,000 gross in a job that was extremely stressful... BUT with built in safeguards to prevent fatal mistakes, and he could do it until he was dead... No he didn't work three days a week, he worked 5 eight hour shifts, but he also NEVER worked a night or a weekend, got paid for holidays he didn't work, and his back didn't hurt at the end of the day. I will never be management (I am the hands-on type), and I know that I will not be able to do the work THAT I DO LOVE for the rest of my days... I went to school with a nurse who was in a wheelchair, paraplegic, after injuring herself moving a patient. She was going back for her BSN in an attempt to go into management. I have back pain, as I would bet most Nurses, CNAs etc do, and short of moving to a clinic, I will continue to use my back as long as it lets me...
Good luck, and I do think it is the right profession for someone who wants to make things better for others when they aren't feeling so good, but for 'easy money', I still think it is the wrong career path... I would like to meet the guy who has never wiped a butt though, I bet his co-workers (a.k.a 'teammates) just love him....
I think it is time for me to throw in the towel here, I don't feel that my posts said I 'hated my job', I was simply trying to let you understand that it is not the 'easy money' some people think it is... Again, I can only speak from experience, but my husband (at the time) made about 90,000 gross in a job that was extremely stressful... BUT with built in safeguards to prevent fatal mistakes, and he could do it until he was dead... No he didn't work three days a week, he worked 5 eight hour shifts, but he also NEVER worked a night or a weekend, got paid for holidays he didn't work, and his back didn't hurt at the end of the day. I will never be management (I am the hands-on type), and I know that I will not be able to do the work THAT I DO LOVE for the rest of my days... I went to school with a nurse who was in a wheelchair, paraplegic, after injuring herself moving a patient. She was going back for her BSN in an attempt to go into management. I have back pain, as I would bet most Nurses, CNAs etc do, and short of moving to a clinic, I will continue to use my back as long as it lets me...
Good luck, and I do think it is the right profession for someone who wants to make things better for others when they aren't feeling so good, but for 'easy money', I still think it is the wrong career path... I would like to meet the guy who has never wiped a butt though, I bet his co-workers (a.k.a 'teammates) just love him....
Fair enough, do you have your associates RN or BSN? If you had your BSN do you think you would be more likely to want to move into a management position? From what you have seen, do most RNs try to move up to management or go for advanced degrees quickly, or are most happy just providing care such as yourself? If given the opportunity, I would probably try to move into advanced positions at sometime in my career, but that's just how I am. I would probably become stagnent doing the same thing everyday for the rest of my life.
As for the whole management thing, do they just oversee the hospital or wing you are on? Do they still do the hands on patient stuff or is it more paperwork/planning/meetings? What would be the average salary of someone in that position?
DISCLAIMER:
Please keep in mind these are strictly from MY perspective... not intended to represent the entire nursing population of NC, the country, or the world. Even my hospital or department.... did I miss anyone???
1: Fair enough, do you have your associates RN or BSN?
answer: BSN
2: If you had your BSN do you think you would be more likely to want to move into a management position? From what you have seen, do most RNs try to move up to management
answer: No, most RNs seem to stay at the bedside
3: or go for advanced degrees quickly,
answer: Many stay at the bedside because it is expensive to pay for school, and difficult to work while in school....
4: or are most happy just providing care such as yourself?
answer: I believe so...
5: If given the opportunity, I would probably try to move into advanced positions at sometime in my career, but that's just how I am. I would probably become stagnent doing the same thing everyday for the rest of my life.
comment (not to be confused with an answer, as a question was not really asked...) That is the nice thing about nursing, you don't have to do the same thing everyday for the rest of your life, there are many areas of nursing that don't involve management...
6: As for the whole management thing, do they just oversee the hospital or wing you are on? Do they still do the hands on patient stuff or is it more paperwork/planning/meetings?
answer: In my experience, they do no (or very little) hands on stuff in management...
7: What would be the average salary of someone in that position?
answer: I have no idea, sorry. From my perspective, they put up with a lot of grief from all sides (upper mgmt and nurses, CNAs patients, families, etc), and it wouldn't be worth it to me.... I like patient care, and I know that my managers feel like their hands are tied at times, and can't seem to make anyone happy.... Not the job for me (I like making people happy )
Last edited by TraumanurseNC; 01-01-2009 at 03:29 AM..
Reason: oops....
answer: Many stay at the bedside because it is expensive to pay for school, and difficult to work while in school....
But is it really that expensive? There are so many scholarships/grants/loans out there to take care of that. Even if you take out all loans, you should be able to pay them off in a year or 2 pretty easily with your increased salary..
Everyone's situation is so different. For a bachelor(ette) or someone with little debt or expenses then it should be doable. I am just guessing that many nurses have family members who are dependent on them. Some have another spouse to help pick up the slack, some don't. Add credit card debt, mortgage, prior student loans, yadda yadda it begins to get harder to afford additional education.
Tony - I wouldn't worry so much about salary and what you can do after getting your RN until you find out if you like nursing. You might try volunteering at a hospital for a bit to see how you like it.
I started out with my BSN in the 70s and there was a nursing shortage then and I think there always will be.
Nursing is a great field to work in in and of itself or as a jumping point for other careers. I got my MSN and taught college-level nursing for two years and then got my PhD in public health. I can't even remember my salaries for those jobs so long ago. I didn't do it for the money. But I was able to work part-time as a nurse while in grad school which was great.
I am now at 100k a year and nursing got me started to where I am today. I don't practice now but all of those years at the bedside still helps me in my current position.
I think of going back to teaching part-time after I retire - I loved teaching and there is certainly a need.
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White flag.... I surrender...
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