RN Salary NEPA (Scranton, Wilkes-Barre, Stroudsburg: 2013, college, calculated)

[sues1]

Originally Posted by odessa3

Home health is fine if the patients are close together- otherwise, mileage, gas prices, and wear and tear on the car must be considered, and there are always runs to a lab or to pick up supplies to add to the mileage tab. I did home health for 12 years, and the driving did get tiresome. I have 29 years experience as an RN and currently have an administrative position in a nursing home. I make $26/hr, which IS a good chunk of change, but quite low, I feel, for all those years of experience.

It is low, RN's in Jersey make alot more. Nurses deserve every bit they make, which should be more than $26 an hour after almost 30 yrs of experience. I have a friend who is an LPN, she's been a nurse for over 30 yrs, she's doing home health and she's making 24.00 an hour.

[MatildaLoo]

That sounds like it's on the low end of the spectrum. My sister-in-law makes $75k (allegedly; she's a pathological liar so who really knows) working as a surgical nurse.

Also, LPNs are lower than RNs, so they'll get paid a lot less, especially doing home health.

[fisheye]

Originally Posted by MatildaLoo

That sounds like it's on the low end of the spectrum. My sister-in-law makes $75k (allegedly; she's a pathological liar so who really knows) working as a surgical nurse.

Also, LPNs are lower than RNs, so they'll get paid a lot less, especially doing home health.

I know a man that was just offered a job (probably an LPN?) at a nursing home down in Northampton County. He claims that it starts off at $21K. But it pays double time for any overtime and has full benefits – something the temporary jobs are not offering. He is new to the field and he figures he has to start someplace.

I know another man that has medical training and has been offered an internship in an L.I. hospital. Of course the job would be long hours, no pay, and the cost of the commute. But; the promise of the big buck in the future.

One other man I know has just been offered a position as a teacher in PV starting at $15K. Of course he just wants to get his foot in the door and will be expecting more in the future.

I don't know if they are telling the truth about their job offers? But it does sound right considering the the times. It does not make it easy to pay back student loans quickly.

[thecoalman]

My Mother was a RN and making decent money but she was there for 30 years. I know at one point in the 90's she was considering working in Philly. They were offering more for just for the weekend, like a Saturday and Sunday 12 hour shift.Financially it was worth it but she didn't want to do the 2 hour commute

[theatergypsy]

Originally Posted by thecoalman

My Mother was a RN and making decent money but she was there for 30 years. I know at one point in the 90's she was considering working in Philly. They were offering more for just for the weekend, like a Saturday and Sunday 12 hour shift.Financially it was worth it but she didn't want to do the 2 hour commute

I have an acquaintance who works a long week-end shift twice a month in a suburban Philadelphia hospital. She tells me that she makes more than a full week here in a local hospital. She can do this because her hubs is off work on the weekend and he's able to be home with their boys.

Bear in mind, this is not for newly-graduated nurses. These hospitals are looking for very experienced RNs who can work with minimal supervision.

[bloominscranton]

Originally Posted by MatildaLoo

That sounds like it's on the low end of the spectrum. My sister-in-law makes $75k (allegedly; she's a pathological liar so who really knows) working as a surgical nurse.

Also, LPNs are lower than RNs, so they'll get paid a lot less, especially doing home health.

LOl...so you have one of those sil's too? Any who for a well seasoned surgical nurse I can see her making this.

[thecoalman]

Little bit off topic but I alos had an Aunt that was nurse, graduated from WB General in around 192? and eventually was a nursing supervisor at some hospital in Philly. This was her graduation cape, it's from 1923. There is a museum at Misrecordia and that's where it's going, actually had an appointment to deliver it the one day and forgot about it. This topic actually reminded me about it.

[MatildaLoo]

Originally Posted by fisheye

I know a man that was just offered a job (probably an LPN?) at a nursing home down in Northampton County. He claims that it starts off at $21K. But it pays double time for any overtime and has full benefits – something the temporary jobs are not offering. He is new to the field and he figures he has to start someplace.

I know another man that has medical training and has been offered an internship in an L.I. hospital. Of course the job would be long hours, no pay, and the cost of the commute. But; the promise of the big buck in the future.

One other man I know has just been offered a position as a teacher in PV starting at $15K. Of course he just wants to get his foot in the door and will be expecting more in the future.

I don't know if they are telling the truth about their job offers? But it does sound right considering the the times. It does not make it easy to pay back student loans quickly.

PV meaning Panther Valley or Pleasant Valley. Both pay extremely low, but teachers there start at around $30-32k. He might be part-time, or a sub or something.

Anyway, back on topic: according to Indeed, RNs in Scranton are paid 20 percent lower than the national average.

RN Salary in Scranton, PA | Indeed.com

One would think geriatric nursing would pay more, considering the large grey population in the region, but they average at about $66k too. I have a friend who works in customer service at PPL who makes almost that much.

[tskstorm]

Thanks for all the responses. My wife might have a small leg up on getting into an ER, or ICU, as she has been a Paramedic almost 10 years and as of tomorrow will be working at PMC as an ER Tech until she finishes school. I'm also hoping she can get some good concrete salary information from them, and I will definitely share it here with everyone if you are interested. The ER tech position is only 21K a year

[SorryIMovedBack]

Originally Posted by tskstorm

My wife is about to finish her Nursing Degree, and besides generic searches on salary.com we are having a hard time getting concrete information on RN salaries. What kind of salary is she looking at? We had done a lot of salary research prior to moving to NEPA but now find ourselves without information.

Thanks.

The person at the county's PA CareerLink (unemployment office) that handles TRA/TAA and WIA retraining clients certainly has at least the entry-level and 1-2 year experience RN salaries for all of the local grads that used Trade Act or WIA money to retrain. They track people who used government money to retrain, and how many found jobs, and what their quarterly and annual average salaries are. The Training Provider list online used to show that data for every nursing school (or other school) that is on the Trade Act or WIA approved training provider list for Pennsylvania, but I think maybe they no longer show that stuff to the public. WIA is Workforce Investment Act.

You could try calling them and asking what is the average new-grad salary of the area's R.N. employers. Generally, it's easiest for a new-grad to find the first R.N. job with one of the places where they did their clinicals, or with some facility in the vicinity that is familiar with whatever nursing program she's in and likes the kind of nurses it turns out. As opposed to moving someplace that is unfamiliar with her and/or her school.

You can also ask at allnurses forum.

State avg for all RNs in PA back in 2009-2001 was $63,000 - $64,000/ yr. LPNs averaged $40,000/year. There are some nursing homes and LTC facilites that do pay LPNs $18-$21/hr, in the Pittsburgh area. There may be some over there, too. In PA, a RN can work as LPN or CNA, or so I was told by the director of a NW PA vo-tech LPN program, back in 2009. (hehe -- She then asked "But why would you do that?" Always the realist, I answered "In case I can't find a R.N. job when I finish." But I quit RN school after 12 mos of the 24 mo diploma school program.)