I'm just wondering if any one can tell me what their starting pay rates were right after graduating from nursing school. Could you also tell me the city, and state you work in so I can account for different costs of living. Thanks, I'm trying to decide where to apply for my first REAL job... YEAH!!! =] Thanks so much!!!
2006-10-05 19:44:24 · 8 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ General Health Care ➔ Other - General Health Care
Wow, just found out that nurses starting pay in LAS VEGAS, NV is a whopping $45 per hour!!! Holy crap! I'm moving to Las Vegas....
2006-10-05 20:02:51 · update #1
Larger cities and metropolitan areas generally offer the highest salaries, as do the hospitals with a larger bed size. The Northeast usually has the highest salaries, again especially around the larger cities. I would say that the salary range is somewhere between $40,000 and up to $80,000/yr or greater depending on the type of nursing you do, where you do it, certifications, advanced education (nurse practitioner, specialist, etc).
I would definitely not accept anything lower than $20/hr.....preferably a bit higher. You most certainly can make more money working for an agency or as a traveling nurse but I don't know if they higher new nurses.
My advice would be to obtain a hospital position on a general medical-surgical unit to gain a good baseline of experience and to utilize the skills you have just learned. It helps with developing prioritization and critical thinking skills which are paramount to any area of nursing you might want to go into or if you want to stay on med-surg. That's probably not a popular thought these days as some hospitals do accept new grads into critical units, ED etc. While some new nurses do fine I've seen many more who are too overwhelmed in these areas ( you really need to be able to act/think independently and quickly) because of lack of experience. There is so much to know and learn and situations that you will never find in an academic text or hear about in a lecture......but can only gain through experience. In addition to that there is a learning curve in dealing with physicians and this is often difficult for new nurses (as well as older ones!). It's hard to be assertive and a patient advocate when you're not familiar with what's going on. Med-surg gives you that.
Well this is obviously more than you asked for!!
So, as I said before, don't accept anything under $20. That's just ridiculous. I live in the Northeast (Mass.) and you would definitely be starting out over $20. And I don't live in or near Boston!
And of course with the nursing shortage (the need for nurses is continuing to grow) I'm sure there will be plenty of opportunities for overtime and some good deals that employers offer.
That $45 in Vegas........is that for agency nurse?? I find it hard to believe that would be a starting salary for a new grad.
You can check out salary.com for more info. (although I find that the salaries they have listed are generally on the lower side). There's a section that is free and one for a fee. You can also check out allnurses.com. Good info there. It's a nursing forum with sections for all types of nursing including new grads. You can ask about salaries there and I'm sure there are probably postings about it already.
Good luck!
2006-10-06 05:03:53 · answer #1 · answered by libria 2 · 1⤊ 1⤋
Here in Canada the starting rate for a nurse is $23 and the top of the pay scale as a staff nurse is around $35
I would relook at Vegas, I think you were looking at travel nursing which I WOULD NOT suggest doing as a new nurse out of school, My husband wants to move to Vegas, so I know that the rates are not that high for a new grad, but good luck!
2006-10-09 14:19:32 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Oh, I would definitely look at the cost of living there too hun. There's no way las vegas is cheap. I started at $19 per hour in Elmira, NY. Not a big city at all, and I'm sure cost of living here is WAY cheaper than las vegas. but continue your research and congratulations.
2006-10-06 11:30:36 · answer #3 · answered by RN806 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
In the Columbus, Ohio area you should expect around 16-22 an hour depending!
2006-10-06 02:46:27 · answer #4 · answered by sammy 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
12 to 14 per hour
2006-10-06 02:45:37 · answer #5 · answered by blr931 6 · 0⤊ 2⤋
this link will give you an idea about nurses pay (federal jobs mostly)
http://www.idohealthcare.com/index.php?action=quick_search&page=quick_search&template_used=quick_search_secondary&keywords=nurse&industry=&country=United+States&state=&city=&x=0&y=0
2006-10-07 00:15:39 · answer #6 · answered by TheGuru 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
TOPEKA OR KANSAS CITY, KANSAS
$19.00- $24.00 STARTING RN PAY
2006-10-06 03:39:28 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 0⤋
10 cents an hour
2006-10-06 02:45:34 · answer #8 · answered by tony r 4 · 0⤊ 5⤋