Careers? Any RN's?

[Scoot]

If you're not locked into an area geographically, look at travel nurse positions. The money those folks are making is ridiculous. Lots of very good paying jobs in nursing. But, as others have said, plenty of stress in that position too.

 

[Ferrulewax]

As an idea for pay, I’m staff Med surg in GA. I make somewhere around 40/hr. Here ICU and ER get about a 3-5$/hr bump (in my system)

Our local travelers seem to make something like 60-70/hr but that has no benefits, PTO, retirement, etc.

One unfortunate truth of nursing is that really the only way to get a significant raise is to leave your medical system. My base rate (3 year’s experience) is the same as new grads coming in. If I were willing to go somewhere else I would probably be able to make 20-30+% more, and at one time a 15k sign on bonus too. But that is at a facility with 6+ patients a nurse.

Proximity to a large urban area will also mean more money, nursing friends in South AL are making like 30$ to my 40$ but cost of living is much lower. Also- don’t even take CA nursing rates into account unless you plan to work there. They tend to be significantly higher than the rest of the country.

 

[Zak406]

I have my rn (passed nclex) but have never practiced. I currently work in the business world I went back to ensure if I was ever laid off I had options.

I would not be opposed to working a rn gig working from home if anyone has any info on that please pm me.

I enjoyed school and actually miss it. Quickest 2 years of my life.

 

[Ferrulewax]

I have my rn (passed nclex) but have never practiced. I currently work in the business world I went back to ensure if I was ever laid off I had options.

I would not be opposed to working a rn gig working from home if anyone has any info on that please pm me.

I enjoyed school and actually miss it. Quickest 2 years of my life.

Count me in. If anyone has a stay at home RN gig shoot me some info too!

 

[4090Sharps]

As an idea for pay, I’m staff Med surg in GA. I make somewhere around 40/hr. Here ICU and ER get about a 3-5$/hr bump (in my system)

Our local travelers seem to make something like 60-70/hr but that has no benefits, PTO, retirement, etc.

One unfortunate truth of nursing is that really the only way to get a significant raise is to leave your medical system. My base rate (3 year’s experience) is the same as new grads coming in. If I were willing to go somewhere else I would probably be able to make 20-30+% more, and at one time a 15k sign on bonus too. But that is at a facility with 6+ patients a nurse.

Proximity to a large urban area will also mean more money, nursing friends in South AL are making like 30$ to my 40$ but cost of living is much lower. Also- don’t even take CA nursing rates into account unless you plan to work there. They tend to be significantly higher than the rest of the country.

Great take here. I have multiple RNs in my family, including one in my home. Another note on travel nursing is that your housing costs will/should be paid for, so that helps out a lot.

From what I've seen, get as much critical care (ICU/ER/etc) as you can early, and you will be more in demand, have more options. With some of that experience under your belt, you could move into some real money (doing something like CRNA), or real flexibility (doing a remote deskjob like case management or utilization review).

 

[bnsafe]

As a director I'm gonna make a educated guess here on traveling, an I travel as a director.
Pay is gonna start decreasing.
It went thru the roof during covid an everyone an their cousin jumped on it. But it's not sustainable an as pay gets reduced, I've seen rates go down already, more nurses will choose to just stay home which will further drive down pay for everyone.
Now, I could be wrong. There is supposed to be a 600000 nurse shortage now an they estimate triple that in 6 years. At least that's the info from the conference I went to.
Time will tell. But like I said earlier, know it comes at a cost both physically an mentally. Anyone saying or thinking different doesn't do it. I can tell you stories that haunt me, every nurse can if they have done it long enough.
I forgot to add, your not gonna make 200000 a year unless you live in certain places an even then those jobs are hard to come by so don't think that's realistic when you decide. My wife an I are both directors and we make 100 to 125 a year an have 30 years in. Yes some might make 200 but that would be big city poss ca an working a ton ot ot. Is that really what you want in life.

 

[lyingflatlander]

R.N. for 27 years and a CRNA for 20 of them. Wouldn’t think about doing anything else. Built custom homes during the summers back in college and have to remind myself of that fact when the job gets frustrating. Healthcare in this country is on a wild ride that isn’t going to change anytime soon.

 

[timekiller13]

As an idea for pay, I’m staff Med surg in GA. I make somewhere around 40/hr. Here ICU and ER get about a 3-5$/hr bump (in my system)

Our local travelers seem to make something like 60-70/hr but that has no benefits, PTO, retirement, etc.

One unfortunate truth of nursing is that really the only way to get a significant raise is to leave your medical system. My base rate (3 year’s experience) is the same as new grads coming in. If I were willing to go somewhere else I would probably be able to make 20-30+% more, and at one time a 15k sign on bonus too. But that is at a facility with 6+ patients a nurse.

Proximity to a large urban area will also mean more money, nursing friends in South AL are making like 30$ to my 40$ but cost of living is much lower. Also- don’t even take CA nursing rates into account unless you plan to work there. They tend to be significantly higher than the rest of the country.

Yes, you have to leave your base health system.

It took me 8 yrs to figure that out. I just left the hospital I started at as a new grad. Lateral move, just moved to a new system and got an immediate 30% pay raise.

 

[Forestryguy]

Nurses coming out of school now are not getting properly trained. There is no emphasis on critical thinking any longer. It’s task completion and that’s it. Critical thinking is an essential part of nursing. I can teach a monkey to pass out meds and click buttons on a computer.

I think the critical think aspect sill start to get better if the nursing school is good. It is a bigger portion of the NCLEX now.

Nephew is a recent RN grad and now 2 years into working. He is enjoying it and has a hospital that knows it needs to be competitive to keep good workers. He works 3 days a week and has to work some weekends, but overall quite flexible.
make sure you get a BS if you get your RN. The industry is moving to have a BS as a minimum entry requirement. I have talked to an older nurse who was being pushed out of a 20+ year position as she did not have a BS. Btw she loved the job.

With the shortage of nurses I am not hearing of a big push for BSN anymore. They just need bodies that can do the job, not everyone can be a manger. I am in a BN program now and the number of people applying to get in has been going down since 2020, from what they are telling us.

 

[Ferrulewax]

Yes, you have to leave your base health system.

It took me 8 yrs to figure that out. I just left the hospital I started at as a new grad. Lateral move, just moved to a new system and got an immediate 30% pay raise.

Issue is that all the other local systems absolutely suck.

 

[RS3579]

If you decide to go the nursing route. Don’t work M-F. It defeats the purpose of being a nurse.

 

[Ferrulewax]

I think the critical think aspect sill start to get better if the nursing school is good. It is a bigger portion of the NCLEX now.

With the shortage of nurses I am not hearing of a big push for BSN anymore. They just need bodies that can do the job, not everyone can be a manger. I am in a BN program now and the number of people applying to get in has been going down since 2020, from what they are telling us.

I will agree, at my hospital a BSN is absolutely useless. Honestly hospitals could care less where you went to school or what your degree is, as long as you have a nursing license and a pulse. (And some of these nurses barely have those). I don’t make anything more than the ASNs- and the asn bsn bridge programs are super easy. If you are set on crna or np then might as well go ahead and bsn but otherwise their is no reason not to get an ASN and start working first.

 

[Forestryguy]

As one of my recent instructors put it, don't plan to be loyal to anyone system. They are all trying to cut budgets. A system near me just cut all 401K contributions and retirements. The upper brass took a 10-15% pay cut. Earlier this year they laid off 3% across the board. But they are paying a new grad the same as someone with 6-8 years experience.

 

[Forestryguy]

I will agree, at my hospital a BSN is absolutely useless. I don’t make anything more than the ASNs- and the asn bsn bridge programs are super easy. If you are set on crna or no then might as well go ahead and bsn but otherwise their is no reason not to get an ASN and start working first.

This is pretty much what I have decided to do. I should graduate with my ASN next spring. Im going to apply for a CCRN residency program here soon. That will be a 9 month program that will get me 2 yrs of experience of on the job training. There is no contracts to stay after completing it. I will work on my BSN over a few years, just to have incase I decide to go to management or a specialty.

 

[Shawn Hultquist]

Go get it and enjoy the career. I wish I had. I stopped at fire lieutenant and medic. I debated on bridging to Rn and never did it. Now in my 28 year I guess it’s all worked out


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[Roger17]

My son is 24 and an RN. He graduated last Dec. He works as a scrub nurse in the OR and loves the operating room, especially being involved with the surgery and not just circulating. He's doing his BSN one class per semester while working and plans to do a first assist program after his two years required experience. He loves the OR environment. Some CRNAs have tried to talk him into that path, but it's not what interests him. His buddy and roommate is working cardiac ICU with an eye on CRNA school. I think nursing is a great path, especially if you intend to specialize in something like CRNA down the road. The money is also really good. 80-90k in a rural hospital isnt a bad first year number. Of course if you get to CRNA, that triples or more. I think you probably see more burnout in floor and er nurses, but that's just anecdotal observation.

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[timekiller13]

Issue is that all the other local systems absolutely suck.

They all suck. Healthcare is a shit show.

It’s just what degree of suck are you willing to put up with and for how much money.

For $25k more per year doing the exact same job, I can put up with a lot suck.

 

[Ferrulewax]

They all suck. Healthcare is a shit show.

It’s just what degree of suck are you willing to put up with and for how much money.

For $25k more per year doing the exact same job, I can put up with a lot suck.

Surprisingly, not my current hospital (or at least it doesn’t suck too bad). 75% of the time I have 4 patients. Techs have 8. Good charges, IV team, wound care, ekg techs. It’s hard for me to want to jump ship into some of the crap at other places.

 

[timekiller13]

Surprisingly, not my current hospital (or at least it doesn’t suck too bad). 75% of the time I have 4 patients. Techs have 8. Good charges, IV team, wound care, ekg techs. It’s hard for me to want to jump ship into some of the crap at other places.

Your job takes up 36 hours per week of your life.

It doesn’t matter how shitty it is, it’s only 36 hours. Go to the one that pays more.

 

[bowhuntercoop]

My wife is a crna. Was an rn for a few years then went back to school. She says every day she could never go back to bedside and icu nursing compared to anesthesia.

We have numerous traveling crna friends that are making upper 6 figures to 7 figures a year, not a typo. Pier diem and 1099 gigs pay 250-500 an hr all over the south and east coast.

Work life balance and pay are unreal at my wife’s job compared to my federal law enforcement gig. I tell anyone interested in the medical field that has the drive and brains to explore crna school. The money and opportunites are endless.