Florida's Nursing Salary

[troache]

I'm a little confused. I heard that Florida and NewYork have the highest Nursing salaries in the Country. When I surfed the web one Ad said they were looking for a RN with a bachelors degree and was paying from $15-$25 an hour. That cannot be true, even if the cost of living in FL is cheap. Who wants to go to college for 4 years just to make that much an hour. Geico starts their salary at $15/hr. Does anybody know if this is true?

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[AxisNP]

It probably is true. I do not know why someone would say that Florida had high salaries. I know a few years ago they did not pay higher than NC.

I think 15$/hour is pretty average for a brand new nurse. However where I live 25$/hour is average for starting pay for an experienced nurse and possibly more than that. I have made 35$/hour and more in NC. The only thing I have about Florida was when a person came here from Florida and wanted to pay all the nurses rather low. We of course complained. He stated that he never paid as much as we were getting when he was in Florida. But it's not like I looked up the average pay there.

I am sure Florida is like other states though. Here in NC the average pay can change from county to county/ city to city. We also have hefty sign on bonuses in some areas. In my area the average sign on is $5000 but I have seen $10,000 in some areas. I doubt GEICO will give you an up front $10,000 with the promise of working a year.

When I first started nursing I received a $5000 sign on bonus. It was great. I only had to promise one year employment too.

The other thing that I have liked in nursing is the flexability. I have worked Baylor many times. I worked 24 over the weekend and was paid for 32 plus recieved full benefits. Though you don't see those as much anymore. The ones I have seen lately are called "weekend" option. You usually have to work the 24 over the weekend and one day a week to obtain the ful benefits. Or work the 24 hours over the weekend only and get no benefits. It varies from place to place. I have also worked PRN many times. It was always nice when say I had a full time job but wanted maybe some extra money for a trip or something. I could work at the same pay( 25$ plus/hour) when I wanted to and how much I want to. Then there is traveling nursing which is really neat. If I didn't have kids I would do that. You make excellent pay (often over 35$/hour) and then get money for your car, rent, etc. Plus full benefits.

I am sure there are other things people can think of as well that you can't get at other places.

AxisNP

 

[julie walker]

I am in Florida and I feel very disappointed to hear that nurses work as little as $15/hr. However, I was told that new graduates normally get $25/hr and up. I really do not know what to believe.

I am from Jamaica where the nurses are not well paid and I have decided to do my nursing degree here. I am done with my prerequisites for the BSN program but unfortunately I was rejected by the University I attend. I have to be enrolled at the university full-time whether or not I am accepted in the program and this makes me very depressed because I have to be taking courses which I do not intend to work with in the future. After going through all this and to be paid $15/hr would make me very disappointed. Nevertheless, I am thinking of doing the associate degree at a community college then RN-BSN online. I really want to start working as a nurse here because I am the one supporting myself through school with two children who are soley dependent on me. I definitely cannot work off campus because of my status and yet I just cannoy get a job on campus. This is really driving me crazy. My GPA is 3.12 at present but I guess I have to push it up to be accepted in the BSN program. Yet, others are accepted with less than what I have. However, I am still holding on and I am not going to lose sight of my dream.

Thanks for allowing me to vent.

Julie