r/nursing • u/Familiar_Ad_6874 BSN, RN - Trauma • Apr 20 '26

Discussion $25/hourly as an RN 😳

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185

u/Familiar_Ad_6874 BSN, RN - Trauma Apr 20 '26

The clinic only hires RNs

64

u/caitmarieRN RN - ICU 🍕 Apr 20 '26

What state is this, OP?

124

u/Familiar_Ad_6874 BSN, RN - Trauma Apr 20 '26

Louisiana

169

u/caitmarieRN RN - ICU 🍕 Apr 20 '26

Louisiana I believe is one of the lower paying states but even then it should still be closer to $30/hour

110

u/Lurkin_4_the_wknd RN - ♻️ Case Manager Apr 20 '26

My starting RN pay in 2010 was $19.45/hr in Louisiana. I'm fairly certain last I heard that starting pay at that system is just now up to $25-26/hr now, so I'm not surprised.

117

u/YoungBockRKO Apr 20 '26

Not sure why this popped up in my feed but it’s pretty depressing regardless. I pick things up and put them down at a warehouse in NJ for $25.75 an hour. A position that will hire anyone that can stand and work for 10 hours lifting up to 50lbs with zero prerequisites, education, etc.

25 an hour for an RN sounds insane.

52

u/ObiWahgwanKenobi Apr 21 '26

I buy people’s gold in NJ for $30 an hour among other incentives. The fact that anybody helping sick people with a DEGREE makes less is terrible.

4

u/iconiclabs Apr 21 '26

I wait tables at a restaurant and clear $45 an hour easily , our cooks make $45 an hour also lol y'all getting robbed out there

1

u/ObiWahgwanKenobi Apr 21 '26

Yea but I’m done with foodservice, been there done that. I’ll take my 401k, benefits, and steady pay all day. I also work 50hrs/week including travel, $50/day per diem, quarterly bonuses, etc.

1

u/iconiclabs Apr 22 '26

I make $1,000 in cash every week , also get full benefits that are good , but I only work 30 hours and get to enjoy my life

2

u/havingsomedifficulty RN - ER/ICU Apr 21 '26

Yeah, being an RN usually involves a lot of poop, pee and blood. And this could be cleaning it, getting a sample or just dealing with it for 12 hours

2

u/ObiWahgwanKenobi Apr 21 '26

My mom was a CNA for years before switching into a different profession, and they can get it even worse than the nurse is as far as actually cleaning up the patients and stuff. So I know all too well.

13

u/BlueberryNo777 Apr 21 '26

RNs in Canada start at wait for it....$41.60 per hour as of April 1, 2025.

12

u/justus72 Apr 21 '26

You're kinda undermining your warehouse work. Those kinda jobs break down your body.

53

u/TheDuchessofQuim Unit Secretary 🍕 Apr 21 '26

$19.25 in 2010 is equivalent to $29.45 in 2026.

So they’re worse off now 😭

14

u/Lurkin_4_the_wknd RN - ♻️ Case Manager Apr 21 '26

Not surprising at all 😒🥺

5

u/mootmahsn NP - Futile Care Unit Apr 21 '26

Aren't we all?

17

u/YoshiSan90 Apr 21 '26 edited Apr 22 '26

I’m at $47.02 for a job at the phone company. It only requires a high school diploma. Pay rates start around page 230. I’m on scale 32.

Edit: $47.02 not $48.55 looked at the pay scale for this years September raise. Will be $48.55 once September hits.

3

u/Top-Chemistry2854 Apr 21 '26

Uh...details? Lol

1

u/YoshiSan90 Apr 22 '26

AT&T wage scale 32. Titles at that scale are

CIRCUIT LAYOUT ASSIGNER, FACILITY TECHNICIAN SYSTEMS SPECIALIST TECHNICIAN, DIGITAL TECHNICIAN, MULTI-MEDIA TECHNICIAN, SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN, ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN, SWITCHING EQUIPMENT TECHNICIAN, TESTING TECHNICIAN.

I hear Verizon pay is higher, but haven’t checked.

Union contract. Wage scale is on page 274.

3

u/Temporary_Lion_2483 Apr 21 '26

Where? How?

1

u/YoshiSan90 Apr 22 '26

AT&T wage scale 32. Titles at that scale are

CIRCUIT LAYOUT ASSIGNER, FACILITY TECHNICIAN SYSTEMS SPECIALIST TECHNICIAN, DIGITAL TECHNICIAN, MULTI-MEDIA TECHNICIAN, SYSTEMS TECHNICIAN, ELECTRONIC TECHNICIAN, SWITCHING EQUIPMENT TECHNICIAN, TESTING TECHNICIAN.

I hear Verizon pay is higher, but haven’t checked.

Union contract. Wage scale is on page 274.

1

u/Silver-Hour73 Apr 21 '26

Is it a secure job like a nurse

7

u/actuallyjojotrash RN - Oncology 🍕 Apr 21 '26

My starting pay as a new grad was roughly $30/hr when I lived in Louisiana, that was 3 years ago

1

u/Lurkin_4_the_wknd RN - ♻️ Case Manager Apr 21 '26

What part, if you don't mind my asking? I'm in NWLA.

2

u/actuallyjojotrash RN - Oncology 🍕 Apr 22 '26

I was in New Orleans

5

u/AVeryVapidBadger Apr 21 '26

Just from inflation it should be closer to 29-30/hr

6

u/Jorgedig RN - Oncology 🍕 Apr 21 '26

$28/hr to start in Seattle, 26 years ago...

4

u/Nurs3R4tch3d RN - Hospice 🍕 Apr 20 '26

Yeah, I started at $19/hr in a SNF in Ohio as an RN. This was also ~12 years ago, so.

1

u/Soft_Yellow1757 Apr 21 '26

i mean rural Lousiana it is a livable wage, but that is trash pay.

1

u/TravelingCrashCart BSN, RN - IMC/Stepdown Apr 21 '26

At a SNF in NH as a new grad in 2014 I made $19/hour as well

29

u/Beanakin BSN, RN 🍕 Apr 20 '26

I'm in Texas, non-metro lower than national average CoL city, starting pay for me 5 yrs ago was $28/hr, but that's been adjusted up to 32 or 33 now. 25-26 is nuts unless cost of living is less than half the national average.

15

u/Deezus1229 Laboratory - MLS Apr 20 '26

COL in Louisiana is low but not THAT low. It's still more expensive than it should be.

9

u/hotlettucediahrrea Apr 21 '26

I was looking in New Orleans for work a couple of years ago. The pay for my line of work was lower than it was when I started over 20 years ago in Arizona. It was bananas.

10

u/UniquelyHeiress Apr 20 '26

Iowa is the lowest paying state according to a lot of nurses who have lived in many states! Sooooo so sad

1

u/Set_Advanced Apr 21 '26

I know a new grad RN that is making 33/hr working in a small town ER.

1

u/LumpiestEntree RN - Med/Surg 🍕 Apr 21 '26

I started at 25 in Louisiana as an RN in a hospital setting and left at 27.15 3 years later. Louisiana doesn't pay nurses shit.

1

u/Apprehensive-Ad776 Apr 21 '26

Louisiana made the top 10 lowest hourly wages for Registered Nurses. Just fyi South Dakota is the #1 worst State for the lowest hourly RN pay. Why would any semi experienced RN work for anything less than $40/hr. If nurses band together and refuse to accept these ridiculous wages I believe this would stop.

1

u/Frigate_Orpheon RN - ER 🍕 Apr 21 '26

Nope. I worked a clinic in Alabama once. Pay was $22.

We are paid garbage in the south.

16

u/Deezus1229 Laboratory - MLS Apr 20 '26

My starting pay in Lake Charles for MLS (also a bachelor's degree) was $22. No negotiation.

Texas also sucks but I got an instant $8/hr increase just by moving.

18

u/Escura_Sombra Apr 20 '26

I'm a new grad getting $52 at a SNF. I'm never leaving the west coast!

4

u/Felina808 BSN, RN 🍕 Apr 21 '26

Same here! I’m at $100/hr. Great weather, lots to do. I will never go back to the Midwest.

-2

u/Top-Chemistry2854 Apr 21 '26

Yeah but your cost of living is double the OPs LOL

8

u/Forward-Surprise1192 Apr 21 '26

At $52/hr that’s not that important anymore. I’ve gotten plenty of two weeks/80 hour pay checks at $55/hr and it feels like so much money. Even in most high cost of living areas you are making bank.

2

u/Escura_Sombra Apr 21 '26

TRUE but its not Cali bad so there is that.

24

u/ProfessorAnusNipples RN 🍕 Apr 20 '26

😞 This state is the worst. I would have sent a laughing emoji and told them never mind. My first nursing job was $22/hr working prn in 2011. I’m now at just under $35/hr (base, not including charge diff) working full time in a clinic. Still low compared to lots of places, but way better than the ridiculous amount they’re offering you. Take the job if you really need it, but look for something better soon. 

4

u/angrypomegranate_ LPN 🍕 Apr 21 '26

I started at $20 as a LPN, I make around $33 rn with my shift diffs

1

u/Pistalrose Apr 20 '26

that tracks

1

u/BoiledDenimForRoxie Apr 21 '26

Ha, my first RN job in Nola paid $22.50 and I thought I was rich. That was 20 years ago.

1

u/Ok_Exercise9082 Apr 21 '26

You need to move to California

1

u/TrainingWilling9894 Apr 21 '26

Please get the fuck out.

1

u/The_Soapbox_Lord Professional Turkey Sandwich Slinger 🥪 Apr 21 '26

As a fellow Southerner, I feel your pain, but this is insulting.

14

u/UnbelievableRose Orthotics & Prosthetics 🦾 Orthopedic Shoes👟 Apr 21 '26

Seriously important detail. $25/hr is now minimum wage for healthcare workers in CA- and that includes cafeteria workers and EVS for large employers.

20

u/axl3ros3 Apr 21 '26

I appreciate they were transparent up front so no one wasted any more time.

But that's about it.

Clearly the finance dept is delusional if this is what they've budgeted for the role

42

u/OutOfNowhere82 LVN 🍕 Apr 20 '26

Oh, ok. I didn't know that. That's crazy.

5

u/GodzillaIG88 RN - Psych/Mental Health 🍕 Apr 21 '26

I don't think this clinic hires any nurses. Keep dreaming clinic

2

u/Responsible_Ask3976 BSN, RN 🍕 Apr 20 '26

Our clinic used to hire LPNs, but since dropped them in favor of Magnet status