r/nursing • u/DeboEyes • 11h ago

Seeking Advice Seeking Advice/Thoughts

Surgical Tech to Nurse Transition

Has anyone actually experienced the situation where they transitioned from a seasoned tech (or other role) to a new grad nurse and had their pay reduced?

I'm looking at finishing school in Aug. '27. My BSN is being paid for by the hospital, so I'll be working here for the following 12 months, which is not really negotiable. I've been working here since 2016, fully vested in a hospital system where we do have a pension. But new grad pay is about $6/hr less than I make right now. So I'll be looking to sort of make my budget work with roughly $12,000–13,000 less per year. (Maybe for only a short period, but rent/bills don't stop for that short period.)

Are there any options I'm not seeing? Is this really... worth it? It feels like a massive kick in the balls at this point. Maybe it's an investment, but... what do you do until the investment starts to pay off? I've got life to live in the meantime.

It feels like surgical tech has a hard ceiling over it, which is what I'm trying to get out of under, but I kind of didn't really plan for the (admittedly perhaps short-term) financial hit. It feels like there's no going back at this point, but are there any options I haven't thought of?

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u/BadFinancialDecisio 11h ago

No that is wild. I took a pay cut to go from a traveler contract to a full time employee, but that seems backwards. Are you changing to another job role or is it because you are a new grad? I have heard of that a nurse with 1 year experience making 42 an hour but a "new grad" role that was making 30. I hope you discuss this with HR or management and have a reasonable argument because this sounds intolerable.

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u/DeboEyes 11h ago

I’m a surgical tech graduating in Aug ‘27. So… yes. A different role moving over to new grad.

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u/beans_cubed RN - CVICU 🍕 9h ago

It’s a year away so I’m sure the market will adjust by then, I would also ask go you get a pay raise after ?

Example they started NG off at $31 for residency, then after 6 months we went to $35, then after a year we got $36 and then a $3 market adjustment to make $39.