My dream job in L&D where I did my practicum just informed me that they only pay $25 vs other hospitals in the area are offering $31 to new grads. What would your advice be?
Take the job. Work for 12-18-24 months to get the experience. You may never get this opportunity again. Do what you love or desire to do and know that this is not a forever salary. There is not much difference in 25 or 31 dollars. Take the job. Get the experience and one day you will be able to move on to write your own job. I did that and it paid off. My first job as a new grad was labor and delivery. And 50 years later I have done a ton of things in healthcare but every opportunity to take a new path take it. You will not regreat it. www.elitecasemanagement.com. Pauline Sanders, RN, MBA, CPHRM, CM, LNCC
Stay at least two years. Get experience in labor and delivery department and then venture out. After having some experience under your belt, you won’t have any issues finding a position in a different organization.
Do your best at in this field. Take every opportunity and cling to those who love to teach you.
Stay there to gain experience while quietly looking for another which pays more appropriately. I am not however shocked that they would offer low to start with. The hospitals nowadays will always try their best to get nurses in for the cheapest pay that they can.
Stay out of Florida….. the pay is terrible!!!
Best of luck to you and….
WELCOME TO THE FAMILY OF NURSES,!!!!!!
You can accept a lower salary for 6 months to a year and call it paying your dues for experience. At that point you can start looking for another job or try to negotiate a raise. The second scenario is go to another hospital first, get experience and then return to the place you did your pracitcum. Now you would be an experienced nurse and they might offer a salary competitive (for nurses with experience) with other hospitals in the region. Or move otu of state. My new grads start at $80K a year in NY.
Go for the higher pay. You can always go after your dream job later but with higher pay. $25 an hour is ridiculously low. You can tell your dream job about the other offers and see if they'll pay you the same, but the fact that they're offering such a low starting pay is probably a good indicator that they won't ever pay you well. Who knows, maybe one of the higher paying positions will turn out to be your dream job. Nursing is grueling. Get paid for your hard work.
