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What is a reasonable salary to expect?
I want to be a pediatric nurse. My goal is to be done with school by 35 and be on the road to advancement opportunities, making more than $75k a year.Change
#nursing, #money, #txst
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Leigh’s Answer
So the salary you can expect varies greatly depending on where you plan to work. Cities and states all vary greatly with pay, as does cost of living. You could be making less than $75k/year, but if your cost of living is low, then you may be doing better than someone who makes more but has a higher cost of living. I live in Austin Texas, and have heard it is one of the lowest paid cities for nursing in Texas. Also, Austin has a pretty high cost of living and is considered by many hospitals and employers as a “destination”. This means employers can get away with paying less than the cost of living because so many people are moving here, that someone will take the job at a lower rate. Also pay varies by organization. In Austin the main hospitals are St David’s, Seton, and Baylor Scott and White. You will most likely be offered three different pay rates if you apply for the same position at all three hospital organizations. My understanding is that base pay for a new grad nurse in Austin is in the $25-$28 per hour range. Of course the pay goes up with years of experience and various certifications. Then as your experience and certifications grow, you can move up to charge nurse, and eventually higher up to manager or even director of a unit. Typically you will need at a bachelors degree for manager and a masters degree for director. Hope this helps some.
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Estelle’s Answer
The Department of Labor states that the median wage for nurses in 2010 was $64,600