Top 10 Best and Worst States to Be a Nurse

I agree with the majority of you guys that this salary scale is way off. I, for example, was making almost $40.00 per hour working nights at a LTAC facility three years ago in San Diego. Here in Tucson, I was recently offered $32.00 per hour working nights on an Ortho unit. Currently, I am doing a 20 Week seasonal RN stint at a LTAC facility for $40.00 bucks per hour. It does vary though. For example, I understand that a local large hospital here is offering new grads around $25.00 per hour. Maybe this scale is based on new grad salaries.

I work in new york and the starting salary at my hospital in manhatten is $70000 or 35.00/hr.I thimk one should specify what part of newyork for newyork is a very large place with many different areas

The LPN and RN salary is only a Few Bucks $ an hour difference!

I have been an RN for almost 40 years. My most recent positions have been in Occupational Health. I have worked in the medical departments of numerous large companies. In January 2009 my position at one of these was eliminated due to the economic turn-down. At the time, I was making 33.00 per hour. This is in Arizona. My advice to any of you who want to go off in other nursing directions, i.e. medical sales/marketing, research, occupational health is to work at least a couple of shifts a month in a clinical setting to keep yourself clinically current. I am having difficulty right now finding anything because Occupational positions are nor plentiful with companies laying off and most hospitals want you to have recent clinical experience. Back in "my day", any hospital was glad to have an RN/LPN apply and any specific training was done on the floor you were assigned to. Not so any more it seems. As far as AZ salaries for RN's, I think it's around the $25-40/ hour range depending on specialty.

For all of you who posted that those wages in California are low~your're right!! Im also in CA~southern. That rate listed is very low~medical assistants (not licensed) make an average of $18-24 and that only takes a few months of simple training to do basic BP and injections. My sister works as a receptionist checking in patients and makes $22/hr. So reading those rates can be interpeted very wrong~they are much higher where I am. I agree~must be new grad rates.

Hawaii sure pays better than South Carolina but don't get too excited, they don't need many LPN's. It has taken 28 yrs to reach the grand salary of $20.25 in LTC. But, you can't get a job in a hospital and CMA's are replacing us in physician offices. It's LTC for LPN's.

Farmgirl, yes you will have a preceptor for about six weeks in most cases. They will hire you as a new grad, ignoring your prior experience except to note that you know what you're getting into. You may surprise yourself at how ready you are to go solo though, maybe a few weeks. A BSN program is very challenging for a reason. My preceptor read books while I worked after three weeks and got paid extra to do it for three more weeks.
I went back into the hospital after four years out working in real estate without the benefit of more education and was shocked at how much I'd forgotten. I knew so much that my preceptor didn't know where or when to guide me but not enough to be safe and secure in what I was doing so I quit and went into clinical management. My knowledge base was sound, it was my skills that suffered. That was true as a new grad BSN as well. They put us through a lot of medical paces without much clinical skills training. They kept saying "don't worry, you'll get your skills on the job in short order," and they were right. I'd have to get my MSN in order to go back into a hospital now but why would I? The pay would not be better than what I earn as an Administrator and I'd have more debt, though I would like not to have a desk job anymore. Oh well, life's full of little trade offs (now off to the gym to deal with this widening behind of mine)

I live in Iowa and work in a nursing home getting paid $21.14/hour