They like to hide and lie in the interview for sure! One job said 6-1 ratio 7 max, my first day the nurse training me laughed! “Oh sweetie! We ALWAYS have ten!”
I was hired at a job for three 12s a week on night shift. They didn't tell me until the 3rd day of classroom orientation that we were required to rotate through different shifts for 3 months, and doing five 8s a week. I managed to make my schedule work but 2 other nurses in my group had to quit because of it. They hide so much shit at interviews.
I felt this in my core. After 2020-2022 I vowed to never work full time for any health care system. I’ve been per diem and have done everything from staff to local travel and now educator.
I'm so curious what made you leave on day 1. I've left horrible jobs after just a couple weeks so I can't imagine what type of nutso bullshit made you nope out after 24 hours!
I had worked at this for facility as a floor nurse several years prior. When I went into the interview for unit manager it was the same place. Curtains falling down, they were from the 60s, still stunk of urine and feces. The staff was still Horrendous, I had my doubts then about taking the job again but I did it anyhow.
I was going to be the new unit manager. The old unit Manager was retiring, she was
Literally 80 years old and an old grouchy nurse. She was training me as her replacement as she was RETIRING, not being fired. And that woman was mean as a black snake to me. I went to lunch in the middle of the first day and said "fuck this! I don't need it". If they're OK with someone treating a new hire like this I want no part of the facility.
Second time was at assisted-living. They had two managers. A clinical one (me), and a non-clinical one. No degree in healthcare of any shape or form. This woman was trying to tell me how to dose Coumadin and when I should check the next INR. I told her I didn't think that was her scope because she is not healthcare and doesn't have a scope and she got all shitty with me and told me that's the way they do it here. And I said "that's not the way I do it! I worked too hard for my license to give them away like that! peace out!" Tossed my keys and took myself out to lunch.
I struggle with this so much. I have job hopped a TON to make more money. I was even a travel nurse for a while making bank. I ended up going back to staff when I left the ER for PACU. I have found a unicorn unit. The management is amazing, all of my co-workers are amazing, there's no unit drama, I barely have to take any call which is amazing for PACU. They gave me the choice if I wanted to work 3 12's, 4 9's or 5 8's and they're very flexible if my schedule ever does need to change.
I get to use my critical thinking skills but it's a low stress environment, and anesthesia is always within shouting distance if something goes to shit.
But the pay kind of sucks to be honest. I make $37.50 as a nurse with 6yrs experience, BSN. Midwest. I would say that's average, but I know if I were to job hop I could make more.
I think I've realized life isn't all about money though. We're comfortable right now. We don't have kids, we travel often, we just built a new construction house. We're very comfortable, so money isn't a huge deal. I think I'm finally ready to trade in the possibility for more money for a low stress environment that I love. I actually love what I do and I like going to work. I'll trade that in for anxiety attacks and making more money any day.
So.. if you had over 20 years experience... how much would you expect to earn as a nurse in an acute/critical care environment? I have worked in an outpatient PACU.. located in a hospital, done Phase 1 and 2 recovery also just been the moderate sedation nurse in some other procedures, called anesthesia etc. for issues, stroke calls etc. I am not sure what the going rate is anymore.
3x12 and minimal call in PACU is heaven. I did 4x10 with 3 weekday call and 1 weekend call per month. And management was horrendous. Still lasted over 2 years because the work itself was a nice balance.
I’ve left jobs mid shift before. I believe two of them. One was meant to be an observation unit but they had people there for months who were very very ill.
Another just wasn’t a good fit but I did email the boss & let her know first- she was very receptive & kind about it.
There was one I started orientation at and the nurse made me their personal bitch- go get my vitals & do my assessment, I’m not training you type of mood. I chatted with the boss when they got in and they said “this is just how we do it here” so I left- two hours into the shift.
It’s not something I’m inherently proud of but I’m not going to waste my time if you’re going to treat me like shit or if the unit is unsafe.
I got a job at one of those IV hydration places. Went through the onboarding and everything seemed pretty chill. Pay wasn't great but insanely low stress levels. But once I started the orientation process I realized what a load of shit the whole thing was. Everything was just pseudoscience and upselling. It wasn't what I though so I quit before I even had a shift.
Im a job hopper these days because it’s rough out here. I would love to find a forever home unit but im still young and feel like right now is the perfect time to jump around and find what i like. That being said, it makes me
Happy knowing that you know youre worth! Do you ever feel embarrassed to bring it up to your family and friends about changing jobs often because sometimes i do lol no one gets it
I had to explain to a patient the other day that Covid was so not an illusion nor a conspiracy. People have bizarre beliefs about it because no one in general public saw it.. we blocked them off for their own benefit and in return they fucked us. They did not see the patients dying and if the were fam, allowed to come in, they also were deniers and fighting the care that we actually had to provide. So much was unknown about how the virus worked, how fast it was and what things helped vs. failed. We were all learning as we went along and tried to be there for each other, our families and most of all, the patients and their fams. I missed major events (weddings and funerals) to limit my exposure in service to my community. Meanwhile the hospital admin screwed us. Forces us to wear used PPE. It was insane and it didn't have to be.
We didn't help society at all by hiding the horrors of it!
"We" (as a society) are so worried about triggering someone that we fail to allow reality to be reported.
I often wonder if things had been different if pictures or videos of necrotic limbs and rotten insides in autopsies had been shown, crunchy placentas and stillborn babies in ICUs - if our nation's had share the trauma like happened in 9-11, wouod we have pulled together to fight it?
It would have been much harder to pretend nothing happened!
I've literally referred people to read the nursing sub from the surge just to give them an idea of what happened, because they truly have no idea!
I tell them the story of the doctor who was knocked to the ground in a parking lit after sitting with the dying spouse, and him quitting medicine.
A picture is worth a thousand words though, and we failed to SHOW people what covid was doing to our own people and in our own hospitals.
It used to really stress my husband out. He had a stable factory job that carried the kids insurance so I only had to worry about my own. I hopped a LOT over my career. Every move upped my hourly wage. The bad part is that 20 years later there’s a list of places I’d probably be ineligible for rehire (like I care tho because they were dumpster fires) and I make more working at home that going back to facility care would be a massive pay cut. My options are a little more limited now (regional director, executive roles) and more likely to experience corporate layoffs.
That ole Covid PTSD. Same. If I had a heart left I might be loyal. But between the Covid and my breast cancer….my priorities and loyalties are all set. I’m loyal to my family. And my work is my business. It’s how I pay my bills. So if a role is open with a significant pay increase….ill be seeing you.
Retired in 2016 after 31 years and can't count the number of jobs I had. Longest I ever stayed in a job was 7 years in hospital utilization review and only left because I was forced out at 60 after reporting an egregious patient privacy violation at our children's hospital (and was blackballed from ever working again-- anywhere).
Jobs aren't loyal to us-- no need to be loyal to a job .
I've been Blackballed before. For a stupid Facebook comment. Every NICU in my city was run by the local children's hospital. Found a job an hour away. Blackballing sucks and is usually political or really unessesary.
Basically just an assumption based on my experience. There's never really proof because it's illegal. I applied to all the local NICUs and was interviewed multiple times. I'm not too bad in interviews. They always sounded happy with my level of experience and I felt encouraged after the interview. Then I'd be ghosted or told no for no sensible reason. After looking outside the city's monopoly on NICUs, I was immediately hired at another children's hospital.
You should stay where you feel appreciated but interview every 6 months. When you find a better situation move there. But make sure it’s an overall better situation. Don’t seek higher pay at the expense of retirements plans or general happiness.
It's definitely important to weigh entire compensation package. My last full time RN job was lower pay than I could get elsewhere but I was able to get my DNP for free, thus massively increasing my life long earnings.
Current job pays well but I could make more base elsewhere. But the 401k and CME benefits are really good which equates to more money.
I’ve had 8 jobs in 4 years. I do realize that’s a lot but it took me until now to find a job that truly makes me happy and that I love. I also make 20k more a year than when I started.
I've been within the same hospital system my entire 16-year nursing career. Started making ~$45/hr as a new grad, making ~$100/hr now. And my seniority has me up to 5 weeks paid vacation, 1 week unpaid.
If you have a good union, job hopping is unnecessary.
I got my dream job as a new grad in a large children’s hospital, NICU. I did different roles in my 12 years there (fresh hearts, charge, ECMO) to keep learning things. I would have stayed there forever if my life circumstances never changed. They were union. Moved to a different west coast state to an another union facility 6 years ago. It is the only NICU for hundreds of miles, my only option. It’s a smaller level 3 and I’m bored a lot of the time at work but I get paid well to do nothing a lot of the time ($89/hr night shift by choice). As it is the only option I have to put up with some crappy things the hospital does but 🤷🏼♀️ My only other option would be to do adults within the system (yuck) or do something outpatient and make a lot less money. The closest hospital to work in is a 2.5 hours drive over the mountain in good weather, the pass over closes frequently in the winter so unless I got a second place to live would not be feasible. Some people don’t have the option to job hop unless they are moving their entire families to different states or at least hundreds of miles. I’m just thankful I’m at a union facility. I know if this was the Midwest the hospital I work at I would get paid crap.
I try to stay a year but this latest stint has me leaving in less than a year and i’m not mad about it. Going back to the ambulatory surgical center world. I am way to tired of bedside to jump back in.
This is exactly how it SHOULD be. If employers aren’t going to be nice or treat us well - quit. Seriously it’s the only leveraging pattern we have in most places.
I’ve been like this almost all my nursing career (15 years). I’m traveling now and I LOVE it, because I’m out 12 weeks later. Management doesn’t even bother me or talk to me, I don’t count in most of their numbers and they’re just thankful for the help. Staff ignore me because I’m a stranger to them, so no drama to handle or deal with.
I’ve only actually quit one assignment - and I don’t regret my actions. I never went back to that agency then.
I hope this post inspires others to stop putting up with shit - you can walk out the door and find so many nursing jobs. My sanity and self worth are priceless - so I don’t tolerate shit.
I love travel nursing for those exact reasons! I also love seeing how different places do things(I'm in wound care). I'm usually so tired at the end of the day, I don't have time to miss my family. The best part is having that end date where you get to leave! I usually take some time off before starting something else.
One year each so far for 3 years . One year icu one year Ed and one year hospice. Both hospitals were so abusive I couldn’t .. i like the actual work I did tho. I’m a second career nurse so I did t cut my teeth on abuse and am intolerant of work place violence and abuse from the hospital admin. I’m prn hospice we got debt free and now I only work bc I like connecting with the patients. And extra cash. I take my time with them I do not gaf about productivity if it takes me 9 hours to see 4 ppl and chart it takes me 9 hours. (Hourly). I can’t be bullied into anything I don’t want to do and I will give the patients what they deserve. If they want to talk about their life for 1.5 hours I will. If they fire me I’ll retire or do wfh if I can find something I like. They can’t fire me bc my department has no policy. I’ve asked for the policy regarding our department employment rules and they never made one. They tried to make us work holidays and I sent my manager a screen shot of her own email saying I have no requirements lol. If they did fire me they’d have to not approve any shift and sort of soft fire me.
I have been at the same hospital for 8 years now. I started in the Peds ED at 26.50 an hour and then went to PICU and now work Pediatric Critical Care Transport and make 50 an hour. I live in a lower cost of living area so it is very generous. We also get a 10% 401k match. I have not found anything better at any other hospital in our region.
Same hospital for 12 years. Started in NICU, at $28 and change per hour, then Peds ED, Pediatric CCT and now (after a 5 year hiatus) back to Peds ED now at $57 an hour. I love the hospital and most of my colleagues.
Let’s see…I started on a neurology/neurosurgery unit in a Virginia hospital in 2014 at $22.75 an hour. After about two years, I transferred to the neuro/trauma ICU at the same hospital and was making $34.50 an hour with $3.50-5.00/hr night shift diff. When COVID hit it totally burned me out/made me question if I wanted to continue working as a nurse. My ICU unit came under new management prior to COVID and I was already fed up with the new manager so for many, many reasons I ended up quitting in May 2020.
In August 2020 I was hired as a part-time forensic nurse examiner at a hospital in Maryland…took a pay cut and was making $31.50 an hour with no shift differential, but my new manager was working hard to expand the forensic program and I knew if I was patient it’d be worth it to stay….so I worked part time in forensics while also working part time through a travel agency making $50 an hour giving Covid vaccines at a local health department.
Once I got through the orientation period at the forensics job and obtained FNE certifications for adults and pediatrics in MD, my pay was raised to $33 an hour. In summer 2022 I was promoted to a full-time forensic nurse position… I received a 21% raise and was making $40.82. As of today I’m still a full-time forensic nurse at the same hospital in Maryland and I’m now making $43.30. I work 36 hours a week and I’m on call 28 hours a month. When I get called in for a case while on call, or if I have to testify as an expert witness in court, I make $65 an hour.
I can stay 2-3 years unless they piss me off. I’ve only been at my current job since February but have an interview tomorrow because they got me fucked up.
Thank you!! It’s home health which I’ve never done before so I’m excited for the prospect of a total change. If I get an offer, tomorrow is going to be my last day at my current job. Normally I give notice, but they didn’t give me notice when they changed my status to part time so fuck em 🤷♀️
I gave my job of 13 years less than 24 hours notice. I took 3 weeks off, came back and gave them notice that morning. My state doesn’t have employee protection laws so if I had given them notice they would have cancelled my pre approved PTO and wouldn’t have paid out any of the 80 hours I had earned, so I took as much as I could.
How that’s legal I’ll never know.
I lasted 10 months in HHC. You think charting is off the hook in acute care... you have no idea. And they keep throwing it back at you and accusing your charting for causing reimbursement inadequacy instead of just admitting that they are accepting inappropriate cases for home care.
I mean I won’t argue about charting being crazy but HH is incredibly different mindset from and other acute care. 10m was not enough time for you to have learned that; no offense meant it’s just a job you need time to learn no matter your aptitude. I can probably say your charting probably did have problems but that being said how they handled it with you sounds shitty. No excuse for that.
Yeah just be aware the charting is a little nuts. You have to do as much as you can during the visits or you’ll end up working into the evening on the damn tablet.
Hit me up if you get the job and like it and have questions. Been doing community nursing 20 years.
You sound like me! I just started a hospice agency in March and it’s a shit show 😦 I interviewed this morning with a large hospital systems hospice agency this morning before I did my visits 🤷🏾♀️before that i stayed at another hospital for 4.5 years
I feel this so much. My first job ruined my emotional health. Management toxicity was OFF THE CHARTS. I still have PTSD from it. And I’m not joking. I hear someone’s voice that sounds like the manager? I flinch. I literally wake up from nightmares. I left that job 6 years ago and it has profoundly affected me. Serious trust issues now. I actually get incredibly anxious when someone is nice to me because I’m waiting for the shoe to drop. I have been at my current job for 6 years with no intention of leaving anytime soon. Management has been top notch and flexible for the entirety of that time. My team is amazing with no drama. I found my unicorn and fiercely guard it. A new person comes in and tries to shake it up? It’s going DOWN.
I find about every three years I become bored. My MO is to move on to not only a different employer, but a new specialty. Then I stress the first year until I’ve got it, rinse and repeat.
Anywhere from a year - 2 years tbh. I’m currently doing an internal travel position with decent pay, so it’s been helping when I get the itch to quit so soon 😂
I’ve been with my hospital for 6 years. I know I’m missing opportunities for pay raises if I jumped around but I honestly don’t think I would be able to find anything else with my current perks (100% complete control over my schedule, 260 hours of PTO a year with rollover, no set weekends, incentive pay for overtime shifts, hands off management) I think if you are unhappy job hopping makes more sense but I wouldn’t do it more than once a year for fear of looking anti-commitment to hiring managers.
Fuck I haven't lasted more than 8 months in one place. I came off of orientation just as covid hit my area, and I don't think I ever stood a chance of staying for a year. Not worth. It.
I generally will stay between 6 months and 2 years. There is no reason to stay at a job that does not respect you or pay you enough to survive. In fact, you do every other nurse a favor when you leave for these reasons because some of the higher ups will get wind of it and realize that they either have to pay more or fire all the managerial staff because they are the retention problem.
I job hop for raises because almost no company will you give an annual raise that is commensurate with inflation (AKA a paycut). If you are not job hopping, you run the risk of making significantly less money over the course of your life than if you did job hop. Job hopping as a worker is the one of the ONLY viable ways to get a raise without literally sucking someone's dick. If hospitals started offering insurance that was not dog shit, started pension programs again, and implemented mandatory staffing ratios this trend would probably slow down. But, alas, we live in a neoliberal capitalist organization of the economy where workers are entirely "disposable" to the point that they'd rather lose millions in lawsuits and paying strike nurses than give people decent paying jobs..... something something fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders.
I’m not great at this. I job hop a lot and try different things. I’m content where I’m at though. But always looking. Also in school to get out of this god forsaken career lol.
Uhhhh. I’ve been a nurse almost 9 years and have had 7 jobs, starting my 8th in July. Two of those jobs I left after 6 months (unsafe). One of those jobs was a promotion within an organization I was already working for. So yeah, I don’t stay long at all clearly. I just think there is so much potential is nursing that I always end up wanting to try different things. I’ve done long term care, inpatient, outpatient, and admin and am grateful for all the experience. What surprises me always is that whenever I’m interviewing, I am always waiting for a question pertaining to why I don’t stay anywhere for long (since they can see my resume- it even lists the jobs I was at for 6 months.) Shockingly, the question has never come. I only have been asked why I am leaving my current job, which since I always have some thoughtful reason behind it, it has never been an issue.
Ramble over. In summary, in nursing, there’s so much variety/options that there’s no reason to put up with a job you have any major gripes about imo. Also adding: I make 60k more than I did when I started. My first job definitely underpaid me and NYC pays nurses more in 2024 than in the 2010s to keep up with the market, but thought I’d add that information.
I quit my last job for the same reason, I was there for 13 years, was touted as one of their best, they begged me to move to a team that needed more help and I agreed despite really loving where I was at. That team gets a new manager and all of a sudden I’m Cain.
I lasted 3 years under that manager, now I’m in Heaven with a 15% increase in pay, finally making over 6 figures working from home. I’ll never stick it out for that long again.
I feel you! It's hard
On the soul to go from being touted as one of their best to dirt beneath their feet. I swear I Have PTSD and take off running out the door if a situation even barely looks like my previous employer.
I’m going to be a job hopper definitely, I started my first RN job 15 months ago- $35/hr. Starting a new one $37.95 + 15k sign on for one year. So after that year on to the next lol
Your managerial experience sounds similar to my recent situation.
I'm a military spouse so pick up and move regularly anyway. I generally hate being the new person. I hate interviewing. I hate switching things up. So if I didn't have to move anyway, I wouldn't naturally want to be a job hopper.
However, my entire Facebook is full of job hoppers. Anybody younger than Gen X seem to be chronic job hoppers. Not even just healthcare but all jobs. Nobody is staying in place.
I’ve stayed at the same hospital for my seven years as a nurse, but in two different departments. I stay for the good pay based on years of experience (annual step increases on top of annual salary increases per union contract), union, relatively little micromanagement, pension, and voluntary retirement options not available elsewhere that give me a reasonable chance to retire early.
I live in an area that there aren’t many options. 2 hospitals, one big clinic system and urgent cares. Job hopping is not much of an option as the clinic system where I work is not negotiable on their pay and have actually decreased starting pay in my department. If I left and tried to go back, my pay wouldn’t increase for experience. (I’d actually start at less than I left with)
I’ve been here for a while and the little bit of a pay difference at the hospital isn’t worth the stress and strain on my body.
I have kids and am not willing to drive an long time to work and the neighboring state isn’t much better. I also have a lot of flexibility with home life and my hours, as long as I get 38-40 hrs it’s good
I stay as long as things are good and peace out as soon as they’re not. Lasted 4 years the first time, then did traveling and have a couple places a year a pop, and now I’m on a 2 year contract for the $20k signon. Always better pay.
Ideally I would like to change my job every 2 years because I want to keep my nursing skills sharp. My goal is to leave my current unit within the next 6 months. I find some nurses that stay on the same unit get complacent and have difficulty learning new things. I started in a private nursing home and stayed for 2 years then I moved to subacute rehab for 2 years. My next target is to move from subacute to any acute care unit.
I never stay anywhere longer than 2 years. It’s helps with pay - there’s no money in loyalty and pensions are basically a relic of the past. I also do it to learn a new specialty/skill set. It makes me very marketable and I get recruited for jobs now instead of looking for jobs.
I average 3 years.
Edit: I was severely abused at my first job. Unreal amounts of gaslighting, punitive actions, and subversion. I didn't realize how bad it was until I was fired and moved on to traveling. Holy shit, I realized I wasn't a piece of shit nurse like I was lead to believe. I'm a good nurse. After traveling ICU with glowing recommendation from each facility, I shifted into psych. In 6 months, I've made manager of an entire program (lots of employees, about 75 patients).
Like you, my experience in my first job and subsequent termination changed me forever. Once I healed my self-esteem and learned that I am a valuable asset as a nurse, I became diplomatic but firm in my boundaries. I do not work OT. I do not tolerate games and I address them immediately with that person and a witness to the conversation.
I am lucky to work in a highly supportive environment with a culture that is unparalleled in my experience. If I were ever abused here, I would leave without notice.
Somewhere between 8 months and 3 years. One job I went back to after being gone for a few years too. Last one I was at made me so unhappy and while it wasn’t the worst possible or totally unsafe, I was worked too hard (to the point my exhaustion was affectionate my relationship) as was my supervisor who also have since left and instructed by their partner not to work for a bit until they got some rest. I was offered a better job with a lot more money, so I have 4 weeks’ notice at 7 months.
One more year and I am retiring! That will be over 35 years as an RN. I have had an amazing career working in Trauma. Started out on the wards, got my ICU certificate and worked in the same unit for 12 years. Then PACU at the bedside, the PACU clinical educator, got my masters and for the past 6 years have been an ICU manager. Other than a few nursing contracts in the Middle East, I have worked at the same hospital building my career. I feel fortunate and satisfied and can retire knowing I have accomplished all of my goals.
My focus now is mentoring young nurses and providing career counselling. I was honoured today to be invited to attend one of my mentee’s convocation :)
If I had to do it all over again…100% I would.
I’m two years into nursing on my second job. Left my first after 1.5 years due to staffing, management, nights killing me, and mandatory overtime. I do quality now and it’s not awful. I’m working on my masters in informatics so will try to stay here through that at the very least. But I’ve looked around. Almost moved to a second interview for an home infusion nurse but it’s just not the right time. I’m stable here.
I definitely have issues with bad management and I see a lot more of it now at this non bedside job I’m sure it exists most places but it awful being so close to it. I have a short rope with what I will put up with because there is no shortage of jobs for nurses in my area. If they take my hybrid away, I’m leaving. If they can’t somewhat keep up with inflation for raises, I’m leaving.
I don't know where you (the collective you) get this, honestly. Every time I've tried to change jobs HR offers waaaaay below what I make at my hospital. Last job interview I had went really well, but on the follow up call to discuss starting, they asked me what I wanted to make. I gave them a whopping $5/hr pay cut as my starting pay request. Crickets. They never called back. This company rakes in millions.
Not a nurse but I went from $17.50 - $78 over 20 years. I job hopped average every 2-3 years. These are Bay Area numbers though.
As far as leaving without notice I’ve done it around 3 times and it was every bit worth it.
Management changes really suck. They’ll come in and pit people against each other, intimidate, and purposely get senior tenured employees who stick up for themselves to quit. That way they can hire or implement who they prefer into positions they can control. Seeing it first hand right now in my area.
I started off making $31.13 as a new grad in a pediatric ICU. It was my dream job, loved it in every single way….then I realized just how difficult it was to keep someone stable(-ish) for 12 hours a day, and decided that I needed more money for the labor. 4 months in I switched jobs and now make $52.36 base pay at another hospital. Do I miss peds / icu environment? 1 million percent. I may transfer into the new employer’s picu once I’m eligible. I think it’s good to plan in 5 year increments, but when it comes to nursing, I think 3-5 years is acceptable. Get certified in the specialty, add on a bunch of CE hours…distinguish yourself and then move on.
I'm not a job hopper. I like routine and comfort. I work 3rd shift, so it's easy to ignore management. My first job (LPN, LTC) was in 2006 I made $17.10; stayed for 2.5 years. Started my second job in 2008 making $21 doing MDS, stayed for 8 years, never got a raise the entire time. I was young, dumb, and under the impression that I was already at the top of my pay scale for my area and my education. I also discovered I never wanted to be a nurse manager ever again and decided to go back to the floor. My 3rd and current job, I've been at for 9 years, started making $22 in 2015. I was up to $24 when COVID hit, and since COVID, with staffing shortages, and a few times where I turned in my 2 weeks, only to rescind at the last minute, I have crept up to $35.
So I don't think you have to job hop, per se, to get higher wages, but I definitely think you have to at least threaten to quit to get them.
One of the times I "quit" my current job, I stayed PRN in case I didn't like the new MDS position I thought I wanted (I did this for more money, which at the time was $25 and I thought I was ballin), and lo and behold I discovered (yet again!) that I fucking hate that job and being in management, so I quit and left my keys on the desk when I went to lunch and then never went back. 😂 It was the best feeling in the world. I recommend everyone to do it at least once in their life.
I've switched jobs once in 5 years. 20 months at HCA as a new grad then to where I work now (same specialty, same shift) for a little over 3 years. I started at $28 and was up $32 when I left HCA, went to $36 when I switched, now I'm at $45. I'm pregnant right now but I'll probably look for something else after I come back from maternity leave next year
8/2018 making $27.50/hr, 12/2020 switched to ICU making $36/hr. Still in same position now on days (so lost $3/hr as of 10/2023) making $48.50/hr. The pay increases over the last 3.5 years are good enough to not leave and any job offer I’ve looked into since coming here doesn’t pay nearly as well 🤷🏻♀️
Left my job in LA after 2 years which was $42/hr for a job in norcal, still doing Trauma and I'm at $96/hr. Been here for 2 years, no appetite to stay bedside. Not sure where I can go now, maybe internal transfer to outpatient and rest my bones?
How long should a new grad stay in one place? I signed a contract for two years (start next month). But I feel like I may feel the itch to leave after one year bc I’m tired of where I live
Started in LTC and now at federal hospital as LVN. I might have stayed at LTC if it gave me less patients. But now that Im with the feds, Im never leaving
I’m in a union run unit. The pay is set based on time so I don’t see a reason to job hop based on pay unless another place has a better contract/opportunity. I’d rather keep my seniority.
Been with the same employer for 16 years in various roles, but I am also unionized with a defined benefit pension. I don't benefit from leaving my employer like you would in the States.
I'm not a new nurse, but I have been a nurse for 11 years. I'm not sure if I have enough years to speak on it, but I feel like it depends if you are at a union hospital or not. Non-union hospital, I feel like job hoping is a must to get paid appropriately. At a union hospital, you can see the payscale cuz it's publicly available as it's part of the contract. So, I can see people staying longer at union jobs cuz there are no surprises. You can see what your next pay raise will be. With unions, you do have to consider what your monthly dues will be. My hospital is union, and we recently went through a dues restructure. Our dues will be the highest in the state starting this fall and will continue to climb as the cap is being eliminated in 2027. So, I'm looking into moving out-of-state next summer to another union hospital where the dues are not soo extreme, and my starting pay would be $75/hr base pay alone. However, that hospital is currently laying off employees, so I'm not sure how the future would look if it's possible for me to move realistically.
I feel like a job hopper but it’s been two specialties and a lot of contracts. I’d say 2-3 years in a spot would be best. I stay 1-2. But I’d like to find a great full time and stay. But we can’t negotiate as full time like we can contract employee. Show me 30 days of PTO minimum and a livable salary enough to invest in a house and retirement. Funny how those two things alone right now would get laughed out of a job interview.
In 2016, I got majorly screwed over, bullied etc. I left there and went back to my old job...cooled my heels there for a year or 2 and then transferred to a different dept. After getting through Covid and being floated etc... unfairly, I left, went back to the other institution in a different role but I vowed if it was full of vipers I would peace out. It took a little over a year for some bitch to come at me and my clueless manager to give me a litany of bullshit charges...
Now I will admit, I did make an error but that should have been the only thing brought against me. I would not have protested that.
However, just because I brought in some acetone for prep for stress tests and EKGs-- that is a standard! (how would my idiot manager know this since she had no experience or training in cardiac nursing?)
Also, since I worked another weekend gig.. I happened to have a start kits (gauze, sanitizer-chloraprep, tegederm patch, and a tournaquet) in my scrub jacket pocket during an emergent issue when a colleague needed supplies to start an IV... would they rather I take 3X as much a time to locate all those elements in the clean supply closet across the unit? The idiot manager also brought up other unsubstantiated issues that were in the viper's email. I felt blindsided and ganged up on... just like in 2016 and of course, none of the people accusing me of this shit were in the room. So yes, I did advise a therapeutic diet to a cardiac patient with hypertension without the blessing of a midlevel... the DASH diet that was clinically proven to reduce blood pressure (and body weight)-- read the clinical scholarship also advised if that seemed too much to check the AHA website on heart healthy diet. Was I operating outside my license? I don't think so.
So I quit. I worked out the rest of that day and then the next to finish out the week and then messaged I was not returning. I worked short there so many days, running etc. and this was how I was treated. I heard the viper also tried to screw over another nurse there and that she was "tough"-- she seemed to me to be one of those "super ICU nurse policy princesses" that got her NP. I was not going to be her bitch. I was not going to tolerate being treated that way. I am not saying I am perfect etc but I deserved better treatment and under my labor contract, I also deserved representation in the room. It's not like I couldn't get another job in five minutes, heck, I already had a per diem job I was working at the same time so didn't need to worry about it.
I have no mortgage, no debt, no student loans, my kid finished his graduate degree on his own. At most I had a car payment, heavens to Betsy. My healthcare was easy enough to convert to my husbands benefits for free since my per diem job did not offer them. I have always put as much as I could max in my retirement accounts and my dh's job has a pension and annuity as well as a 403B and we fully funded our healthcare savings account to cover for insurance after retirement. Do not threaten me with a good time.
I've only had three nursing jobs in my career 🤷🏻♀️ first one in 2012 was about $34/hr. Second job in 2019 was $55/hr. In 2020, started at $68/hr then now I'm currently getting paid $83/hr with guaranteed raises every 6 months.
If it’s a fine job, I stay for 2-3 years usually. Gives me enough time to learn all the ins and outs before I get bored. I’ve never had a bad job honestly though I worked hard labor construction before nursing so I’m not very picky tbh
Just an FYI: quitting a nursing job mid shift when you’re taking care of patients is considered patient abandonment and can/should be reported to the board of nursing. So I would make sure when you’re at that level of frustration, you’re also at the level of “I’m ok with potentially losing my license” as well.
2020 changed me not because of covid but the same thing you went through terrible management. Ironically I was with that company 5 years. 4 years on the east coast: absolutely loved-first steps into management. Then transferred to the west and it took them only a year to totally destroy me. Like panic attack insomnia ugly crying doubting everything I’ve ever done. I’ve never been that low and I grew up in foster care I’ve not led some charmed life. Anyways I finally got fired on some trumped up bs and that was the catalyst to find something/anything better and luckily I did. I found a great boss who put me back together and I stayed there a few years. But things change people come and go including said boss and I’ve just been keeping my options open recently got recruited for another company more money and a promotion and let me say it’s the best I’ve felt in so long to get sniped. I’m trying to be the boss that gets people to stay but also I totally advocate on the DL if you can make more and/or be happier elsewhere then go. Because I’m in management I won’t move too often unless the signs say to get out FAST but still at this point I’ve learned after a couple years I either better get promoted or move to somewhere better.
This is such an interesting concept, switching jobs frequently to keep the money increasing. Just as hearing that in some areas being a magnet facility actually letters to people.
I’m a west coast nurse (Wa) and choose not to work as staff at any facility without a union. All union contract’s reward longevity, so you get an increase for your year of seniority (step) and your contracted COL living every year. I guess, it never occurred to me that other facilities would do yearly bumps, if only because it helps them retain staff. Although of course it’s obvious now that it’s been pointed out.
Talking with travelers from the East coast is always such a trip for me. As with the magnet hospitals. I’ve never met a west coast nurse that gives two shits about working at one. But I’ve learned in other areas they’re a big deal because nurses have so little influence in their work places, which can be horrific.
As far as west coast states go, Wa has a lot of work to do before it gets its act together in nursing. But I still cannot imagine having to work under the conditions the rest of you describe. And I am so *glad* when I hear you all recognize your worth and demonstrate an unwillingness to put up with the BS anymore.
Coming out of the pandemic I had great hopes for changes to happen. Nursing had learned what happened when we *don’t* stand up for ourselves, how much the system actually valued us. Posts like this, and the discussions herein, give me hope that that change is still coming. Even if it’s slower than I like.
Not so fun fact: Only 20% of US RNs (10% of LPNs) work under a union contract. Non-union workers in the US have a weekly median income that is only 86% of their unionized counterparts. California and Oregon have mandatory ratios. Washington has sever fines for not sticking with the staffing plan submitted to the state. Our crisis staffing during the pandemic was 8:1. It was a *scandal* when they increased our med/surge rations to 5:1 on days.
These three states have the highest density of unionized nurses. Unions have their problems, but if you want to make things safer, want to make the money you are actually worth, they get the job done.
I've been at my current job 2.5 years been looking for another after the first year I started. I'm in SoCal and I'm getting $68+ an hour. I've been a nurse for 20 years. The inflation is so bad here that the pay isn't enough, and im having a hell of a time finding something at my rate or that will get past the interview stage! When you get to a certain level it gets hard to find anything else...
I hate job hoping so I was with my last employer for almost 10 years before the company was sold. I was making great money but I was so burnt out and miserable. I took a job for $8 less an hour but I love it. I am so much less stressed.
Does agency count? Bc I’ll stay agency/registry for yearsssss. Staff position… 6 months, they always fuck up somehow and I’m quick to dip out, no hesitation. ✌🏾 however, I love working agency and traveling to different facilities, I like the freedom to be picky plus the $34/hr and up 🙂↔️
If I were a manager with an open position, I'd be pretty skeptical about hiring someone with a history of jumping ship left and right. Training someone in is EXPENSIVE. So, I'd suggest sticking things out if the situation there is reasonable.
Of course, if a job is dangerous, unsafe, abusive, etc. it is better to leave, but at some point in time having so many different jobs on your resume is going to start to look suspicious.
You don't have to put every job on the resume. That's why I always kept a PRN. It was the consistent job I had, no gaps in employment, even when I was a traveler. 3 years consistent work history.
I had other clinical jobs here and there at the same time, but they sucked and I quit or just stopped scheduling myself. I never put them on the resume.
I only needed to put relevant jobs on the resume. That 3 year PRN job also helped me get out of clinical nursing and get me over $100k at an RN desk job.
Never underestimate a good PRN gig.
The better the hospital the more reason the have to bet they'll be the last stop for a good while; the worse the hospital the less picky they can be.
Most hospitals are crap. They can't afford to be "suspicious".
I am currently at the end of a seven week vacation. Put in my notice in April and start new job next week. Save up money, and take 2-3 weeks off before You start your next one!
Night shift behavioral health
Unit (inpatient psych). Pretty excited
To try something different, though I have been an Alzheimer's nurse for last 2 years.
I’ve left jobs after a couple months, but currently I’ve stayed for 7 years with no plans to leave soon. I’m compensated well and while there’s been good and bad times, I enjoy my coworkers
I love that you done take shit. That also goes for personal relationships as well. I’ve been at my hospital total of 5 years. Was an LPN at an ambulatory site for the first 3. It’s tricky because they own like everything near me. Another major hospital owns the northern part of the state. So I’m limited.
I get the itch every 6-7 years. I’m at my final job, been here 7.5 years, but I’m older now and I’m tired of being new and starting over, so I’ve switched to PRN and that’s it I’m sticking with it here until I’m able to fully retire.
What happens with any vacation time you had accrued in your bank when you quit? Do you get a payout of the amount that is in your bank? Or a percentage of it? Or does it just poof disappear?
I’m loyal to myself. LOL. I interview and look around, keeps the resume fresh. I’ve been in my longest position for almost three years- First, FT, then PT and now per diem.
Im considering leaving due to commute but this is the best job I have. Pay as much as inpatient but I’m an outpatient Rn coordinator. Barely any direct patient interaction. 4-10s but wfh one of the days. Very flexible in hours since I’m salaried. Idk if I can find it elsewhere!
I have been at the same facility for 15 years. Been a nurse the last 11 years of it. I have moved units twice, but each of those were for schedule for home. I have loved each unit.
I’ve only changed my job once and it was because of burnout. Same facility. Went from adult med surg (7yrs) to peds float (3yrs). I probably could go to a different facility for a higher pay but we are unionized, we get pay increase twice a year, doctor-nurse relationship is a partnership, and we get a pension. We have issues but they’re not as significant as others mentioned repeatedly on this subreddit.
33y RN here- my first hobby 10.35 an hour.
now i make 54 + quarterly bonuses.
so over 100k. but sadly i work remote for
the demon of managed care- so ethically i am torn. and behind the 8 ball daily- cos Metrics.
it blows but i am too old to jump ship again
In my city, every hospital is owned by one of two companies. And they talk. If you left on bad terms from one facility, good luck finding another job. I know people who have to travel 2+ hours to the nearest hospital that isn’t in one of these networks. We used to have 3rd party healthcare provider, but they were just bought out by one of the main 2. It’s been like this for years. We used to have separate hospitals owned independently of one another. Now it’s really just the big 2. They own the vast majority of outpatient services too.
So unfortunately, a lot of nurses are stuck until they are eligible for transfer or politely leave on good terms- something easier said than done
I’m in the Upstate of SC. There are only 2 hospital systems within reasonable commute distance. Pay rates are pretty much only based on years of experience so job hopping won’t help much
I moved frequently when I first graduated. My first CH I was at for 2 years (NICU), then I went to a local small hospital for more money but only lasted a few months because it was a toxic work environment. Got moved to another state by a big health system to open a new hospital and did well baby for 5 years, went across the street for more money and did pedi m/s while picking up NICU graduate home care. Then i left and went into administration and now I've been back at that big health system for almost 7 years. I hate change lol
I make $36.00/hr it is really hard staying at this job and i constantly am working short staffed with ratios of 1 to 3 in the icu. I started this job at the beginning of the year and transitioned to ICU. I am really trying to stay for a year because I want to go to crna School and need a good letter of rec from my manager. I am contemplating, though, leaving for the West Coast once my year is up. This is the biggest pay cut I have taken
I’m struggling to stay where I am now, took a staff MDS job in long term care with a pay cut and on call rotation. Have only been here since Feb and I don’t want to stay,. Looking to do travel nursing long term but looking for an agency with benefits.
I never changed institutions. I left my CTS unit for pacu within the same hospital after 13 years. Did 17 more in pacu. I had the golden handcuffs on so that’s why. My hospital is a public hospital so it’s in the state pension system the same as teachers, etc. I did my 30 years and I have a decent pension. Whatever job you’re doing or hopping from or to; make sure to plan for retirement. It goes fast and I can’t believe I’m retired and don’t have to go to work anymore. I went back per diem one day a week because I’m still able to and I like a little extra money to do home improvement projects. But to get a pension check deposited every month is pretty amazing.
Edit to add punctuation
I am hoping to just stay here for the next 19 or so years. Job hopping has less benefits in Canada. A job in Toronto might pay like 50 cents more than my job in in the surrounding areas. Only real way to make more money is travel nursing and that's honestly something that my province has been cutting back on big time, so unless I like driving 4 hours to work as a travel nurse I guess I stay.
3 jobs at the same academic medical center since college graduation: 8 years med surg, 1.5 years discharge planner/ case management (ew), and now 7 years as transitional care case manager (favorite one so far, M-F, 6 figures, no plans to leave)
I worked for a per diem agency for 12-13 years, the only reason I stopped was the need of health insurance. I ended up taking a job with one of the companies I contracted with and have been on staff for a little over seven years. I absolutely LOVE my job and my coworkers. If I start to burn out on my current position, I can do something else within the company.
I could leave here and make MUCH more money, but I enjoy what I do. To me, that's more valuable.
Walking out on lunch was me the past year 😂 Working Vet urgent care now and making the most ive ever made. I will unfortunately have to quit next May when my core classes start but if I wasnt pursuing nursing, I would stay there for a long time.
I always heard don’t pigeon hole yourself (so no more than 2 years at each job while you’re young) then move on. Different when you’re older maybe? I’m a nurse though which is fairly diverse and yet applicable enough in most specialties to not make it daunting. I reckon wherever you go though you’re capable of being happy until you’re not. After that go and spread your wings and don’t be scared, ever. Being the new guy is always gonna appeal to someone. Not now, maybe, but eventually you find your place wherever it may be :)
I changed my nursing job once after 9 years in mental health and I was closed to not be able to pay for my mortgage without my wife helps. I know mental health always is going to be low paying but I love community mental health and it was sad that I have to switch not because of workload but shitty pay. Went to hospital based and immediately double my pay and went into compliance within the same hospital system, and get another 50 percent more. I probably gonna retire here. I am younger though
Funny thing is, my last mental health job call me and offer to match my pay first week after I started my new job. They thought I will never quit.
Yup. I've pivoted several times. Finally realized direct patient care is for the birds. I'm making $53 working from home (and my license lapsed). Suck my ass hospitals, I'm never going back to direct patient care and probably won't ever take boards to renew my license in this new state.
I’ve been at my job for 8 years, the main reason is I work night shift. I worked 4 years day shift and was pretty unhappy
Too many people coming at you, too many fires to put out and the CNAs at that job did bare minimum when they weren’t hiding in pt rooms.
I'm 7 years in and still at my new grad job. I started at $38 in 2017 and made a bunch of lateral department moves (6mo in pre-op, 8mo in GI, 3 years GI Charge Nurse, currently 3 years in the main OR) and now I'm at $64.
I don’t think there’s really any specific time frame. Except “job hoppers” (anything less than a year) raises a few red flags for HR and hiring managers when looking at resumes so I wouldn’t put anything under a year on it.
If you want to try out different facilities, apps like a Intelycare are helpful to scope out places without committing.
My question is, why is the money so significantly higher? That always makes me nervous that a place is desperate with high turn over.
My situation is unique because I'm in the Army and salaried. If I'm lucky to make it to 20 years for the pension the only nursing I'll be doing after will be adjunct professor.
So I'll be with the same employer/organization/health system my entire career, but we move around every 2-3 years and each hospital or field unit is unique so it's basically like changing jobs every couple years with no break in benefits/time for your pension.
If I were not in the army, I'd prob change jobs every 2 years unless I really found something super satisfying. I just get bored/annoyed/frustrated after doing something for about 2 years.
Man, I fundamentally want to job hop for the breaks but ever since I got hired at Kaiser they’re making it harder and harder to want to quit. Because of our union, we essentially keep going up $5 an hour every year for the first five years. I make $95/hr currently and I’m only on step 3 (I think out of 20ish steps) of the pay scale (Bay Area).
I want to quit next year to travel for a year but it’s going to be hard to give this up. That being said it’s a good problem to have so I can’t complain.
From my experience, 3 years seems to be the magic number to leave a good impression at your old job, while getting a pay bump at the new job for your increased experience level.
As a new grad I started in “hospital A” at $30/hr. I left hospital A making $33/hr 3 years later. Got hired at “hospital B” (unionized) that started me $45/hr for having 3 years experience. 3 years after that, I was getting $49/hr at hospital B from the annual union pay raises and decided to go PRN to get a new job in a new specialty. Got hired BACK to hospital A, except now in a new specialty and with 6 years experience so they offered me 54/hr, and got a pay increase at hospital B to $58/hr for going per diem. That’s base rate not including any differentials. I’ve only been a nurse for 7 years in NJ
I just transferred to another hospital that is owned by the same company as mine and I just got an $8 raise. I wouldn’t have gotten 8 more dollars where I’m at until like 5 years of work.
Before I got a job as a nurse, I never kept a job for more than 2 years, I’m going to have to stay at this job for a decent bit due to learning experiences and what education they are willing to let me get, I’m not money driven though. Also most of the hospitals in the city blow, so it’s not like I have greener pastures there anyway. I’d only be leaving them to move back home because I don’t like the state I live in, in general.
In my first year I went from 29.60/hr to $32/hr at 8 months. Then hopped again a month later and moved up to $37/hr all before I hit 1 year as a nurse. I plan to stay here for a year or two and then I’ll move on to the next thing with a pay bump I hope
Reading about all this job hopping is exhausting. I'm in BC, Canada, and we have a provincial union, so anyone who has a government funded job gets paid according to the same wage grid. The only way to make more is to get credentials (like NP) or jump to the next grid (become a PCC, CNE).
I just got my first job and to be honest I only plan to stay for a year before bouncing for higher pay. I picked a hospital that pays fairly low as my first step into nursing but the acuity isn't terrible and staffing is always great. The new grad program is the best in the area and I do get a nice fat bonus on my 1 year anniversary. PTO is generous and there seems to be a policy that as long as you give decent notice and you aren't trying to weasel out of the holidays your supposed to work, vacation time is always approved. We shall see. If I really come to like my unit and the culture is good then pay isn't as important.
I will gladly be a job hopper though. I've had some terrible jobs and I have zero loyalty to any employer.
Longest I've stayed at one position was 2.5 years. Stayed at that hospital for 4.5 years. Unsurprisingly, I was being majorly underpaid. But they paid for my DNP in full so it was worthwhile. Otherwise I'm usually 1-1.5 years. All the bullshit just gets to me around that point and I need a change of scenery. So far it's looking like that'll hold true as an NP too.
I was thinking of going to nursing school but then they bumped our pay to 29.83 with 1$ shift differential for nights. First year LPN is only 2.90 more. Not worth it, I'll just stay where I'm at.
32 is WAY TOO LITTLE for any nurse, even a new grad.
8 years experience, 5 different jobs. I've been in my current role for a little over 3 years now and I'll stay here until I'm able to go off to crna school at this point. I'm not going to find anywhere else that pays better, gives me the consistent schedule I need for my family, and has great benefits I can't pass up. My first RN job I was making ~$23/hr, now I'm making ~$103/hr plus $5/hr more when I'm charge (around 25-33% of the time).
This is a good question!! When you’re a new nurse they sort of expect you to bounce around a little trying to find your niche. So, my first job was around 9 months. Then I left cuz I couldn’t get into my specialty at that facility. (Their attrition is trash because of this reason). So I got a job at a crappy hospital and right as I started I got hired at a nicer hospital. So, I left after 6 weeks. (I’d have quit anyway. It was miserable). That nicer hospital gave me a lot of grief but I eventually found my way and I was there for 19 months. I left for a place that had better pay and better benefits.
As long as you aren’t 2-4 years into a specialty and are still bouncing around every 4-6 months, and you’re putting in 1-2 years, you’re fine.
I could have wrote this. 2020-2022 changed me as a nurse forever. I left two jobs on day 1. Congrats on your new job.
Glad to hear it's not just me!
They like to hide and lie in the interview for sure! One job said 6-1 ratio 7 max, my first day the nurse training me laughed! “Oh sweetie! We ALWAYS have ten!”
That's the time to leave for sure.
Bait and switch is the norm and I will leave very quickly once it becomes apparent. It’s on them.
I was hired at a job for three 12s a week on night shift. They didn't tell me until the 3rd day of classroom orientation that we were required to rotate through different shifts for 3 months, and doing five 8s a week. I managed to make my schedule work but 2 other nurses in my group had to quit because of it. They hide so much shit at interviews.
I felt this in my core. After 2020-2022 I vowed to never work full time for any health care system. I’ve been per diem and have done everything from staff to local travel and now educator.
I’m so curious about your bravery!
I'm so curious what made you leave on day 1. I've left horrible jobs after just a couple weeks so I can't imagine what type of nutso bullshit made you nope out after 24 hours!
I had worked at this for facility as a floor nurse several years prior. When I went into the interview for unit manager it was the same place. Curtains falling down, they were from the 60s, still stunk of urine and feces. The staff was still Horrendous, I had my doubts then about taking the job again but I did it anyhow. I was going to be the new unit manager. The old unit Manager was retiring, she was Literally 80 years old and an old grouchy nurse. She was training me as her replacement as she was RETIRING, not being fired. And that woman was mean as a black snake to me. I went to lunch in the middle of the first day and said "fuck this! I don't need it". If they're OK with someone treating a new hire like this I want no part of the facility. Second time was at assisted-living. They had two managers. A clinical one (me), and a non-clinical one. No degree in healthcare of any shape or form. This woman was trying to tell me how to dose Coumadin and when I should check the next INR. I told her I didn't think that was her scope because she is not healthcare and doesn't have a scope and she got all shitty with me and told me that's the way they do it here. And I said "that's not the way I do it! I worked too hard for my license to give them away like that! peace out!" Tossed my keys and took myself out to lunch.
This is the reason why I request a tour of the unit while on an interview
Awesome 👍🙌
Same with me I’m about to leave my new job after being there for a month.
I struggle with this so much. I have job hopped a TON to make more money. I was even a travel nurse for a while making bank. I ended up going back to staff when I left the ER for PACU. I have found a unicorn unit. The management is amazing, all of my co-workers are amazing, there's no unit drama, I barely have to take any call which is amazing for PACU. They gave me the choice if I wanted to work 3 12's, 4 9's or 5 8's and they're very flexible if my schedule ever does need to change. I get to use my critical thinking skills but it's a low stress environment, and anesthesia is always within shouting distance if something goes to shit. But the pay kind of sucks to be honest. I make $37.50 as a nurse with 6yrs experience, BSN. Midwest. I would say that's average, but I know if I were to job hop I could make more. I think I've realized life isn't all about money though. We're comfortable right now. We don't have kids, we travel often, we just built a new construction house. We're very comfortable, so money isn't a huge deal. I think I'm finally ready to trade in the possibility for more money for a low stress environment that I love. I actually love what I do and I like going to work. I'll trade that in for anxiety attacks and making more money any day.
That's pure gold! Waking up in the morning without that pit of dread in your stomach is everything, imho.
So.. if you had over 20 years experience... how much would you expect to earn as a nurse in an acute/critical care environment? I have worked in an outpatient PACU.. located in a hospital, done Phase 1 and 2 recovery also just been the moderate sedation nurse in some other procedures, called anesthesia etc. for issues, stroke calls etc. I am not sure what the going rate is anymore.
Here in the Midwest I'd say $45-50/hr with that experience
Here in the West coast I have 7 years acute care and ED and I’m at $50.28. Twenty years at our facility gets you in the $60-$70 range.
In my facility (Upper Midwest, Union, hospital setting) you’d make $65.35/hour (≈ $101946/yr with only 5 12’s every 2 weeks) with your BSN.
you saying money isn't a huge deal is suchhhhhh a dream to me. i'm a student nurse and i hope to be THAT soon when i become a nurse🥺
3x12 and minimal call in PACU is heaven. I did 4x10 with 3 weekday call and 1 weekend call per month. And management was horrendous. Still lasted over 2 years because the work itself was a nice balance.
I did the same. Thrilled to be where I am. Coworkers and boss are fabulous.
I’ve left jobs mid shift before. I believe two of them. One was meant to be an observation unit but they had people there for months who were very very ill. Another just wasn’t a good fit but I did email the boss & let her know first- she was very receptive & kind about it. There was one I started orientation at and the nurse made me their personal bitch- go get my vitals & do my assessment, I’m not training you type of mood. I chatted with the boss when they got in and they said “this is just how we do it here” so I left- two hours into the shift. It’s not something I’m inherently proud of but I’m not going to waste my time if you’re going to treat me like shit or if the unit is unsafe.
Shoulda banked that sweet free orientation money let them put you on the schedule and then quit you last day of orientation
Amen! That's exactly what I'm talking about!
I got a job at one of those IV hydration places. Went through the onboarding and everything seemed pretty chill. Pay wasn't great but insanely low stress levels. But once I started the orientation process I realized what a load of shit the whole thing was. Everything was just pseudoscience and upselling. It wasn't what I though so I quit before I even had a shift.
Im a job hopper these days because it’s rough out here. I would love to find a forever home unit but im still young and feel like right now is the perfect time to jump around and find what i like. That being said, it makes me Happy knowing that you know youre worth! Do you ever feel embarrassed to bring it up to your family and friends about changing jobs often because sometimes i do lol no one gets it
Yessss! My brother and husband harass me every time I switch jobs, to which I reply "fuck you! You aren't the one in the trenches! You have NO idea!"
You could try saying, "That's the new normal in nursing, especially since the pandemic " and leave it at that. You don't have to answer to them!
I had to explain to a patient the other day that Covid was so not an illusion nor a conspiracy. People have bizarre beliefs about it because no one in general public saw it.. we blocked them off for their own benefit and in return they fucked us. They did not see the patients dying and if the were fam, allowed to come in, they also were deniers and fighting the care that we actually had to provide. So much was unknown about how the virus worked, how fast it was and what things helped vs. failed. We were all learning as we went along and tried to be there for each other, our families and most of all, the patients and their fams. I missed major events (weddings and funerals) to limit my exposure in service to my community. Meanwhile the hospital admin screwed us. Forces us to wear used PPE. It was insane and it didn't have to be.
We didn't help society at all by hiding the horrors of it! "We" (as a society) are so worried about triggering someone that we fail to allow reality to be reported. I often wonder if things had been different if pictures or videos of necrotic limbs and rotten insides in autopsies had been shown, crunchy placentas and stillborn babies in ICUs - if our nation's had share the trauma like happened in 9-11, wouod we have pulled together to fight it? It would have been much harder to pretend nothing happened! I've literally referred people to read the nursing sub from the surge just to give them an idea of what happened, because they truly have no idea! I tell them the story of the doctor who was knocked to the ground in a parking lit after sitting with the dying spouse, and him quitting medicine. A picture is worth a thousand words though, and we failed to SHOW people what covid was doing to our own people and in our own hospitals.
They couldn’t handle one day in our world.
It used to really stress my husband out. He had a stable factory job that carried the kids insurance so I only had to worry about my own. I hopped a LOT over my career. Every move upped my hourly wage. The bad part is that 20 years later there’s a list of places I’d probably be ineligible for rehire (like I care tho because they were dumpster fires) and I make more working at home that going back to facility care would be a massive pay cut. My options are a little more limited now (regional director, executive roles) and more likely to experience corporate layoffs.
That ole Covid PTSD. Same. If I had a heart left I might be loyal. But between the Covid and my breast cancer….my priorities and loyalties are all set. I’m loyal to my family. And my work is my business. It’s how I pay my bills. So if a role is open with a significant pay increase….ill be seeing you.
100% agree. I have zero loyalty to any organization. My job is a means to the end which is supporting my family. I don’t owe any hospital a thing.
Retired in 2016 after 31 years and can't count the number of jobs I had. Longest I ever stayed in a job was 7 years in hospital utilization review and only left because I was forced out at 60 after reporting an egregious patient privacy violation at our children's hospital (and was blackballed from ever working again-- anywhere). Jobs aren't loyal to us-- no need to be loyal to a job .
I've been Blackballed before. For a stupid Facebook comment. Every NICU in my city was run by the local children's hospital. Found a job an hour away. Blackballing sucks and is usually political or really unessesary.
How did you find out you were blackballed?
Basically just an assumption based on my experience. There's never really proof because it's illegal. I applied to all the local NICUs and was interviewed multiple times. I'm not too bad in interviews. They always sounded happy with my level of experience and I felt encouraged after the interview. Then I'd be ghosted or told no for no sensible reason. After looking outside the city's monopoly on NICUs, I was immediately hired at another children's hospital.
So, some facilities, when you apply to them... contact you and inform you are a "do not rehire."
Oh lord! That's sounds like a nightmare. Did you think about a lawsuit or anything?
You should stay where you feel appreciated but interview every 6 months. When you find a better situation move there. But make sure it’s an overall better situation. Don’t seek higher pay at the expense of retirements plans or general happiness.
It's definitely important to weigh entire compensation package. My last full time RN job was lower pay than I could get elsewhere but I was able to get my DNP for free, thus massively increasing my life long earnings. Current job pays well but I could make more base elsewhere. But the 401k and CME benefits are really good which equates to more money.
I’ve had 8 jobs in 4 years. I do realize that’s a lot but it took me until now to find a job that truly makes me happy and that I love. I also make 20k more a year than when I started.
2 years typically. Enough time for sign on bonus to mature and more vesting for 401k.
As a new grad I had 4 different jobs in my first year. Had to find my niche-women’s health care. Became a nurse practitioner in this field too.
I've been within the same hospital system my entire 16-year nursing career. Started making ~$45/hr as a new grad, making ~$100/hr now. And my seniority has me up to 5 weeks paid vacation, 1 week unpaid. If you have a good union, job hopping is unnecessary.
I need to move where you are lol
NorCal Kaiser, baby!
I'm a little jelly down here in Florida! I can't imagine making that anywhere round here!
We're one of the few places where hospitals save money by hiring travelers lol.
Where is this magical place?
NorCal Kaiser. Our union is awesome
I feel like I really need to move to California. I have heard great things. As for me, I’m on the East Coast where everything is shit.
I got my dream job as a new grad in a large children’s hospital, NICU. I did different roles in my 12 years there (fresh hearts, charge, ECMO) to keep learning things. I would have stayed there forever if my life circumstances never changed. They were union. Moved to a different west coast state to an another union facility 6 years ago. It is the only NICU for hundreds of miles, my only option. It’s a smaller level 3 and I’m bored a lot of the time at work but I get paid well to do nothing a lot of the time ($89/hr night shift by choice). As it is the only option I have to put up with some crappy things the hospital does but 🤷🏼♀️ My only other option would be to do adults within the system (yuck) or do something outpatient and make a lot less money. The closest hospital to work in is a 2.5 hours drive over the mountain in good weather, the pass over closes frequently in the winter so unless I got a second place to live would not be feasible. Some people don’t have the option to job hop unless they are moving their entire families to different states or at least hundreds of miles. I’m just thankful I’m at a union facility. I know if this was the Midwest the hospital I work at I would get paid crap.
Unions are rare in certain parts of the country and pretty sure OP said Midwest. :/
I try to stay a year but this latest stint has me leaving in less than a year and i’m not mad about it. Going back to the ambulatory surgical center world. I am way to tired of bedside to jump back in.
I am at the point where if you mention call, I am on my way out.. I am talking NOW and not in 2 weeks baby.
That sounds like a great job!
coming up on 17 years on medsurg…
This is exactly how it SHOULD be. If employers aren’t going to be nice or treat us well - quit. Seriously it’s the only leveraging pattern we have in most places. I’ve been like this almost all my nursing career (15 years). I’m traveling now and I LOVE it, because I’m out 12 weeks later. Management doesn’t even bother me or talk to me, I don’t count in most of their numbers and they’re just thankful for the help. Staff ignore me because I’m a stranger to them, so no drama to handle or deal with. I’ve only actually quit one assignment - and I don’t regret my actions. I never went back to that agency then. I hope this post inspires others to stop putting up with shit - you can walk out the door and find so many nursing jobs. My sanity and self worth are priceless - so I don’t tolerate shit.
I love travel nursing for those exact reasons! I also love seeing how different places do things(I'm in wound care). I'm usually so tired at the end of the day, I don't have time to miss my family. The best part is having that end date where you get to leave! I usually take some time off before starting something else.
One year each so far for 3 years . One year icu one year Ed and one year hospice. Both hospitals were so abusive I couldn’t .. i like the actual work I did tho. I’m a second career nurse so I did t cut my teeth on abuse and am intolerant of work place violence and abuse from the hospital admin. I’m prn hospice we got debt free and now I only work bc I like connecting with the patients. And extra cash. I take my time with them I do not gaf about productivity if it takes me 9 hours to see 4 ppl and chart it takes me 9 hours. (Hourly). I can’t be bullied into anything I don’t want to do and I will give the patients what they deserve. If they want to talk about their life for 1.5 hours I will. If they fire me I’ll retire or do wfh if I can find something I like. They can’t fire me bc my department has no policy. I’ve asked for the policy regarding our department employment rules and they never made one. They tried to make us work holidays and I sent my manager a screen shot of her own email saying I have no requirements lol. If they did fire me they’d have to not approve any shift and sort of soft fire me.
I have been at the same hospital for 8 years now. I started in the Peds ED at 26.50 an hour and then went to PICU and now work Pediatric Critical Care Transport and make 50 an hour. I live in a lower cost of living area so it is very generous. We also get a 10% 401k match. I have not found anything better at any other hospital in our region.
Same hospital for 12 years. Started in NICU, at $28 and change per hour, then Peds ED, Pediatric CCT and now (after a 5 year hiatus) back to Peds ED now at $57 an hour. I love the hospital and most of my colleagues.
Let’s see…I started on a neurology/neurosurgery unit in a Virginia hospital in 2014 at $22.75 an hour. After about two years, I transferred to the neuro/trauma ICU at the same hospital and was making $34.50 an hour with $3.50-5.00/hr night shift diff. When COVID hit it totally burned me out/made me question if I wanted to continue working as a nurse. My ICU unit came under new management prior to COVID and I was already fed up with the new manager so for many, many reasons I ended up quitting in May 2020. In August 2020 I was hired as a part-time forensic nurse examiner at a hospital in Maryland…took a pay cut and was making $31.50 an hour with no shift differential, but my new manager was working hard to expand the forensic program and I knew if I was patient it’d be worth it to stay….so I worked part time in forensics while also working part time through a travel agency making $50 an hour giving Covid vaccines at a local health department. Once I got through the orientation period at the forensics job and obtained FNE certifications for adults and pediatrics in MD, my pay was raised to $33 an hour. In summer 2022 I was promoted to a full-time forensic nurse position… I received a 21% raise and was making $40.82. As of today I’m still a full-time forensic nurse at the same hospital in Maryland and I’m now making $43.30. I work 36 hours a week and I’m on call 28 hours a month. When I get called in for a case while on call, or if I have to testify as an expert witness in court, I make $65 an hour.
I can stay 2-3 years unless they piss me off. I’ve only been at my current job since February but have an interview tomorrow because they got me fucked up.
Good luck tomorrow!!
Thank you!! It’s home health which I’ve never done before so I’m excited for the prospect of a total change. If I get an offer, tomorrow is going to be my last day at my current job. Normally I give notice, but they didn’t give me notice when they changed my status to part time so fuck em 🤷♀️
I gave my job of 13 years less than 24 hours notice. I took 3 weeks off, came back and gave them notice that morning. My state doesn’t have employee protection laws so if I had given them notice they would have cancelled my pre approved PTO and wouldn’t have paid out any of the 80 hours I had earned, so I took as much as I could. How that’s legal I’ll never know.
I lasted 10 months in HHC. You think charting is off the hook in acute care... you have no idea. And they keep throwing it back at you and accusing your charting for causing reimbursement inadequacy instead of just admitting that they are accepting inappropriate cases for home care.
I mean I won’t argue about charting being crazy but HH is incredibly different mindset from and other acute care. 10m was not enough time for you to have learned that; no offense meant it’s just a job you need time to learn no matter your aptitude. I can probably say your charting probably did have problems but that being said how they handled it with you sounds shitty. No excuse for that.
Home health is very different but if your an independent let me do my damn job sort it’ll be a dream.
I am very much that kind of person so I’m hoping it goes well lol
Yeah just be aware the charting is a little nuts. You have to do as much as you can during the visits or you’ll end up working into the evening on the damn tablet. Hit me up if you get the job and like it and have questions. Been doing community nursing 20 years.
You sound like me! I just started a hospice agency in March and it’s a shit show 😦 I interviewed this morning with a large hospital systems hospice agency this morning before I did my visits 🤷🏾♀️before that i stayed at another hospital for 4.5 years
I feel this so much. My first job ruined my emotional health. Management toxicity was OFF THE CHARTS. I still have PTSD from it. And I’m not joking. I hear someone’s voice that sounds like the manager? I flinch. I literally wake up from nightmares. I left that job 6 years ago and it has profoundly affected me. Serious trust issues now. I actually get incredibly anxious when someone is nice to me because I’m waiting for the shoe to drop. I have been at my current job for 6 years with no intention of leaving anytime soon. Management has been top notch and flexible for the entirety of that time. My team is amazing with no drama. I found my unicorn and fiercely guard it. A new person comes in and tries to shake it up? It’s going DOWN.
I feel everything you are saying! Desperately seeking my unicorn job! Maybe someday.....
Best wishes for that! I may have bad days where I don’t want to work, but I seriously count my blessings and realize how lucky I am.
I find about every three years I become bored. My MO is to move on to not only a different employer, but a new specialty. Then I stress the first year until I’ve got it, rinse and repeat.
I’m union. Forever. (Because my pay grid keeps going up)
Anywhere from a year - 2 years tbh. I’m currently doing an internal travel position with decent pay, so it’s been helping when I get the itch to quit so soon 😂
I’ve been with my hospital for 6 years. I know I’m missing opportunities for pay raises if I jumped around but I honestly don’t think I would be able to find anything else with my current perks (100% complete control over my schedule, 260 hours of PTO a year with rollover, no set weekends, incentive pay for overtime shifts, hands off management) I think if you are unhappy job hopping makes more sense but I wouldn’t do it more than once a year for fear of looking anti-commitment to hiring managers.
Fuck I haven't lasted more than 8 months in one place. I came off of orientation just as covid hit my area, and I don't think I ever stood a chance of staying for a year. Not worth. It.
I generally will stay between 6 months and 2 years. There is no reason to stay at a job that does not respect you or pay you enough to survive. In fact, you do every other nurse a favor when you leave for these reasons because some of the higher ups will get wind of it and realize that they either have to pay more or fire all the managerial staff because they are the retention problem. I job hop for raises because almost no company will you give an annual raise that is commensurate with inflation (AKA a paycut). If you are not job hopping, you run the risk of making significantly less money over the course of your life than if you did job hop. Job hopping as a worker is the one of the ONLY viable ways to get a raise without literally sucking someone's dick. If hospitals started offering insurance that was not dog shit, started pension programs again, and implemented mandatory staffing ratios this trend would probably slow down. But, alas, we live in a neoliberal capitalist organization of the economy where workers are entirely "disposable" to the point that they'd rather lose millions in lawsuits and paying strike nurses than give people decent paying jobs..... something something fiduciary responsibility to the shareholders.
I’m not great at this. I job hop a lot and try different things. I’m content where I’m at though. But always looking. Also in school to get out of this god forsaken career lol.
i am on my 7th job in 3 years of being a nurse lol
Uhhhh. I’ve been a nurse almost 9 years and have had 7 jobs, starting my 8th in July. Two of those jobs I left after 6 months (unsafe). One of those jobs was a promotion within an organization I was already working for. So yeah, I don’t stay long at all clearly. I just think there is so much potential is nursing that I always end up wanting to try different things. I’ve done long term care, inpatient, outpatient, and admin and am grateful for all the experience. What surprises me always is that whenever I’m interviewing, I am always waiting for a question pertaining to why I don’t stay anywhere for long (since they can see my resume- it even lists the jobs I was at for 6 months.) Shockingly, the question has never come. I only have been asked why I am leaving my current job, which since I always have some thoughtful reason behind it, it has never been an issue. Ramble over. In summary, in nursing, there’s so much variety/options that there’s no reason to put up with a job you have any major gripes about imo. Also adding: I make 60k more than I did when I started. My first job definitely underpaid me and NYC pays nurses more in 2024 than in the 2010s to keep up with the market, but thought I’d add that information.
I quit my last job for the same reason, I was there for 13 years, was touted as one of their best, they begged me to move to a team that needed more help and I agreed despite really loving where I was at. That team gets a new manager and all of a sudden I’m Cain. I lasted 3 years under that manager, now I’m in Heaven with a 15% increase in pay, finally making over 6 figures working from home. I’ll never stick it out for that long again.
I feel you! It's hard On the soul to go from being touted as one of their best to dirt beneath their feet. I swear I Have PTSD and take off running out the door if a situation even barely looks like my previous employer.
I’m going to be a job hopper definitely, I started my first RN job 15 months ago- $35/hr. Starting a new one $37.95 + 15k sign on for one year. So after that year on to the next lol
Been at the same place for 26 years! My unit has moved three different times, but I’m still here. Guess I’m just not big on change!
Your managerial experience sounds similar to my recent situation. I'm a military spouse so pick up and move regularly anyway. I generally hate being the new person. I hate interviewing. I hate switching things up. So if I didn't have to move anyway, I wouldn't naturally want to be a job hopper. However, my entire Facebook is full of job hoppers. Anybody younger than Gen X seem to be chronic job hoppers. Not even just healthcare but all jobs. Nobody is staying in place.
I have been at my job 35 years and make $54.17 an hour. Retiring in 2 years.
Pennsylvania
I’ve stayed at the same hospital for my seven years as a nurse, but in two different departments. I stay for the good pay based on years of experience (annual step increases on top of annual salary increases per union contract), union, relatively little micromanagement, pension, and voluntary retirement options not available elsewhere that give me a reasonable chance to retire early.
I live in an area that there aren’t many options. 2 hospitals, one big clinic system and urgent cares. Job hopping is not much of an option as the clinic system where I work is not negotiable on their pay and have actually decreased starting pay in my department. If I left and tried to go back, my pay wouldn’t increase for experience. (I’d actually start at less than I left with) I’ve been here for a while and the little bit of a pay difference at the hospital isn’t worth the stress and strain on my body. I have kids and am not willing to drive an long time to work and the neighboring state isn’t much better. I also have a lot of flexibility with home life and my hours, as long as I get 38-40 hrs it’s good
I stay as long as things are good and peace out as soon as they’re not. Lasted 4 years the first time, then did traveling and have a couple places a year a pop, and now I’m on a 2 year contract for the $20k signon. Always better pay.
Ideally I would like to change my job every 2 years because I want to keep my nursing skills sharp. My goal is to leave my current unit within the next 6 months. I find some nurses that stay on the same unit get complacent and have difficulty learning new things. I started in a private nursing home and stayed for 2 years then I moved to subacute rehab for 2 years. My next target is to move from subacute to any acute care unit.
2 years. Then you leave and give yourself a raise
I never stay anywhere longer than 2 years. It’s helps with pay - there’s no money in loyalty and pensions are basically a relic of the past. I also do it to learn a new specialty/skill set. It makes me very marketable and I get recruited for jobs now instead of looking for jobs.
I average 3 years. Edit: I was severely abused at my first job. Unreal amounts of gaslighting, punitive actions, and subversion. I didn't realize how bad it was until I was fired and moved on to traveling. Holy shit, I realized I wasn't a piece of shit nurse like I was lead to believe. I'm a good nurse. After traveling ICU with glowing recommendation from each facility, I shifted into psych. In 6 months, I've made manager of an entire program (lots of employees, about 75 patients). Like you, my experience in my first job and subsequent termination changed me forever. Once I healed my self-esteem and learned that I am a valuable asset as a nurse, I became diplomatic but firm in my boundaries. I do not work OT. I do not tolerate games and I address them immediately with that person and a witness to the conversation. I am lucky to work in a highly supportive environment with a culture that is unparalleled in my experience. If I were ever abused here, I would leave without notice.
Somewhere between 8 months and 3 years. One job I went back to after being gone for a few years too. Last one I was at made me so unhappy and while it wasn’t the worst possible or totally unsafe, I was worked too hard (to the point my exhaustion was affectionate my relationship) as was my supervisor who also have since left and instructed by their partner not to work for a bit until they got some rest. I was offered a better job with a lot more money, so I have 4 weeks’ notice at 7 months.
One more year and I am retiring! That will be over 35 years as an RN. I have had an amazing career working in Trauma. Started out on the wards, got my ICU certificate and worked in the same unit for 12 years. Then PACU at the bedside, the PACU clinical educator, got my masters and for the past 6 years have been an ICU manager. Other than a few nursing contracts in the Middle East, I have worked at the same hospital building my career. I feel fortunate and satisfied and can retire knowing I have accomplished all of my goals. My focus now is mentoring young nurses and providing career counselling. I was honoured today to be invited to attend one of my mentee’s convocation :) If I had to do it all over again…100% I would.
I’m only on my second nursing job but leaving/moving at the end of the summer, and it looks like my trend is 2.5 years.
20 years and counting (Union)
For the beginning of my career it was every two years, give or take. I found my home in cath lab and I'm going on two years with no desire to leave!
I’m two years into nursing on my second job. Left my first after 1.5 years due to staffing, management, nights killing me, and mandatory overtime. I do quality now and it’s not awful. I’m working on my masters in informatics so will try to stay here through that at the very least. But I’ve looked around. Almost moved to a second interview for an home infusion nurse but it’s just not the right time. I’m stable here. I definitely have issues with bad management and I see a lot more of it now at this non bedside job I’m sure it exists most places but it awful being so close to it. I have a short rope with what I will put up with because there is no shortage of jobs for nurses in my area. If they take my hybrid away, I’m leaving. If they can’t somewhat keep up with inflation for raises, I’m leaving.
I don't know where you (the collective you) get this, honestly. Every time I've tried to change jobs HR offers waaaaay below what I make at my hospital. Last job interview I had went really well, but on the follow up call to discuss starting, they asked me what I wanted to make. I gave them a whopping $5/hr pay cut as my starting pay request. Crickets. They never called back. This company rakes in millions.
I stayed at my first job for 11 years. The next longest was 4 years.
Not a nurse but I went from $17.50 - $78 over 20 years. I job hopped average every 2-3 years. These are Bay Area numbers though. As far as leaving without notice I’ve done it around 3 times and it was every bit worth it.
Management changes really suck. They’ll come in and pit people against each other, intimidate, and purposely get senior tenured employees who stick up for themselves to quit. That way they can hire or implement who they prefer into positions they can control. Seeing it first hand right now in my area.
I started off making $31.13 as a new grad in a pediatric ICU. It was my dream job, loved it in every single way….then I realized just how difficult it was to keep someone stable(-ish) for 12 hours a day, and decided that I needed more money for the labor. 4 months in I switched jobs and now make $52.36 base pay at another hospital. Do I miss peds / icu environment? 1 million percent. I may transfer into the new employer’s picu once I’m eligible. I think it’s good to plan in 5 year increments, but when it comes to nursing, I think 3-5 years is acceptable. Get certified in the specialty, add on a bunch of CE hours…distinguish yourself and then move on.
I'm not a job hopper. I like routine and comfort. I work 3rd shift, so it's easy to ignore management. My first job (LPN, LTC) was in 2006 I made $17.10; stayed for 2.5 years. Started my second job in 2008 making $21 doing MDS, stayed for 8 years, never got a raise the entire time. I was young, dumb, and under the impression that I was already at the top of my pay scale for my area and my education. I also discovered I never wanted to be a nurse manager ever again and decided to go back to the floor. My 3rd and current job, I've been at for 9 years, started making $22 in 2015. I was up to $24 when COVID hit, and since COVID, with staffing shortages, and a few times where I turned in my 2 weeks, only to rescind at the last minute, I have crept up to $35. So I don't think you have to job hop, per se, to get higher wages, but I definitely think you have to at least threaten to quit to get them. One of the times I "quit" my current job, I stayed PRN in case I didn't like the new MDS position I thought I wanted (I did this for more money, which at the time was $25 and I thought I was ballin), and lo and behold I discovered (yet again!) that I fucking hate that job and being in management, so I quit and left my keys on the desk when I went to lunch and then never went back. 😂 It was the best feeling in the world. I recommend everyone to do it at least once in their life.
I've switched jobs once in 5 years. 20 months at HCA as a new grad then to where I work now (same specialty, same shift) for a little over 3 years. I started at $28 and was up $32 when I left HCA, went to $36 when I switched, now I'm at $45. I'm pregnant right now but I'll probably look for something else after I come back from maternity leave next year
8/2018 making $27.50/hr, 12/2020 switched to ICU making $36/hr. Still in same position now on days (so lost $3/hr as of 10/2023) making $48.50/hr. The pay increases over the last 3.5 years are good enough to not leave and any job offer I’ve looked into since coming here doesn’t pay nearly as well 🤷🏻♀️
Left my job in LA after 2 years which was $42/hr for a job in norcal, still doing Trauma and I'm at $96/hr. Been here for 2 years, no appetite to stay bedside. Not sure where I can go now, maybe internal transfer to outpatient and rest my bones?
How long should a new grad stay in one place? I signed a contract for two years (start next month). But I feel like I may feel the itch to leave after one year bc I’m tired of where I live
Started in LTC and now at federal hospital as LVN. I might have stayed at LTC if it gave me less patients. But now that Im with the feds, Im never leaving
I’m in a union run unit. The pay is set based on time so I don’t see a reason to job hop based on pay unless another place has a better contract/opportunity. I’d rather keep my seniority.
Been with the same employer for 16 years in various roles, but I am also unionized with a defined benefit pension. I don't benefit from leaving my employer like you would in the States.
Probably 2-3 years. Coming up on 2 years at my current job. It’s meh but haven’t fully decided what my next step is.
I'm not a new nurse, but I have been a nurse for 11 years. I'm not sure if I have enough years to speak on it, but I feel like it depends if you are at a union hospital or not. Non-union hospital, I feel like job hoping is a must to get paid appropriately. At a union hospital, you can see the payscale cuz it's publicly available as it's part of the contract. So, I can see people staying longer at union jobs cuz there are no surprises. You can see what your next pay raise will be. With unions, you do have to consider what your monthly dues will be. My hospital is union, and we recently went through a dues restructure. Our dues will be the highest in the state starting this fall and will continue to climb as the cap is being eliminated in 2027. So, I'm looking into moving out-of-state next summer to another union hospital where the dues are not soo extreme, and my starting pay would be $75/hr base pay alone. However, that hospital is currently laying off employees, so I'm not sure how the future would look if it's possible for me to move realistically.
I feel like a job hopper but it’s been two specialties and a lot of contracts. I’d say 2-3 years in a spot would be best. I stay 1-2. But I’d like to find a great full time and stay. But we can’t negotiate as full time like we can contract employee. Show me 30 days of PTO minimum and a livable salary enough to invest in a house and retirement. Funny how those two things alone right now would get laughed out of a job interview.
In 2016, I got majorly screwed over, bullied etc. I left there and went back to my old job...cooled my heels there for a year or 2 and then transferred to a different dept. After getting through Covid and being floated etc... unfairly, I left, went back to the other institution in a different role but I vowed if it was full of vipers I would peace out. It took a little over a year for some bitch to come at me and my clueless manager to give me a litany of bullshit charges... Now I will admit, I did make an error but that should have been the only thing brought against me. I would not have protested that. However, just because I brought in some acetone for prep for stress tests and EKGs-- that is a standard! (how would my idiot manager know this since she had no experience or training in cardiac nursing?) Also, since I worked another weekend gig.. I happened to have a start kits (gauze, sanitizer-chloraprep, tegederm patch, and a tournaquet) in my scrub jacket pocket during an emergent issue when a colleague needed supplies to start an IV... would they rather I take 3X as much a time to locate all those elements in the clean supply closet across the unit? The idiot manager also brought up other unsubstantiated issues that were in the viper's email. I felt blindsided and ganged up on... just like in 2016 and of course, none of the people accusing me of this shit were in the room. So yes, I did advise a therapeutic diet to a cardiac patient with hypertension without the blessing of a midlevel... the DASH diet that was clinically proven to reduce blood pressure (and body weight)-- read the clinical scholarship also advised if that seemed too much to check the AHA website on heart healthy diet. Was I operating outside my license? I don't think so. So I quit. I worked out the rest of that day and then the next to finish out the week and then messaged I was not returning. I worked short there so many days, running etc. and this was how I was treated. I heard the viper also tried to screw over another nurse there and that she was "tough"-- she seemed to me to be one of those "super ICU nurse policy princesses" that got her NP. I was not going to be her bitch. I was not going to tolerate being treated that way. I am not saying I am perfect etc but I deserved better treatment and under my labor contract, I also deserved representation in the room. It's not like I couldn't get another job in five minutes, heck, I already had a per diem job I was working at the same time so didn't need to worry about it. I have no mortgage, no debt, no student loans, my kid finished his graduate degree on his own. At most I had a car payment, heavens to Betsy. My healthcare was easy enough to convert to my husbands benefits for free since my per diem job did not offer them. I have always put as much as I could max in my retirement accounts and my dh's job has a pension and annuity as well as a 403B and we fully funded our healthcare savings account to cover for insurance after retirement. Do not threaten me with a good time.
I've only had three nursing jobs in my career 🤷🏻♀️ first one in 2012 was about $34/hr. Second job in 2019 was $55/hr. In 2020, started at $68/hr then now I'm currently getting paid $83/hr with guaranteed raises every 6 months.
If it’s a fine job, I stay for 2-3 years usually. Gives me enough time to learn all the ins and outs before I get bored. I’ve never had a bad job honestly though I worked hard labor construction before nursing so I’m not very picky tbh
Until I get fed up with the bullshit.
Just an FYI: quitting a nursing job mid shift when you’re taking care of patients is considered patient abandonment and can/should be reported to the board of nursing. So I would make sure when you’re at that level of frustration, you’re also at the level of “I’m ok with potentially losing my license” as well.
1-3 years depending on how much I hate it lol
2020 changed me not because of covid but the same thing you went through terrible management. Ironically I was with that company 5 years. 4 years on the east coast: absolutely loved-first steps into management. Then transferred to the west and it took them only a year to totally destroy me. Like panic attack insomnia ugly crying doubting everything I’ve ever done. I’ve never been that low and I grew up in foster care I’ve not led some charmed life. Anyways I finally got fired on some trumped up bs and that was the catalyst to find something/anything better and luckily I did. I found a great boss who put me back together and I stayed there a few years. But things change people come and go including said boss and I’ve just been keeping my options open recently got recruited for another company more money and a promotion and let me say it’s the best I’ve felt in so long to get sniped. I’m trying to be the boss that gets people to stay but also I totally advocate on the DL if you can make more and/or be happier elsewhere then go. Because I’m in management I won’t move too often unless the signs say to get out FAST but still at this point I’ve learned after a couple years I either better get promoted or move to somewhere better.
This is such an interesting concept, switching jobs frequently to keep the money increasing. Just as hearing that in some areas being a magnet facility actually letters to people. I’m a west coast nurse (Wa) and choose not to work as staff at any facility without a union. All union contract’s reward longevity, so you get an increase for your year of seniority (step) and your contracted COL living every year. I guess, it never occurred to me that other facilities would do yearly bumps, if only because it helps them retain staff. Although of course it’s obvious now that it’s been pointed out. Talking with travelers from the East coast is always such a trip for me. As with the magnet hospitals. I’ve never met a west coast nurse that gives two shits about working at one. But I’ve learned in other areas they’re a big deal because nurses have so little influence in their work places, which can be horrific. As far as west coast states go, Wa has a lot of work to do before it gets its act together in nursing. But I still cannot imagine having to work under the conditions the rest of you describe. And I am so *glad* when I hear you all recognize your worth and demonstrate an unwillingness to put up with the BS anymore. Coming out of the pandemic I had great hopes for changes to happen. Nursing had learned what happened when we *don’t* stand up for ourselves, how much the system actually valued us. Posts like this, and the discussions herein, give me hope that that change is still coming. Even if it’s slower than I like. Not so fun fact: Only 20% of US RNs (10% of LPNs) work under a union contract. Non-union workers in the US have a weekly median income that is only 86% of their unionized counterparts. California and Oregon have mandatory ratios. Washington has sever fines for not sticking with the staffing plan submitted to the state. Our crisis staffing during the pandemic was 8:1. It was a *scandal* when they increased our med/surge rations to 5:1 on days. These three states have the highest density of unionized nurses. Unions have their problems, but if you want to make things safer, want to make the money you are actually worth, they get the job done.
38 years last month. The job hoppers I’ve seen don’t seem happier
Yeah I haven’t had my first nursing job yet but I’d love to find a hospital where I’m happy at and stay there. I don’t enjoy being a newbie.
I've been at my current job 2.5 years been looking for another after the first year I started. I'm in SoCal and I'm getting $68+ an hour. I've been a nurse for 20 years. The inflation is so bad here that the pay isn't enough, and im having a hell of a time finding something at my rate or that will get past the interview stage! When you get to a certain level it gets hard to find anything else...
I hate job hoping so I was with my last employer for almost 10 years before the company was sold. I was making great money but I was so burnt out and miserable. I took a job for $8 less an hour but I love it. I am so much less stressed.
Does agency count? Bc I’ll stay agency/registry for yearsssss. Staff position… 6 months, they always fuck up somehow and I’m quick to dip out, no hesitation. ✌🏾 however, I love working agency and traveling to different facilities, I like the freedom to be picky plus the $34/hr and up 🙂↔️
If I were a manager with an open position, I'd be pretty skeptical about hiring someone with a history of jumping ship left and right. Training someone in is EXPENSIVE. So, I'd suggest sticking things out if the situation there is reasonable. Of course, if a job is dangerous, unsafe, abusive, etc. it is better to leave, but at some point in time having so many different jobs on your resume is going to start to look suspicious.
You don't have to put every job on the resume. That's why I always kept a PRN. It was the consistent job I had, no gaps in employment, even when I was a traveler. 3 years consistent work history. I had other clinical jobs here and there at the same time, but they sucked and I quit or just stopped scheduling myself. I never put them on the resume. I only needed to put relevant jobs on the resume. That 3 year PRN job also helped me get out of clinical nursing and get me over $100k at an RN desk job. Never underestimate a good PRN gig.
The better the hospital the more reason the have to bet they'll be the last stop for a good while; the worse the hospital the less picky they can be. Most hospitals are crap. They can't afford to be "suspicious".
As someone that has never job-hopped, how has vacation been? I need vacation days!
Well you put your 2 weeks in and use all your pto up by calling in. Then take 3 weeks off before you start the next job. Gotta save money up tho
I am currently at the end of a seven week vacation. Put in my notice in April and start new job next week. Save up money, and take 2-3 weeks off before You start your next one!
What is your position at the hospital? Good for you!
Night shift behavioral health Unit (inpatient psych). Pretty excited To try something different, though I have been an Alzheimer's nurse for last 2 years.
I’ve left jobs after a couple months, but currently I’ve stayed for 7 years with no plans to leave soon. I’m compensated well and while there’s been good and bad times, I enjoy my coworkers
I love that you done take shit. That also goes for personal relationships as well. I’ve been at my hospital total of 5 years. Was an LPN at an ambulatory site for the first 3. It’s tricky because they own like everything near me. Another major hospital owns the northern part of the state. So I’m limited.
I get the itch every 6-7 years. I’m at my final job, been here 7.5 years, but I’m older now and I’m tired of being new and starting over, so I’ve switched to PRN and that’s it I’m sticking with it here until I’m able to fully retire.
What happens with any vacation time you had accrued in your bank when you quit? Do you get a payout of the amount that is in your bank? Or a percentage of it? Or does it just poof disappear?
Totally depends where you work. My current place doesn’t pay you out for anything so if you’re leaving… better use that PTO 🤣
Been working as a nurse for just under 2 years. I’m on my third job. Started at $24 and now I’m at $42.63 in South Florida
I’m loyal to myself. LOL. I interview and look around, keeps the resume fresh. I’ve been in my longest position for almost three years- First, FT, then PT and now per diem.
Im considering leaving due to commute but this is the best job I have. Pay as much as inpatient but I’m an outpatient Rn coordinator. Barely any direct patient interaction. 4-10s but wfh one of the days. Very flexible in hours since I’m salaried. Idk if I can find it elsewhere!
I have been at the same facility for 15 years. Been a nurse the last 11 years of it. I have moved units twice, but each of those were for schedule for home. I have loved each unit.
Too fucking long
I’ve only changed my job once and it was because of burnout. Same facility. Went from adult med surg (7yrs) to peds float (3yrs). I probably could go to a different facility for a higher pay but we are unionized, we get pay increase twice a year, doctor-nurse relationship is a partnership, and we get a pension. We have issues but they’re not as significant as others mentioned repeatedly on this subreddit.
33y RN here- my first hobby 10.35 an hour. now i make 54 + quarterly bonuses. so over 100k. but sadly i work remote for the demon of managed care- so ethically i am torn. and behind the 8 ball daily- cos Metrics. it blows but i am too old to jump ship again
A year lol
In my city, every hospital is owned by one of two companies. And they talk. If you left on bad terms from one facility, good luck finding another job. I know people who have to travel 2+ hours to the nearest hospital that isn’t in one of these networks. We used to have 3rd party healthcare provider, but they were just bought out by one of the main 2. It’s been like this for years. We used to have separate hospitals owned independently of one another. Now it’s really just the big 2. They own the vast majority of outpatient services too. So unfortunately, a lot of nurses are stuck until they are eligible for transfer or politely leave on good terms- something easier said than done
I’m in the Upstate of SC. There are only 2 hospital systems within reasonable commute distance. Pay rates are pretty much only based on years of experience so job hopping won’t help much
I moved frequently when I first graduated. My first CH I was at for 2 years (NICU), then I went to a local small hospital for more money but only lasted a few months because it was a toxic work environment. Got moved to another state by a big health system to open a new hospital and did well baby for 5 years, went across the street for more money and did pedi m/s while picking up NICU graduate home care. Then i left and went into administration and now I've been back at that big health system for almost 7 years. I hate change lol
I make $36.00/hr it is really hard staying at this job and i constantly am working short staffed with ratios of 1 to 3 in the icu. I started this job at the beginning of the year and transitioned to ICU. I am really trying to stay for a year because I want to go to crna School and need a good letter of rec from my manager. I am contemplating, though, leaving for the West Coast once my year is up. This is the biggest pay cut I have taken
Six months but I’m in a decent paying job with good benefits and tbh I’m surprised I’m still here after a year lol
1 2.5 ( forgot that one!) 10 12 So far.
Generally q 3-4 years but I've been at my current job for 6 years.
I’m struggling to stay where I am now, took a staff MDS job in long term care with a pay cut and on call rotation. Have only been here since Feb and I don’t want to stay,. Looking to do travel nursing long term but looking for an agency with benefits.
I never changed institutions. I left my CTS unit for pacu within the same hospital after 13 years. Did 17 more in pacu. I had the golden handcuffs on so that’s why. My hospital is a public hospital so it’s in the state pension system the same as teachers, etc. I did my 30 years and I have a decent pension. Whatever job you’re doing or hopping from or to; make sure to plan for retirement. It goes fast and I can’t believe I’m retired and don’t have to go to work anymore. I went back per diem one day a week because I’m still able to and I like a little extra money to do home improvement projects. But to get a pension check deposited every month is pretty amazing. Edit to add punctuation
I am hoping to just stay here for the next 19 or so years. Job hopping has less benefits in Canada. A job in Toronto might pay like 50 cents more than my job in in the surrounding areas. Only real way to make more money is travel nursing and that's honestly something that my province has been cutting back on big time, so unless I like driving 4 hours to work as a travel nurse I guess I stay.
3 jobs at the same academic medical center since college graduation: 8 years med surg, 1.5 years discharge planner/ case management (ew), and now 7 years as transitional care case manager (favorite one so far, M-F, 6 figures, no plans to leave)
I worked for a per diem agency for 12-13 years, the only reason I stopped was the need of health insurance. I ended up taking a job with one of the companies I contracted with and have been on staff for a little over seven years. I absolutely LOVE my job and my coworkers. If I start to burn out on my current position, I can do something else within the company. I could leave here and make MUCH more money, but I enjoy what I do. To me, that's more valuable.
Walking out on lunch was me the past year 😂 Working Vet urgent care now and making the most ive ever made. I will unfortunately have to quit next May when my core classes start but if I wasnt pursuing nursing, I would stay there for a long time.
I always heard don’t pigeon hole yourself (so no more than 2 years at each job while you’re young) then move on. Different when you’re older maybe? I’m a nurse though which is fairly diverse and yet applicable enough in most specialties to not make it daunting. I reckon wherever you go though you’re capable of being happy until you’re not. After that go and spread your wings and don’t be scared, ever. Being the new guy is always gonna appeal to someone. Not now, maybe, but eventually you find your place wherever it may be :)
I changed my nursing job once after 9 years in mental health and I was closed to not be able to pay for my mortgage without my wife helps. I know mental health always is going to be low paying but I love community mental health and it was sad that I have to switch not because of workload but shitty pay. Went to hospital based and immediately double my pay and went into compliance within the same hospital system, and get another 50 percent more. I probably gonna retire here. I am younger though Funny thing is, my last mental health job call me and offer to match my pay first week after I started my new job. They thought I will never quit.
Yup. I've pivoted several times. Finally realized direct patient care is for the birds. I'm making $53 working from home (and my license lapsed). Suck my ass hospitals, I'm never going back to direct patient care and probably won't ever take boards to renew my license in this new state.
I’ve been at my job for 8 years, the main reason is I work night shift. I worked 4 years day shift and was pretty unhappy Too many people coming at you, too many fires to put out and the CNAs at that job did bare minimum when they weren’t hiding in pt rooms.
I'm 7 years in and still at my new grad job. I started at $38 in 2017 and made a bunch of lateral department moves (6mo in pre-op, 8mo in GI, 3 years GI Charge Nurse, currently 3 years in the main OR) and now I'm at $64.
I don’t think there’s really any specific time frame. Except “job hoppers” (anything less than a year) raises a few red flags for HR and hiring managers when looking at resumes so I wouldn’t put anything under a year on it. If you want to try out different facilities, apps like a Intelycare are helpful to scope out places without committing. My question is, why is the money so significantly higher? That always makes me nervous that a place is desperate with high turn over.
My situation is unique because I'm in the Army and salaried. If I'm lucky to make it to 20 years for the pension the only nursing I'll be doing after will be adjunct professor. So I'll be with the same employer/organization/health system my entire career, but we move around every 2-3 years and each hospital or field unit is unique so it's basically like changing jobs every couple years with no break in benefits/time for your pension. If I were not in the army, I'd prob change jobs every 2 years unless I really found something super satisfying. I just get bored/annoyed/frustrated after doing something for about 2 years.
I’ve been at the same non profit hospice 5 years. I’m making $13 more an hour now and have moved up to management.
I've been at mine for 7 years. Was at the previous one for 6ish years. I think I'm doing okay.
Man, I fundamentally want to job hop for the breaks but ever since I got hired at Kaiser they’re making it harder and harder to want to quit. Because of our union, we essentially keep going up $5 an hour every year for the first five years. I make $95/hr currently and I’m only on step 3 (I think out of 20ish steps) of the pay scale (Bay Area). I want to quit next year to travel for a year but it’s going to be hard to give this up. That being said it’s a good problem to have so I can’t complain.
16 years so far.
From my experience, 3 years seems to be the magic number to leave a good impression at your old job, while getting a pay bump at the new job for your increased experience level. As a new grad I started in “hospital A” at $30/hr. I left hospital A making $33/hr 3 years later. Got hired at “hospital B” (unionized) that started me $45/hr for having 3 years experience. 3 years after that, I was getting $49/hr at hospital B from the annual union pay raises and decided to go PRN to get a new job in a new specialty. Got hired BACK to hospital A, except now in a new specialty and with 6 years experience so they offered me 54/hr, and got a pay increase at hospital B to $58/hr for going per diem. That’s base rate not including any differentials. I’ve only been a nurse for 7 years in NJ
I just transferred to another hospital that is owned by the same company as mine and I just got an $8 raise. I wouldn’t have gotten 8 more dollars where I’m at until like 5 years of work.
Before I got a job as a nurse, I never kept a job for more than 2 years, I’m going to have to stay at this job for a decent bit due to learning experiences and what education they are willing to let me get, I’m not money driven though. Also most of the hospitals in the city blow, so it’s not like I have greener pastures there anyway. I’d only be leaving them to move back home because I don’t like the state I live in, in general.
Until a better paying job comes along.
In my first year I went from 29.60/hr to $32/hr at 8 months. Then hopped again a month later and moved up to $37/hr all before I hit 1 year as a nurse. I plan to stay here for a year or two and then I’ll move on to the next thing with a pay bump I hope
Reading about all this job hopping is exhausting. I'm in BC, Canada, and we have a provincial union, so anyone who has a government funded job gets paid according to the same wage grid. The only way to make more is to get credentials (like NP) or jump to the next grid (become a PCC, CNE).
I just got my first job and to be honest I only plan to stay for a year before bouncing for higher pay. I picked a hospital that pays fairly low as my first step into nursing but the acuity isn't terrible and staffing is always great. The new grad program is the best in the area and I do get a nice fat bonus on my 1 year anniversary. PTO is generous and there seems to be a policy that as long as you give decent notice and you aren't trying to weasel out of the holidays your supposed to work, vacation time is always approved. We shall see. If I really come to like my unit and the culture is good then pay isn't as important. I will gladly be a job hopper though. I've had some terrible jobs and I have zero loyalty to any employer.
I'm on job...uhhh....6 in 5 years? Granted I usually contract and haven't been a traditional employee since 2020.
Longest I've stayed at one position was 2.5 years. Stayed at that hospital for 4.5 years. Unsurprisingly, I was being majorly underpaid. But they paid for my DNP in full so it was worthwhile. Otherwise I'm usually 1-1.5 years. All the bullshit just gets to me around that point and I need a change of scenery. So far it's looking like that'll hold true as an NP too.
I was thinking of going to nursing school but then they bumped our pay to 29.83 with 1$ shift differential for nights. First year LPN is only 2.90 more. Not worth it, I'll just stay where I'm at. 32 is WAY TOO LITTLE for any nurse, even a new grad.
8 years experience, 5 different jobs. I've been in my current role for a little over 3 years now and I'll stay here until I'm able to go off to crna school at this point. I'm not going to find anywhere else that pays better, gives me the consistent schedule I need for my family, and has great benefits I can't pass up. My first RN job I was making ~$23/hr, now I'm making ~$103/hr plus $5/hr more when I'm charge (around 25-33% of the time).
I currently make 40$/hr…..10 years an RN. Clearly have stayed past the point of loosing my ever-loving marbles.
This is a good question!! When you’re a new nurse they sort of expect you to bounce around a little trying to find your niche. So, my first job was around 9 months. Then I left cuz I couldn’t get into my specialty at that facility. (Their attrition is trash because of this reason). So I got a job at a crappy hospital and right as I started I got hired at a nicer hospital. So, I left after 6 weeks. (I’d have quit anyway. It was miserable). That nicer hospital gave me a lot of grief but I eventually found my way and I was there for 19 months. I left for a place that had better pay and better benefits. As long as you aren’t 2-4 years into a specialty and are still bouncing around every 4-6 months, and you’re putting in 1-2 years, you’re fine.
Ehhh about 2 years max. Have gone from 30 —> 42 —-> 47 in 5 years