How Is A Nurse's Salary Defined?

Nursing is probably one of those professions in which employment opportunities are as stable as ever, even if they are not showing an increase.

The overall nationwide shortage of nurses has ensured that opportunities will always be available for people in the nursing profession, especially since they play such a vital role in society and its health issues.

In Demand

Therefore, nurses are in demand due to the basic nature of their jobs, which entitle them to provide assistance to those sick or in need of health assistance, whether by medication or by simple education.

People who have prior degrees desire to enter this field. A nurse's salary varies greatly from situation to situation. There is no base salary as such and instead the figures fluctuate due to a variety of reasons.

Factors That Influence Salary

Some of the factors, which influence a nurse's salary includes the years of experience that a nurse has. A Graduate Nurse (GN) usually is expected to start at the lowest rung of the pay ladder for nurses. A GN normally remains at this position till she has managed to pass the board examinations or NCLEX, after which she will get a slight increase in pay.

However, in case of a failure to pass the exam, the hospital reserves the right to terminate a GNs employment or grant her a grace period in which the nursing candidate is given the opportunity to pass the exams for a second time.

A graduate hospital nurse normally, however, stays on in the position for several years before passing or sitting for the boards. Most graduate nurses on the whole are not allowed to pass their medicals without gaining their licenses first.

Salary Ranges

The salary ranges around lower to mid-forty thousand dollars per year and may differ from location to location. In rural communities in particular, in which hospitals are funded by governments, the pay scale may be either higher or lower than that of private establishments.

Unionization

Whether a nurse is unionized or not is also a feature which affects entry level pay for the nurse. Unions may either work for or against a nurses pay.

Sometimes, non-unionized hospitals may pay more. Shift premiums may be taken into consideration when deciding on the salary of a nurse with the midnight shift holder commanding the larger pay scale with most hospital shifts lasting for about 12 hours.

The good news is that nurses get four days off when working in night shifts and are still considered as full timers, even with only 36 hours of work input. There are also several health benefits which nurses are eligible for and include dental and optical facilities in the complete package, which they become eligible for from a week after hire till a maximum of about ninety days after hire.

The Type Of Nursing Makes A Difference

The specific department, of the hospital, in which a nurse works, will also determine her salary, such as a specialty care department, recovery room, operation theater, and intensive care unit or cardiac care facility.

Affiliation with these departments usually signifies more pay and also an increased premium on completion of training in the hospital.

The cost of living and population density of the place is also taken into account when deciding on nursing salaries.

Therefore, it is on the basis of all these various factors that a nurse's salary is decided. However, it would be prudent to say that in most cases, nurses get a decent package, which is more than sufficient to cover all their expenses and also include a variety of benefits.

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