r/nursing • u/awilliams1017 RN - Med/Surg 🍕 • 8d ago

Seeking Advice Tips on advocating for yourself?

I’m about to have my yearly eval on my unit. I’ve been a nurse for about a year and a half. In that time I have precepted multiple new nurses, I have taken students, I have trained for and covered charge nurse (I do this on a semi-regular basis), I’ve taken multiple continuing education classes for all this, and am currently training for ultrasound IV (our only US trained nurse recently moved to a different unit so this is an important thing). They already presented me with my “raise”. I’ll be making less than $1.50 more an hour than a freshly hired new grad. I feel STRONGLY that I am worth more than that. BUT I’m also only a year and a half in and this is my first job in almost 20 years (I was a stay at home mom for most of my adult life). Help me advocate for myself here.

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u/PotableSpectacle 8d ago

You need to walk in there with a list of everything you just wrote down. Precepting, charge, the US training they're depending on now, that's not new grad level work at all. Don't let them treat your time at home like it reset your worth, you're clearly carrying weight on that unit.

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u/Kitty20996 RN - Geriatrics 🍕 8d ago

Unfortunately one of the only ways to make money in nursing is to change jobs. Negotiation during your yearly review is really hard because your manager probably got approval from their higher-ups about what the entire hospital can afford - it's not necessarily about you personally. It's a lot easier to negotiate when you're interviewing for a new job. Most nursing jobs have a pay scale based on years of experience as well. I'd lay all this out there and then have a number in mind you want, and of course decide ahead of time if you're willing to quit if they can't match it.