I Make $103 an Hour as a Nurse, and Some Days I Hate It

I make $103 an hour as a nurse in Northern California. I work about 20 hours a week. Some days, I still hate this job.

Nursing burnout is something most of us will feel at some point. I want to talk about it openly, because I know I’m not the only one.

A $26,000 vacation, and what it reminded me of

Monica and I just got back from a 3-week trip to Bora Bora, Georgia and NYC. We spent over $26,000. That’s more than we’ve ever spent on one vacation.

A trip like that would never have been possible if we weren’t nurses in Northern California. It reminded me how much this job gives us. It also brought up some hard feelings about what we gave up to get here.

The perks look like a dream

I work about 20 hours per week and get 9 days off. I have paid sick leave and a floating holiday. I also get a paid birthday holiday I can use any time of the year, plus up to 5 days of bereavement leave.

My health and dental insurance cost me only $78 every two weeks. I get a pension and a matching 401k.

That all sounds great, but nursing is tough. It drains you in body and mind.

Most of my patients are wonderful. A few leave a bad mark, though, and those few can stay on your mind long after your shift ends.

Why we moved, and what it cost us

I’ve been a nurse since 2012, and Monica since 2013. We finished school with over $80,000 in student debt. Our goal was always to work hard and pay it off fast.

We moved from NYC to Sacramento to put ourselves in a better spot with money. The move helped us pay off debt and build a better future. You can read how we paid off $128K of debt in under a year.

The move also made the bad days at work feel heavier. We grew up in NYC, and all our family still lives there. On our last visit, we got to enjoy the things we loved most about it: the energy, the food and the culture.

If we had stayed in New York, we would still be buried in debt. The freedom we have now is huge, but it came at a cost.

A plan, not a forever move

We were willing to give up the things we love to get ahead with money. We always knew it wasn’t a forever choice.

When I first wrote this in August 2024, our plan was to move back to NYC in two years. By then, we wouldn’t have to work as nurses unless we wanted to, because we could rely on our business income. That plan has changed since then. You can read why our move back to NYC is on hold.

Moving to Sacramento was a plan. It set us up for a future with more choices. It just hasn’t been easy.

Why so many nurses feel stuck

I’ve seen so many nurses burned out and worn down. They don’t know what to do next. They want to leave, but as nurses, we’re kind of stuck.

Our nursing degrees don’t carry over well to jobs outside of healthcare. So it feels like we don’t have many options, and that’s hard to accept.

It’s a strange feeling. You know you’re making a difference and you’re part of something bigger. Yet you still dread the next shift, even with the pay, the time off and the benefits.

Some of us stay because it’s a calling. Others stay for the steady money. Many stay because we don’t know what else we could do. We were trained to be nurses, so that’s what we do.

A lot of new grad nurses feel this way in their very first year. I wrote more about this in why I think many nurses are underpaid, not burnt out.

It’s okay to say this job is hard

If you’re struggling, it’s okay to feel this way. It doesn’t make you any less of a nurse or any less of a person.

It’s okay to admit this job is hard, and it’s okay to talk about it. We’re all in this together. By sharing what we go through, maybe we can make it a little easier on ourselves and each other.

Written by Jason, RN. I went from $37 an hour in New York to $143 an hour in California and paid off $128K of debt in under a year. I share our numbers in the Nurses to Riches newsletter and on YouTube.