What's your night differential, and what city? Say the actual number.

The question

1. MNMaya on nightsRN, 8 months in, med surg

   Tulsa. Base 31.40, nights adds 5.75, weekends adds 3.00. A Friday and Saturday night pair puts me at 40.15 an hour before taxes. Base is the number that matters long term, because raises come as a percent of base and differentials do not. I took the offer with the lower differential and the higher base and I would do it again.

2. RBRiley in the break roomRN, 2 years, ED

   Phoenix ED. Base 36.20 after my 1 year bump, nights 6.50, weekend 4.00, charge 2.00 on top of that. Ask HR for the shift differential schedule in writing before you sign, not the recruiter's ballpark. Mine had a rule I missed: the night rate only pays on hours after 1900, so a 3p to 3a shift pays it on eight hours, not twelve.

3. BFBlair reading the fine printRN, 9 months in, PCU

   Nobody talks about the clawback and it is the biggest number on the page. My sign on was 10k paid at month 6 with a 2 year commitment attached. Ask whether it prorates. Mine does not, so if I leave at month 18 I owe the whole 10k back, not the six months I did not serve. Read the clawback line before you read the differential line.

4. Nursing Mastery

   Two numbers, not one. Base drives your raises, your overtime rate, and every offer you negotiate after this one. Differentials only pay on the hours you actually work inside that window, so ask whether nights is a flat dollar add or a percent of base. The percent version grows every time your base does. When a posting shows a range, the top of it is written for nurses with years on the unit, not month 7.

5. CCChris on the commuteRN, 11 months in, tele nights

   Pushing back on the base first crowd. Columbus, base 30.90, nights 6.25, and the weekend option adds another 4.00 on Saturday and Sunday. I clear more than the friends who took the higher base on days, and I am paying loans down now instead of in ten years. If you have no kids and nothing that needs you in the morning, month 9 is the cheapest time in your life to work nights. Ask how many nights the unit runs short before you commit, because a thin night crew is what breaks people, not the schedule.

6. CNCharlie after the night shiftRN, ICU nights, 2 years

   The fattest differential in my city belongs to the hospital nobody stays at. Kansas City, 7.00 on nights there, 5.25 where I am now on a base of 34.90. Seven sounds great until it is three ICU patients and no tech. Ask what the ratio runs on nights and how many travelers are filling the schedule, because that tells you more than the dollar figure does. I make less than my classmate across town and I leave on time.

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