Neonatal nurses in the United States earn a median pay of $59,116 per year. In Canada, the neonatal nurse salary stands at C$73,104 ($53,368 USD). Pay for neonatal nurses in the United Kingdom range generally from £22,128 ($28,516 USD) to £35,577 ($45,846 USD).
Mean earning stands at AU$91,992 ($67,842 USD) for neonatal nurses in Australia, CHF124,198 ($123,290 USD) in Switzerland, and NOK908,176 ($105,628 USD) in Norway.
Neonatal Nurse Salary Influencers
For neonatal nurses, experience, geography and work environment help shape compensation. Generally, pay rises with accumulated work experience and seniority in the field. Certain countries operate single-payer healthcare systems. This can impact what hospitals and other medical providers charge and how much neonatal nurses make.
1. Industry
Neonatal nurses typically care for newborn babies with illnesses or who are born prematurely. Generally, premature, or preterm, babies are those born at or before the completion of 37 weeks of pregnancies.
Due to the conditions that result from preterm birth or conditions occurring during pregnancy, many of these babies require service in neonatal intensive care units. As a result, hospitals serve as prominent employers of neonatal nurses. Other employers include home healthcare agencies or emergency and transportation teams.
2. Geographical Area
Neonatal Nurse Salary | US | Canada | UK | Australia | Switzerland | Norway |
Hourly Wage | $28.77 | C$35.15 |
£14 |
AU$44.23 | CHF59.74 | NOK436,94 |
Annual Wage | $59,116 | C$73,104 | £29,120 | AU$91,992 | CHF124,262 | NOK908,839 |
Neonatal Nurse Salary in the US
According to PayScale, neonatal nurses in the United States have a mean salary of $59,116 per year. Therefore, the hourly rate is of $28.77. As a group, their total pay ranges from $40,441 to $87,529.
Neonatal Nurse Salary in Canada
Neuvoo reports a mean salary of C$73,104 for registered neonatal nurses in Canada. While Payscale says the median yearly pay is C$62,256.
Neonatal Nurse Salary in the UK
Neonatal nurses in the United Kingdom generally begin on “Band 5.” This translates to a pay range of £22,128 to £28,746. With performance and experience, neonatal nurses can advance to pay ranging between £26,565 and £35,577. Payscale states the median yearly pay for neonatal nurses in the UK stands at £29,120.
Neonatal Nurse Salary in Australia
According to Neuvoo, the mean pay stands at AU$92,323 per year for neonatal nurses in Australia. While PayScale reports that neonatal intensive care unit nurses earn a mean pay of AU$56,260, with a pay range between AU$48,154 and AU$92,134.
Neonatal Nurse Salary in Switzerland
As reported by SalaryExpert, neonatal nurses in Switzerland fetch a mean base salary of CHF124,262 per year, so the hourly pay stands at 59,74.
Neonatal Nurse Salary in Norway
For neonatal nurses in Norway, the mean base pay as reported by SalaryExpert amounts to NOK908,839 per year.
Statistics Norway does not publish salary information specifically for neonatal nurses. However, nurses have a mean pay of NOK42,100 per month. Therefore, about NOK505,200 per year.
3. Experience
In the United States, more experience raises pay slightly for neonatal nurses. Entry-level neonatal nurses have a median pay of $56,000, while those with five years of experience earn a median of $65,000. At ten years experience, the median slides to $62,000, then rises to $64,000 after 20 years of experience.
According to Neuvoo, entry-level pay for neonatal RNs in Canada begins at $51,000. With experience, salaries can reach $102,000. In Australia, entry-level neonatal nurses can earn at least AU$64,000, while those with experience can earn up to AU$129,000.
In Switzerland, entry-level neonatal nurses have a mean pay of CHF98,442 per year. The mean rises to CHF191,061 for seniors of the job. Norway’s neonatal nurses earn a median salary of NOK722,005 at entry-level and NOK1,401,295 at the senior level.
Working Hours
Normally, the work hours of neonatal nurses tend to follow that of hospital nurses in general. Since hospitals operate around the clock every day, neonatal nurses can expect night, evening, weekend, and holiday shifts. Depending on the hospital, shifts can last eight to 12 hours at a time.
Many nurses, including neonatal nurses, work full time, though the rates in some places are lower than the overall workforce. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says roughly 1 in 6 registered nurses log part-time hours.
According to Canada’s Job Bank, approximately 78 percent of registered nurses work full-time compared with 81 percent for all workers in Canada. In Australia, only 53.8 percent of registered nurses have full-time employment. Among full-time registered nurses, the mean work week runs 34.6 hours, compared with 40.2 hours a week for all occupations in Australia.
Bonuses & Benefit Packages
To address nursing shortages, hospitals or government agencies may award signing bonuses or incentives.
According to PayScale, bonuses for neonatal nurses in the United States run up to $800, while neonatal intensive care unit nurses earn between $397.32 and $9,863 in bonuses. While bonuses for Swiss neonatal nurses averages CHF2,534, and for those in Norway is NOK18,527.
Pay can also increase through advancement to managerial positions and advanced practice. Neonatal nurses can supervise staffs as nurse managers or can educate and support staff as clinical nurse specialists. Neonatal nurse practitioners offer more comprehensive care. You can also read more about the pediatric nurse salary.
Job Outlook
Generally, the occurrence of premature births and difficulty of providers in filling and keeping prenatal nurses should sustain hiring of nurses. In the United States, ten percent of births in 2015 were premature. According to a “Health Survey” reported by OMICS International, approximately 11 percent of pregnancies in Switzerland resulted in preterm labor.
Norway may need between 95,000 and 135,000 more healthcare professionals overall within the next 20 years. Whether this translates to a greater demand for neonatal nurses depends on birth rates, especially as much of the need for nurses is due to an increasingly aging population. In fact, fertility rates in 2015 in Norway stood at 1.73 children per mother.
In the United States, employment of neonatal nurses could grow by 31 percent through 2022.
The Nursing Times reports that, in a survey of 100 neonatal units in the United Kingdom, 64 percent of respondents noted an insufficient number of nurses. According to the survey, 26 out of 30 neonatal intensive care units lacked enough nurses.
In Australia, enterprise agreements may shape demand for neonatal nurses by requiring a specific number of neonatal nurses per newborns in the hospital. For instance, in Victoria, the enterprise agreement among the four major neonatal intensive care units calls for one neonatal nurse for every two newborns.
Conclusion
Neonatal nurse demand may depend on factors such as birth rates and the occurrences of premature births or other illnesses by newborns. The shortages of prenatal nurses in many areas may lead to incentives or bonuses to lure aspiring neonatal nurses to hospitals or this nursing field overall.
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