I make $103/hr, but I'm miserable.

Sup nurses!

Monica and I just got back from a 3-week vacation to Bora Bora, Georgia, and NYC. In those 3 weeks, we spent over $26,000—more money than we've ever spent on a single vacation. Crazy, right?

But here’s the kicker—this is something that would never have been possible if we weren’t working as nurses in Northern California. This trip was a big reminder of the financial perks our jobs provide, but it also brought up some real feelings about the personal sacrifices involved.

Let me be real with you—nursing is a selfless profession. We put our lives at risk to care for people we don’t even know. It’s a job where you can truly make a difference in society, but it’s also one that’s hard to describe because, despite all the benefits, sometimes I just really hate it.

I only work 20 hours per week and get 9 days off. I have paid sick leave, a floating holiday, and a paid birthday holiday I can take any time of the year. On top of that, I get 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.

Sounds like a dream, right?

But here’s the thing—nursing is tough. It’s draining, both physically and emotionally. Most of my patients are wonderful, but there are always a few who leave a negative impression. And those few can weigh heavy on your mind long after your shift ends.

A little backstory— I’ve been a nurse since 2012, and Monica since 2013. We graduated with over $80,000 in student debt, and our goal was always to work hard to pay it off quickly.

We moved from NYC to Sacramento to put ourselves in a better financial position. While it’s true that moving here has helped us pay off debt and build a better financial future, it has also increased these feelings of being miserable at work.

Why? We grew up in NYC, and all our family still lives there. We recently visited NYC and were able to experience the things we remember and loved most when we lived there—the energy, the food, the culture.

But had we not moved to Sacramento, we would still be swimming in debt. The financial freedom we’ve gained is undeniable, but it came at a cost.

Are others willing to give up the things they cherish in order to put themselves in a better financial position? We were willing to make that sacrifice, but we know it’s not a permanent decision.

In two years, we’ll be moving back to NYC. By then, we won’t have to work as nurses if we don’t want to. We can rely on our business income.

This move to Sacramento was strategic. It’s setting us up for a future where we have more choices. But it hasn’t been easy.

I’ve seen so many nurses burned out, completely exhausted, and unsure of what to do next. They want to leave the profession, but as nurses, we’re kind of stuck.

Our nursing degrees don’t translate well to other fields outside of healthcare, so it feels like we don’t have many options. And that’s a hard pill to swallow.

It’s a strange feeling, knowing that you’re making a difference, that you’re part of something bigger, yet still finding yourself dreading the next shift. Even with all the perks—like the pay, the time off, and the benefits—nursing can take a toll on you.

So, why do we stay? For some of us, it’s the calling. For others, it’s the financial security. But for many, it’s because we don’t know what else we can do. We’re trained to be nurses, and that’s what we do.

But at what cost?

I wanted to share this because I know I’m not alone in feeling this way. If you’re struggling, just know that it’s okay to feel this way. It doesn’t make you any less of a nurse or any less of a person.

And many new grad nurses are even feeling like this within their first year in the profession.

It’s okay to admit that this job is hard, and it’s okay to talk about it.

We’re all in this together. And maybe, just maybe, by sharing our experiences, we can find ways to make it a little easier on ourselves and each other.

Stay strong, and talk to you soon!

—Jason

If you appreciate the transparency in this newsletter, we share more of this with our members in the Nurses to Riches accelerator program.

The program was created for nurses who want to move to California and earn $200,000 per year while working fewer than 40 hours per week (you can actually do it while working 32 hours per week if you follow our plan).

It teaches you:

• Whether California is (or isn’t) for you

• How to get licensed in California

• How to plan before you move

• How to find a hospital that makes sense for you

• How to analyze and determine your wage on a hospital-by-hospital basis by using our Top California Hospitals Spreadsheet

• How to determine which city makes the most sense to live in by using our Ultimate Salaries Spreadsheet with Cost of Living data

• How to work smarter, not harder so you can reduce your working hours and make more money

• How to get rid of your debt (we paid off $128k in less than 1 year)

• How to begin to invest your money

If this sounds good to you, you can visit our website and use coupon code “LOYAL5” to get an additional 5% off the already heavily discounted 50% off until we increase our prices as a thank you for being a subscriber of our newsletter.