Nurses' pay is HIGHLY variable depending on: type of facility worked at, post RN training (CEN, CCRN, RT, Rad Tech) they possess, hours worked, employer worked for - along with a myriad of other factors (I know this well, as I said, my wife is an RN very soon to have her Masters in the field).
Nurses that work for an 'agency' (staffing agency) will tend to make 'bank' for the lack of better term. However, their hours are very irregular, they won't work at the same location repeatedly (they will work at whatever hospital/facility needs staffing on short notice), and are essentially 'on-call' waiting for a facility to call the staffing agency with its staffing need.
When a request from a facility comes into a staffing agency, that institution has obviously exhausted its internal staffing ability to cover a shift (usually an unexpected surge in admissions, or sick calls). Then the staffing agency coordinator starts calling available nurses (with the appropriate background), to cover the work that needs to be filled. My wife worked for a nursing staffing agency while I was in FedEx (she could pick and choose her hours - she did this to make sure our kids didn't become 'latchkey kids'.). She made (depending on assignment accepted), between $40 and $60 an hour.
The downside to being an agency nurse, was that there were no benefits (we used my FedEx benefits - and I WORKED for them, they weren't handed out gratis by Fred), and her work was often very irregular. She could work (be called to work) 50 hours in one week and go the next week without a phone call. This is why most RNs that work with staffing agencies do so solely as supplemental income. MOST work for an institution, give their schedules to the staffing agency coordinator (so they knew when they were available), then would hope for a shift. This was better than working OT in a hospital, since the wage rate was often DOUBLE their normal wage rate - and they got to work in a different institution, meet different people and meet those who might have a better opportunity for steady employment. About the only restriction that was placed on most agency nurses, is that they couldn't work an 'agency shift' for their 'regular' employer. This was to prevent nurses from turning down OT in whatever facility they worked in, only to come in as an 'agency nurse' being paid double or more their usual wage.
Most hospitals have what they call 'hourly bonus' where if a nurse accepts a shift that no one wants (after the hospital's shift coordinator calls the entire staffing roster for a department), they will be paid a bonus on top of their normal wage rate (regardless if they are working OT). In some instances (graves, holidays, etc.) hospitals will pay double bonus and very rarely triple bonus, all to avoid calling a staffing agency to get a shift filled.
Nurses that are smart and flexible, can make some serious money.
A generic agency shift in a nursing home would get one maybe $25-$30/hr (depending on time of day to be covered and just how tight staffing agency availability was). Staffing agencies work using a sort of 'airline' system, where those institutions who call in days in advance for staffing needs are given one rate (low), while those that call in with less than 2 hours till the shift starts are quoted a very HIGH rate. The nurses who keep a pair of scrubs handy and their cell phone nearby can pick up a quick $300 - $500 for a single shift.
'Regular' pay for starting RNs is in the low $20/hr range (goes up in inner cities and for working undesirable hours). With experience, their pay can hit $40/hr (this is being a FT employee for a hospital, with some years under their belt). Specialty nurses (ICU, ER, etc. ), can make upwards of $40 (regular employer), and easily $60 if they work an agency shift.
The burnout rate in nursing is rather high, a significant percentage of nursing school graduates are no longer doing patient care 10 years after passing their NCLEX. Many will go to work in a MD's office - but most MD's are using LPNs now rather than full RNs (cheaper).
And many, many years ago, I happened to meet the woman who was to be my future wife, while exchanging some of those nasty opiates and anxiolytics out my med box that were about to hit their expiration date, for some 'fresh stuff' in the ER. I did my time as an EMT-P, ACLS - so I've been around the block myself a few times.... I've done and seen more than our 'dial-a-nurse' will ever see in her lifetime.
So she can shove her telephone script, her fresh veggies and whole grains, where they belong.
And if she stops taking what her husband is telling her as Gospel (the perverted Gospel of Fred), then she might begin to think clearly and be able to make some money herself.
I can only imagine, if she is this gorked on purple KoolAid, what her husband must be like. I can only see prolonged exposure to Mr. Wavy Hands himself, as causing symptoms as serious as this.