I know a nurse. She makes about 55k..
Oh and Flinstones, we're about the same age, i have more then a few friends close to your situation and i understand it. You need to search for motivation bro, because if you're too comfortable it's not just going to happen 
You sure she's not an LPN? I know about a dozen nurses who moved to the US and make over $100,000 because it's easy as fuck to get a job there and pull over 6 figures. Yes this includes some overtime, but not too much.
There are nurses in Canada making over $100,000 too. When my mom just got into nursing they had crazy overtime incentives all the time. I was just moving out at the time (sucks because we were dirt poor my entire life lol) but the last month I was there the phone was ringing off the hook. They offered nothing less than triple time as well as banked hours for every few hours she worked OT. Made over $80,000 her first year and paid off a fuck ton of student debt. I think this was around 7 or 8 years ago.
My wife's just finishing her first year of the RN program. Could have been finished by now but got hired as a Registered Care Aid making almost $30/hour so it was tough to go back to school with that kind of money dangling overhead. I'm seriously thinking of going into the nursing program in the next year or two. You don't wipe asses and give needles 24/7. That's what RCAs, LPNs and bitch nurses do. I know some nurses that work in long term care facilities and all they do for 12 hours a day is tick off a few boxes on a clipboard, give out medication and watch over the LPNs and RCAs. One nurse dude at my wife's work has fucked about 10 chicks there and takes 2 hour naps each day. When people laugh that he's a nurse he laughs that he's fucked their girlfriend and makes twice as much as them lol
