[zahryia]

Nursing has long been a ladder up for minority women, but a new state study shows that in New York City, black nurses get paid less than their white counterparts.

The Center for Health Workforce Studies at the State University of New York in Albany compared the salaries of nurses with similar experience...........


http://www.crainsnewyork.com/apps/pb...66375/1008/toc

Surprise, surprise.............

[CHATSDALE]

some agency with teeth needs to investigate this correct this situation

nursing has been traditionally been a place where discrimination is not allowed this is no time to allow it to get a foothold
i worked with a nurse and she said that when she was going to nursing school her uncle told her she was wasting her time and money because no one would ever hire a black nurse..she was the company nurse over four ltc and two of the dons she supervised were also black

nursing and teaching of all professions needs to be based on competence and not color [or gender etc]

[earle58]

Originally Posted by CHATSDALE

some agency with teeth needs to investigate this correct this situation

agree w/dale.
however they found out about the discrepancy in salaries, needs to be reported to the appropriate agcy.
i don't know if that would be eeoc, dol or who would address this.
but clearly, it has to stop.
not only stop, but these black nurses need to be paid back retroactively, as well as immediately receiving same compensation.

sickening this stuff still exists.

leslie

[angel337]

i'm not surprised at all.

[Teleflurry]

Thats it...Im bubbling in white/caucasian on the race box during the interviews. just a lil humor. Im multiracial, and this is depressing that people are still doing this.

[BradleyRN]

Studies would also show that men get paid a higher wage than women. Are hospitals sexist? There are variables here that must be considered. Let me demonstrate with a little logic:
When ice cream sales increase, drownings increase.
Thus, eating ice cream causes drownings....
The variable not accounted for in this logic is, IT IS SUMMER!

White nurses make more than black nurses.
Male nurses make more than female nurses.
Thus, hospitals are racist and sexist...
The variable not accounted for in this logic is, NEGOTIATION.

This variable was mentioned in the article. At my last hospital, your experience determined your wage, regardless. At some facilities however, that may be desperate to hire nurses, you can negotiate a much higher wage than they initially offer. Many may just take the first offer, which is why you cant discuss salaries with coworkers. Nonetheless, your ability upon hire to influence your way into a higher wage is a craft. It is kind of like talking a car salesman down $3000 on a vehicle. If you know what to say, you can do it. Unfortunately, i cannot negotiate for all of us, and if just because i made a better deal than you, suddenly you should get a big rasie or the same discount on that Toyota Prius, then i wouldnt have been able to negotiate in the first place.
Another variable mentioned in the article reads:
"The study, released in May, found that 57% of nurses at private hospitals are white, versus 20% at city-run hospitals. The median pay for a staff nurse at those hospitals is $74,325, while it's just $66,628 at city-run hospitals. Despite the lower pay, many minority nurses work at city-run hospitals partly out of a sense of mission and commitment."
This must be factored into the average as well, as there is just over a 10% difference in these wages.

Add these variables up, and there may not be much of a difference after all. It is too easy to jump up and cry racism/sexism. After all, who wants to read a story without much of a plot? In other words, without a title like, "BLACK NURSES EARN LESS THAN WHITES", which alongside the facts turns out to be quite YELLOW, it may have never even made this forum. I am not implying that there is no racism or sexism going on in the world, just that there can be much more to a statistic than initially meets the eye.

[djc1981]

Yes, men tend to negotiate more than women. Maybe caucasians tend to negotiate more than blacks? Interesting topic.

[dee78]

BradleyRN said it all. I don't believe most articles written about statistics because they are almost always skewed.

I am not saying that it doesn't happen, just that you must look at all of the facts.

[Vito Andolini]

Where I work, the opposite is true. Most staff are Black and have higher positions and have been there longer and are often related to their bosses or someone their bosses want to please. So guess who gets higher pay.

[Vito Andolini]

Originally Posted by BradleyRN

Studies would also show that men get paid a higher wage than women. Are hospitals sexist? There are variables here that must be considered. Let me demonstrate with a little logic:
When ice cream sales increase, drownings increase.
Thus, eating ice cream causes drownings....
The variable not accounted for in this logic is, IT IS SUMMER!

White nurses make more than black nurses.
Male nurses make more than female nurses.
Thus, hospitals are racist and sexist...
The variable not accounted for in this logic is, NEGOTIATION.

This variable was mentioned in the article. At my last hospital, your experience determined your wage, regardless. At some facilities however, that may be desperate to hire nurses, you can negotiate a much higher wage than they initially offer. Many may just take the first offer, which is why you cant discuss salaries with coworkers. Nonetheless, your ability upon hire to influence your way into a higher wage is a craft. It is kind of like talking a car salesman down $3000 on a vehicle. If you know what to say, you can do it. Unfortunately, i cannot negotiate for all of us, and if just because i made a better deal than you, suddenly you should get a big rasie or the same discount on that Toyota Prius, then i wouldnt have been able to negotiate in the first place.
Another variable mentioned in the article reads:
"The study, released in May, found that 57% of nurses at private hospitals are white, versus 20% at city-run hospitals. The median pay for a staff nurse at those hospitals is $74,325, while it's just $66,628 at city-run hospitals. Despite the lower pay, many minority nurses work at city-run hospitals partly out of a sense of mission and commitment."
This must be factored into the average as well, as there is just over a 10% difference in these wages.

Add these variables up, and there may not be much of a difference after all. It is too easy to jump up and cry racism/sexism. After all, who wants to read a story without much of a plot? In other words, without a title like, "BLACK NURSES EARN LESS THAN WHITES", which alongside the facts turns out to be quite YELLOW, it may have never even made this forum. I am not implying that there is no racism or sexism going on in the world, just that there can be much more to a statistic than initially meets the eye.

It might not be so much a sense of mission as the place is closer to where they live and grew up, therefore easier to get to and feels more like home. Not every nurse has great scruples and lofty ideals, no matter our race or gender or any other factor. We just want to be happy, comfortable, and keep out of trouble, enjoy our lives.

I remember reading about an employer who told his female employee that he had to pay a male employee more for doing the same job she was doing because he had a family to support. She told him that the man was married and had a wife to run his home, raise his kids. She was a widow raising 2 boys alone and who did he think was paying to support her and her family? This was in the 50's.