How much do YOU think nurses are worth?

Nurses General Nursing

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Personally, I think nurses are grossly underpaid. I am 10 years in and I think I should be earning a bare minimum of $150k/yr. I hear what my friends/relatives are making, who have degrees in business, human resources, communications, marketing, PR, etc. (I'm in NYC) and they make so much more than me. Additionally, they have cushy schedules which allow them a better work/life balance, and they generally talk favorably about their jobs and report manageable stress levels at work.

Are you satisfied with your pay? What do you think nurses are "worth" (in regards to salary)?

I don't understand the attempt to persuade that many professions don't make more or that they are stressed out.

What's wrong with wanting higher wages commensurate with work quality and skill set?

My point up thread is that nurses are not all created nor choose to aspire equally. I would not say all are marketable for 150K in today's economy but some certainly are, or should be. And without working insane OT to reach it.

Nursing however has long been known to staff "warm bodies" when necessary, most professions don't need to urgently fill positions and can be selective on hiring their talent. They also don't need to employ hundreds taking up a majority of business costs. The most talented, likeable, connected and/or lucky are hired while many grads are still pouring coffee.

A PR person might make more money with their 4 yr degree but they probably possess the desired qualities and are in limited numbers.

Specializes in IMC, school nursing.

The laws of supply/ demand dictate our pay. Hospitals, like schools, police departments and fire departments, rely on numbers to make them work. The 400 bed hospital I worked for employed over 1500 nurses to make it work, no way they could pay them all $50-$75/hour. You also must remember that PTO pays when no work is being done and benefits packages add a ghost salary that is $5-$10/hr more than you actually see every two weeks. Supply goes down as education goes up, APN's are responsible for more patients than you and doctors, more than that. Stress levels increase as pay does in health care. I am now near that half century mark, and I agree, I see many of my friends making out better than I, but I made bank early compared to them. Nurses salaries increase about 100-150% over a career, regardless of inflation. Other careers make 200-500% over a whole career, it's the nature of the beast.

All depends what you do with that RN behind your name.

Specializes in Critical care.

I do think nurses, in general, are underpaid. A couple of my patients yesterday would have been in very bad shape if it hadn't been for myself and other nurses- catching mistakes with dosing of meds, alerting providers to important changes in condition, etc. I also think CNAs are grossly underpaid. I don't see much changing with the pay due to the sheer number of nurses and aides.

I had a career before nursing. I started out making a very nice salary with a great flexible schedule, awesome benefits, potential for non-competitive annual raise based on clearly defined performance goals. I technically wasn't supposed to work overtime- I say technically because a lot of people were working it off the clock to keep their job and/or meet those performance goals. I could have seen my salary go very high and that would have been without working nights, weekends, or holidays (unless I wanted to). This all sounds wonderful right?

I was so freaking stressed out with that job- the job that seemed perfect. I couldn't get away from that stress. I was worried about not meeting the biweekly deadlines and would stress, work at home on nights and weekends or go in to the office if I was super stressed to work off-the-clock. I was stuck in a windowless office all day with almost zero interaction with others. I just kept driving around and around and around the block one day when I got to work- I was fighting off a panic attack/breakdown while talking to a family member to calm me down. I was thrown under the proverbial bus a couple of times by my direct supervisor. I was sick with a GI bug once and felt so threatened about my job that I drove to work with a bucket...

My friends and family noticed a significant change in me the moment I decided I was quitting that job, that career. I know there are some units and facilities that can make staff feel like I did with my previous career. I haven't experienced that though. With bedside nursing I know that once I give report, finish any charting that hasn't been done, and clock out that I am done. I don't/can't bring any work home with me. When I have a horrible shift there is a defined period for when it will end.

I have great friends that I made at that first career. I've moved a couple hours away, but I still see them 4-5 times a year. They make more money than I do. They are also more consistently stressed. They'll work at nights and on weekends if they are behind for the deadline, which for some is frequently. Some of my friends followed my lead and left.

I'm going to be starting a new nursing job soon. The change will lead to a fairly significant raise which will put me in the range of what I made in my old career, but that's taking night shift differential into account. You couldn't pay me enough to stay in my old career- no amount of money was worth how unhappy I was with it. Only my immediate family and my coworkers who were also my friends at my old career knew how unhappy I was. To others I'm sure it seemed like I had it all- great paying job in a great location, flex schedule, incredible benefits (separate vacation and sick leave with nice accrual, health insurance, etc.), etc. You can't always judge a book by its cover though.

Specializes in Cardiac/Tele.

Wage/salary-wise, I can't give a number because the cost of living is so vastly different all over the US. I make peanuts compared to what other states pay their RNs, but I feel like I have a ton of monetary cushion because I live in a cheap area and I budget around my relatively manageable debts.

What I think I'm worth as an RN, though... I think I'm worth adequate staffing ratios, I think I'm worth listening to when administrators want to make changes that make my job harder, I think I'm worth acknowledging when patient outcomes are improving... I think I'm worth at least that. ;)

I am pretty sure you could go on to any forum focused on any profession and ask the same question.

Most people would love to earn more.

I absolutely think I am worth $150,000 a year.

But, I have a 2 yr degree and make a living wage in an area I like.

I keep my expenses low, and have no trouble putting money away. In fact, had I been doing this since age 23, I could be at least semi-retired at age 53.

But, if anybody wants to pay me $150,000, please don't show them this post.

Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
Personally, I think nurses are grossly underpaid. I am 10 years in and I think I should be earning a bare minimum of $150k/yr.

Out of curiosity, what makes you feel you should be earning a bare minimum of $150k/year?

I agree with most other posters who have talked about supply and demand, as well as what I would like to be paid versus being realistic. It is all relative to the location, job market, housing market, and of course supply and demand. Of course I would more money, but that being said I feel I have always made a pretty good living with the perk of only having to work three days a week.

Specializes in Healthcare risk management and liability.

Mrs. RiskManager, the elementary school teacher, says these kind of debates go on in the teaching profession as well.

Specializes in IMC, school nursing.
Mrs. RiskManager, the elementary school teacher, says these kind of debates go on in the teaching profession as well.

I work a private school. These teachers are making a tad over poverty level. They are hands and feet better than the public school teachers I know, but the mission is more important to them than the pay.

God knows my TA would confirm that I was not God's gift to economics when I skated through that semester in college, but one thing I have always remembered is that the value of something is precisely that which somebody is willing to pay for it.

If your nursing job isn't paying you what you think you're worth, 1) you're wrong, and 2) go make yourself qualified to do another one that pays more.

What I think I'm worth as an RN, though... I think I'm worth adequate staffing ratios, I think I'm worth listening to when administrators want to make changes that make my job harder, I think I'm worth acknowledging when patient outcomes are improving... I think I'm worth at least that. ;)

Truth!

Specializes in med-surg, IMC, school nursing, NICU.

Think of all the sharks with laser beams on their heads I could buy.

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