How much should nurses be paid?

Nurses General Nursing

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Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

As a registered nurse of sixteen years plus a few months, I think I should be making at least fifty dollars an hour base pay.

Aaaaaand......your thoughts on what you feel you should be paid for your professional nursing services? :nurse:

Sounds like minimal fairness to me. The education, responsibility, emotionally and physically demanding work deserves at least that much.

Link to a related post:

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38784&perpage=20&display=&pagenumber=2

Originally posted by eltrip

"I guess then, that the question, IMO, is more about economics. What will the market bear for certain products or services? And you know what, WHY do we pay more for certain products or services & less for others? Is it the value we place on the product or service? Why is it that we value athletes more than teachers or for that matter, nurses?"

Specializes in ICU/CCU (PCCN); Heme/Onc/BMT.

As requested by the originator of this thread, I moved this thread to the General Nursing Discussion forum.

Enjoy! :)

Moderator Ted

Originally posted by spacenurse

Sounds like minimal fairness to me. The education, responsibility, emotionally and physically demanding work deserves at least that much.

Link to a related post:

https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=38784&perpage=20&display=&pagenumber=2

Originally posted by eltrip

"I guess then, that the question, IMO, is more about economics. What will the market bear for certain products or services? And you know what, WHY do we pay more for certain products or services & less for others? Is it the value we place on the product or service? Why is it that we value athletes more than teachers or for that matter, nurses?"

It's not exactly a matter of saying one profession is more valuable than the other. It's a matter of whether people want to spend more of their money on healthcare or spend their money on buying tickets to a game (or watching it on TV), on sports apparel and all the other ways these athletes make their money. I doubt the general public would be willing to pay more for each hospital bill rather than watch a sports game or buy products that supports these athlete's income. So what would a solution be? Raise the cost of healthcare? Have the government regulate nursing pay?

With that said, I do agree that nurses deserve to paid well. Considering all what goes into being a nurse.

Working in the UK, I qualified just over 3 years ago and my basic is £17,500 about £9 an hour (about $29,238/$15 per hour)! On otp of this I get unsocial hours pay. Whoopee!!! I think newly qualified nurses should get £18,000 a year and I should get about £22,000 a year. IMO. But the government would have to raise taxes (not a lot) and that isn't a vote winner.

A registry that I worked for was desperate for someone to do a case (homecare with a baby). I didn't want to go to work, but they kept calling and said they were really in dire straits. The baby couldn't be left without a nurse and the nurse scheduled had to cancel with very short notice. Finally, they said they would pay whatever I wanted. So, not taking them seriously, I said $75/hr. The registry said "Great!" So I got paid $75 an hour for 8 hours, and then time a half for the remaining four.

:kiss

[drops to the floor dead] WHOA!!!! That must have been a nice paycheck roxanne!!!!!

Specializes in Clinical Risk Management.

Okay, here's a thought that was expressed by faculty in my school of nursing. I'm getting to the point where I think that it might actually be a viable solution.

Rather than bundling the cost for "nursing care" in with the cost for a patient bed in a particular unit, why not cost out the care per ordered procedure (x amnt of dollars per drsg chg, x amt for meds, x amt for vs q 2h, etc.) & have patients charged accordingly, with the nurses charging (& being paid) per procedure rahter than hourly. I think that it would cause everyone involved in the patient care process to really think about what we do & what our education & skills are worth to the patient.

Like I said, just a thought. What do you think?

Specializes in Community Health Nurse.

Not a bad thought, eltrip! :)

And....roxannekkb......I'll fly anywhere for a nursing job that would pay me $75.00/hour! Wow! That's what I'm talking about!

I sit here on my day off work thinking about how much we give as nurses and how little we receive in return (on a financial and benefits basis that is).

If it weren't for the patients that touch my heart, I don't think I'd keep doing nursing at all because I have had some very rude family members make me want to quit. I've had patients who want and want and want like they are at the Hyatt Regency. And, it is really really bad when nurses don't support nurses.

What will it take to increase the money power in the realm of nursing? It's obvious more education hasn't moved that mountain yet, so where do we go from here nurses??????? :nurse:

GReat topic, and of course I feel we as RN's should be paid more. Especially if you work in a specialty area, for example, I found it very frustrating to find out that all RN's in the hospital I worked at got paid the same regardless of the unit or extra knowledge required to work in that unit. Now, we did have different level RN's ( Rn 1, RN 2, ect.) but a RN 2 who worked in a clinic received the same compensation as a RN 2 ICU or ER nurse. This practice reflects the old belief that a nurse is a nurse is a nurse.

This has to change, also the multiple entry points of education needs to be addressed, the original thread mentioned " all our education" well we do have plenty of practical knowledge, but are lacking higher education. I read that at least half the RN's in the USA have an asssociates degree, well that is hard sell to demand big bucks when we don't even have a bachelors degree. Just food for thought, I know the multiple entry points have been dicsussed many times before on this board. But we can't have our cake and eat it too, if we want to be able to go to school for 24 months at the local community college, we can't expect to make what the professionals who go to college for at least six years, ( PT, Pharm D. ect) not to mention the doctors who put 8 years of college plus 3-6 in a residency. Our roles as RN's ARe vital, but unfortunately we have along way to go to bring our profession on par with other college educated professions. However, the bright side is look how far the profession as come in just the last few decades.

If I can play devil's advocate for one second, don't you think that EVERYONE in EVERY profession thinks they should be paid more, and can give just as many reasons to justify it?

Originally posted by MICU RN

GReat topic, and of course I feel we as RN's should be paid more. Especially if you work in a specialty area, for example, I found it very frustrating to find out that all RN's in the hospital I worked at got paid the same regardless of the unit or extra knowledge required to work in that unit. Now, we did have different level RN's ( Rn 1, RN 2, ect.) but a RN 2 who worked in a clinic received the same compensation as a RN 2 ICU or ER nurse. This practice reflects the old belief that a nurse is a nurse is a nurse.

This has to change, also the multiple entry points of education needs to be addressed, the original thread mentioned " all our education" well we do have plenty of practical knowledge, but are lacking higher education. I read that at least half the RN's in the USA have an asssociates degree, well that is hard sell to demand big bucks when we don't even have a bachelors degree. Just food for thought, I know the multiple entry points have been dicsussed many times before on this board. But we can't have our cake and eat it too, if we want to be able to go to school for 24 months at the local community college, we can't expect to make what the professionals who go to college for at least six years, ( PT, Pharm D. ect) not to mention the doctors who put 8 years of college plus 3-6 in a residency. Our roles as RN's ARe vital, but unfortunately we have along way to go to bring our profession on par with other college educated professions. However, the bright side is look how far the profession as come in just the last few decades.

Good post, Anthony. I agree.

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