Issues in Nursing Question

Nurses General Nursing

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I am just curious to know. I have read many nusing surveys where they claim that pay is not all that important in what nurses want in the work place. It usually goes along, patient ratio, good administration, safe workplace and yet I never see any post that ask about these issues. It is always about money.

So why do the surveys say money is not that important but that seems to be all that most nurses focus on?

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Money isn't the most important thing to me. The other issues you mentioned are. The problem is those issues will only be resolved when nurses are paid a good wage. We'll never resolve this shortage and increase recruitment and retention unless wages improve. The only reason we are so overworked is because there is not enough of us to do everything that needs to be done.

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Money is important to me to some extent, and I do agree that it's symbolic of the value others place on your work, but I don't think anyone goes into nursing to get rich. I can only tell you that all my job decisions have been based on quality-of-life issues, not money. I left my hospital job of 7 years because of chronic understaffing, lack of management support, lack of autonomy, and having our "creative scheduling" options taken away so my choice was to work 7A-7P, or 7P-7A. I actually took a pay CUT when I left that job for something that was a lot more fun, with a lot of travel and very different scheduling.

The job I have now pays more than my first 2 jobs, but again, I took it mainly because I was again ready for a lifestyle/schedule change and the new job presented new opportunities and challenges.

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Originally posted by Navy Nurse:"............................................................

So why do the surveys say money is not that important but that seems to be all that most nurses focus on?[/b]

Absolutely, money is very important to me. This is not missionary work. This is employment. Caring doesn't mean you can't also deeply care about your own quality of life. Furthermore, safe staffing should not be a "perk" of employment, but a given! Additionally, flexible scheduling is a huge attraction for me, as it would be in any other work environment. Another biggie is an abundance of vacation time........especially for nurses in the caregiver role to rekindle our spirit and rest our bodies for the next days work of "caring". In our field, I do not view this as a "perk", but rather a necessity, because this is essential respite.- In my opinion, these are essentials for my workplace needs.

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L.Smo RN

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So why do the surveys say money is not that important but that seems to be all that most nurses focus on?

Why? Because they never asked me! Just kidding!

I believe it is because the healthcare industy doesn't want to part with "Its" money.

I recently printed an article fromUS government /hearings that there are 3 things responsible for the shortage; 1 poor wages, 2 poor working conditons and 3 declining enrollment in RN school. So, they ackowlegded that the first two were political hot potatoes and settled for a bill designed to increase enrollment with grants, nurse corp, etc!! I could not believe it was actually partt of the article!!

Lynda

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Actually, Navy Nurse, there are many posts on this site about patient:nurse ratios, good administration and work safety. It is evident that this and other issues are very important to many of the posters here.

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Wealth comes from what you give away.

Poverty comes from what you keep.

Louie

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