It seems like everyone but nurses make more money

Aunt Slappy · Dec 30, 2016

I am talking about regular Joe Blow with regualr 4 year old Bachelor degree.

Less than 33% of Americans have a bachelor's degree. "Joe Blow" doesn't have one. Just having a bachelor's degree already puts you in the top third of all American citizens.

Rates of high school completion and bachelor's degree attainment among persons age 25 and over, by race/ethnicity and sex: Selected years, 1910 through 2015

trep · Dec 30, 2016

What I am seeing is not the "educational elites" who put in hard work and making multi-figures. I am talking about regular Joe Blow with regualr 4 year old Bachelor degree.

I'm sorry, but this is not the reality at all and is actually somewhat of a joke. Either your perspective is totally skewed, or by chance, you just happen to know many of the few in this situation. The reality is that the majority of graduates of bachelor programs find themselves jobless or struggling to acquire meager jobs that were obtainable by high-school graduates in our parents day. Most college students today are all afraid of the same thing - how they are going to find employment that is able to get them out of their parents home and make a livable salary.

You realize that without a graduate-level degree, the vast majority of college majors do not even qualify you to work in that field, at least not in any meaningful or lucrative sense by any means. Take for example almost every science/social science major - biology, psychology, sociology, etc. a bachelors degree in these fields is almost worthless from an employment perspective, especially with the thousands of graduates being pumped out every semester across the nation. The same is true for many other majors - communications, political science, classics, english, etc. the list just goes on. Most of these people end up eventually finding jobs in something like sales because there are no jobs in these fields at the bachelor level. The ones that don't either go back to waiting tables or go back to school in fields that allow for employment (eg nursing).

Basically, the types of bachelor degrees you are describing are few and far between - only really engineering, computer science, finance (depending on school and connections), and a few others at most. Otherwise, nurses are better off then almost all other majors with commensurate education besides the few lucky ones with connections or that happened to catch a break with a decently paid job (again, this is a major minority).

Stop complaining about your situation, honestly, with your attitude and outlook, you are lucky to have what you do. If you want to make more, go back to school to further your education (or if you really believe what you have posted, go and get a BS in finance and let us all know how that pans out 5 years from now).

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2016

It's still better to go for the degree than not:

The largest plurality, at 25.2%, of the underemployed were in office and administrative positions paying an average of $37,207. The highest-paying cohort of the underemployed were in information processing and business support, where 11.4% were earning an average of $59,059.

But the report also says these underemployed college grads are making more than similarly aged young workers without a degree within each occupation category. So it appears that a college degree confers significant economic benefits on many graduates, even on those who find themselves underemployed at the start of their careers,â€ the report says.

Further, the underemployed who started off even in the least-paid jobs start moving up, the New York Fed report showed.

Nearly half of college grads are underemployed. But they’re not literally baristas - MarketWatch

It behooves all graduating HS seniors to research their prospects before choosing a major. Nursing may start out at a higher point in the beginning with the ADN, but the ceiling closes in pretty quickly, and prospects for advancement are few without higher education.

I still believe that RNs are underpaid given their job requirements and the responsibility inherent in the job, and it's important that people know that going in. It will put food on the table, but the advancement opportunities aren't there over time compared to many industries without extensive higher education. JMO.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2016

There are no doubt many people at all income levels living above their means. Your friend with the nice house and cars might be up to their ears in debt, with no college or retirement savings at all.

However, not everyone with nice houses and cars is living a lie. The fact is that there is a growing class of super affluent in this country who actually can afford their lifestyle. There is nothing wrong with the OP aspiring to that, as long as he understands that these people aren't usually making "easy money." As already described, they may be working long hours, many have advanced or at least very specialized education, and they must have incredible drive, ambition, and willingness to be very creative (and at times, speculative) with their money in order to make it grow. There is nothing "easy" about acquiring wealth, unless one inherits it.

ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP · Dec 30, 2016

I agree that nurses are underpaid for what we do, but one thing I have noticed is that nurses in general put up with crap that others don't. While filling out a survey, a traveler nurse berated me for some of the negative comments I was putting in my employee feedback (we were having what I thought was a casual discussion), stating that "it was worse" where she came from and blah, blah, blah. So because working conditions are even crappier for nurses in other places, I don't have the right to voice negative criticism of my employer. Right.

Also, nursing is a female dominated field, including social work and teaching, two fields that pay even less than nursing. My brother hasn't even graduated college yet and has accepted a job as an engineer making 77k with a 6% 401k match (dollar for dollar), opportunities for over time pay AND a 10k sign on bonus. My boyfriend, a CPA, is pulling just shy of six figures with amazing benefits (and only works 40 hr weeks, no weekends, holidays or OT). CPAs, while more diverse gender-wise, most management and higher paying positions are held by men. I, on the other hand, work two jobs and barely grossed 72k, working nights, holidays, weekends, with two highly stressful jobs.

Part of the problem is the anti-educational attitude nursing as a whole holds. My brother's and boyfriend's professions require a minimum of a bachelor's degree...nursing doesn't. Much of nursing is against raising the standards (while grandfathering those already in the profession of course!). I have repeatedly heard disparaging remarks against those with BSNs online and in real life. It is frustrating and it hurts the profession as a whole.

Nurses should've seen the writing on the wall when PHYSICAL THERAPISTS needed a doctorate and OT required more than a four-year degree. While I believe that PT/OT are important, they are not the foundation of healthcare. If those professions require extremely high degrees, can't nursing at least require a four year? There would be less of a glut as people would be less willing to spend four years vs. two years to sit for the NCLEX.

As far as wage compression, I don't see that too often. New grads in my area start at 24/hr while the most senior nurses are making 45-50/hr (and rightfully so). In most professions, in order to see a bump in pay (such as 24 to 50), one must either job hop (which may not work in the more glutted areas) OR advance in his/her profession. Some bedside nurses will advance to charge or preceptor, but the role and expectations of the job stay the same, and newer nurses end up doing the same job and sharing the same responsibility as their senior counterparts.

Horseshoe, BSN, RN · Dec 30, 2016

In my D's specialized Bachelor's program, they had a 100% placement statistic after graduation (with almost all offers coming by September of their senior year). Average starting salary was 99K, but a few of her cohorts snagged offers of 125K starting, with full benefits. D decided to go to grad school, so I don't have her personal experience to tell.

I'm sure all these kids worked hard to get that BS degree, and they will work hard at their jobs, but I maintain they won't work any harder than a full time RN. This is a very male dominated field, so maybe there is something to that as speculated above.

DeeAngel · Dec 30, 2016

The kinds of jobs you describe will go away literally overnight if there is a significant economic downturn, there is no job security really. Nurses, however are working during economic downturns because they are legally required to be there. You need to decide if you want money or security because the two no longer go hand in hand unless you own your own company.

AliNajaCat · Dec 30, 2016

Where do these people get these jobs? It seems like unless you're running the corporate side of healthcare, you work your butt off and get few change and a key chain for Christmas.

Got news for ya. I make pretty good money and I work my butt off for it. Most of the time. You want to do something more lucrative? Take the leap of faith, stop complaining about your lot in life, and do something else. When I did that it was close to the scariest thing I ever did (short of that suspension bridge in the Amazon, OMG, I am never doing that again) and it's taken me about 8 years to get to where I am now, but .... here I am. And those years were gonna go by anyway.

Oh yeah. I'm still a nurse and working as one. Just not the way a lot of people think nursing is.

allnurses Guide · Dec 30, 2016

What does your brother do? I would be happy to pursue that!

I'm curious too about what jobs the OP's talking about which pay so much more money than nurse wages.

kardz30 · Dec 30, 2016

Call it how it is. Reality and truth are better than being PC.

allnurses Guide · Dec 30, 2016

Call it how it is. Reality and truth are better than being PC.

Which post are you responding to kardz? I'm not sure what you mean here.

AliNajaCat · Dec 30, 2016

^^^kardz30 What?