Nursing pay..Check this out!

Nurses General Nursing

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Why is nursing pay across the board not standardized? What I am referring to is, why do nurses get paid more or less according to the cost of living across the USA and not according to skills a nurse possess? I am not sure for other nurses but my quality of care does not fluctuate as our pay does across state lines etc. If a nurse was getting paid a lot more for the same job in a different city then moves to a city where the pay is much lower for the same job, are we allowed to decrease the quality of our care just like the pay decrease the nurse will receive?

Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.

Oh I just realized that you are the same one who posted the controversial "Doctors vs. NPs" thread recently.

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I missed the controversy.

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Yes the cost of living in different states varies dramatically. Just compare rural Georgia to San Francisco.

Is this really a question?

Yes healthcare costs vary between states. It even varies between hospital systems and sometimes between hospitals within a system.

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I think when it comes to nursing pay there are definitely some macro-economic issues. For example; locality, type nursing, experience, education etc. that the individual nurse can't do much to control. I'm from Pittsburgh so I'm probably not going to make the same as a nurse from Manhattan. However, that only explains part of the equation. Micro economic issues pertinent to the individual nurse can be controlled by them. Have any of you ever the case of one nurse earning more on the same unit while the lesser earning nurse is far better at what she does? I have. Nurses need to self-advocate and not put up with BS. If you want to make more money drive a better deal for yourself where you are at or get out or your comfort zone and move on. Simply put nobody is (or should) in a professional setting love you like you.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
I think when it comes to nursing pay there are definitely some macro-economic issues. For example; locality, type nursing, experience, education etc. that the individual nurse can't do much to control. I'm from Pittsburgh so I'm probably not going to make the same as a nurse from Manhattan. However, that only explains part of the equation. Micro economic issues pertinent to the individual nurse can be controlled by them. Have any of you ever the case of one nurse earning more on the same unit while the lesser earning nurse is far better at what she does? I have. Nurses need to self-advocate and not put up with BS. If you want to make more money drive a better deal for yourself where you are at or get out or your comfort zone and move on. Simply put nobody is (or should) in a professional setting love you like you.

My first job, after several years I discovered that another new grad who started at the same time as me was making significantly more...despite me getting excellent annual reviews and the max raise every year. I concluded that I must have been offered less as a starting salary, and kicked myself for not trying to get a better offer.

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Specializes in NICU.

come on really,look at anyone's pay.Alaska ,Russia, fiji?

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Specializes in LTC, Hospice, Case Management.

So if we all make the same pay do we all move to small town USA in Mississippi or somewhere with a low cost of living to maximize our salary? And who's going to work in the high cost of living areas like San Fran when their pay would go so much further elsewhere?

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That is never gonna happen without a whole lot more socialism & even then people won't work if its not worth their while. Ask the former Soviet Union. Oh yeah you can't they are deader than Caesar. If you tried to force the issue and pay the Nurse in Manhattan as much as I make in Pittsburgh I doubt there would be many Nurses there

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

Pay scales in different regions are incredibly complex. Of course a nurse in NYC or SF is going to make more than a nurse in rural Iowa. Even with a much higher wage the nurse in SF or NYC may still be worse off financially than that nurse in Iowa. Especially in the SF bay area housing costs have skyrocketed. A nice place in Iowa can probably be found for much less than $1000/month while a broom closet in the bay area will cost at least double that, if you can even find a broom closet sized place to rent at all.

Then add the cost and inconvenience of commuting. I live less than 1 mile from work in a low traffic area, it takes me maybe 5 minutes to drive to work. Parking is free at my house and at my job. In big urban hospitals if a nurse is even able to drive in to work the traffic will be nearly impossible and the parking fees sky high both at work and at home leaving a commute by public transport the best if not only option. Guess what, that costs money too! Some of the tech giants in the bay area have gone so far as to provide their own bus service for the workers because they literally can't find housing anywhere close to the work site.

Another factor to consider is local taxes. I can't rattle off the tax rates of different cities off the top of my head, but I can still say with comfortable certainty that I'll pay way more in taxes and way more for most services in San Francisco or NY than I would in rural Iowa.

Of course where I live I'd love to make $75.00/hr, but if I lived in a high cost of living area I might barely make it on that.

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Specializes in Pedi.
The quality and quantity of nursing care does not change that I know of as I always strive to do my best wherever I am, BUT the pay changes. Does the cost of medications vary from one city to another?

I beg to differ that the quality of care doesn't differ across the country. I now work for a national home infusion company. I am on site at a hospital that attracts patients from all over the country- specifically because the care is better. I had the unfortunate experience of having to send a child home to Alabama on NG feeds earlier this year. There is no doubt in my mind, based on my communications with our staff in Alabama, that this child received far inferior care down there than he would have if he had stayed in New England.

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Specializes in NICU.

Nursing wages can be the same across the country. Only thing that needs to be done is to standardize rent, cost of houses, gas, food across the country.

Cost of living in a particular area is the main factor in determining wages, not some evil scheme by the hospitals. The VA has a cost of living adjustment for different areas of the country.

Let's set the national minimum wage for nurses at whatever the prevailing nurse wage is in Honolulu, HI. Those of us in low COL states can afford buy our mini mansions and the employee parking lot will be full of luxury cars.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Does the cost of healthcare services vary between states?

Actually it does, and it even varies by cities. But as another OP mentioned the COL varies. I'm sure it's not just nurses that are paid differently re COL.

All I can say if you are unhappy with your pay, move to where the pay is better even in relation to COL. I've heard North Dakota pays well, but I wouldn't want to live there. Usually in the south and rural areas pay less. Otherwise check out strong unionized hospitals or work for the VA, which has the best benefits across the board. There are only a handful of states scattered across the country where strong unions help raise the pay, but even they have problems with staffing ratios, short staffing and some even go on strike over pay and health benefits.

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