MGH is offering new grad ICU internship for $11.44 an hour?

livelaughlove09 · Apr 27, 2011

And again, not bashing unions, I've been unionized in other occupations before, we just don't have unions for nurses here. The PP made generalized statements of their own about their lazy workforce (and I've gone back and read multiple threads on multiple topics of theirs where there has been nothing but complaining about RNs making so much money, not doing anything, had I known there was going to be such a difference in pay I'd have done the RN,), so of course, with a bias and bitterness toward RNs blazing, their opinion is naturally going to lean toward [i think it's a good idea to pay them such a small wage to weed out the ones who won't work while I'm busy working and they're busy facebooking] which is not a direct quote but, in a nutshell, what was said.

My point, and my opinion, which I'm entitled to, is that none of this has anything to do with any of the issues that she's mentioned. The bigger picture is that, as another PP mentioned, which is why I decided to reply to begin with, is that now other hospitals are following suit and that this is trending toward the norm. Everyone discusses how great these hospitals are and how wonderful it would be just to put their name on their resume, but from 1000 miles away I can tell you that being that influential, everyone better perk up their ears and listen, because this is going to start in every state from coast to coast, following the model of such a prestigious institution. There are more and more unpaid and low paying "new grad residency programs" popping up all over the place, check the web. For this administration it has nothing to do with WORK ETHIC, it has to do with MONEY. And I for one, am glad I am almost ready to pursue employment, before the rest of the US takes on this model. Nursing shortage? If this takes hold, you ain't seen nothin yet. You can't get student loans and financial aid to cover your expenses while you work for free for 6 months, without promise of a job, after graduation.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · May 1, 2011

$11.00 an hour?????? Holy Crap!!!! :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: :eek: What the ---- is going on?????

MemphisTiger · May 19, 2011

Has anyone heard if they are going to do this again in September?

Carrig RN · May 20, 2011

I haven't heard anything about it. If they do it will not be exactly like this program and they won't hire nearly as many because they will need to train enough people to staff a new ICU.

BarbaraNM, ASN, RN · Oct 29, 2011

$11.00 an hour?????? Holy Crap!!!!:eek::eek: What the ---- is going on?????

That is pathetic!! Where I work, as a Paramedic/Dispatcher/Supervisor... we pay our Vehicle Service Techs (wash and restock the ambulances) over $11.00 an hour, with full benefits, and differential!! I don't believe a HS diploma is required, but many of them are taking EMT classes, to start working on the ambulances.

For MGH to require a BSN, and to only offer $11 an hour is insulting!! :mad:

CCL RN, RN · Oct 30, 2011

That is pathetic!! Where I work, as a Paramedic/Dispatcher/Supervisor... we pay our Vehicle Service Techs (wash and restock the ambulances) over $11.00 an hour, with full benefits, and differential!! I don't believe a HS diploma is required, but many of them are taking EMT classes, to start working on the ambulances.
For MGH to require a BSN, and to only offer $11 an hour is insulting!!

Clearly, you haven't read this thread. I know its long. MGH does NOT pay it's staff nurses $11/hr. It pays it's INTERNS that much for a short term opportunity to learn and gain experience...which in today's economy, is priceless.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2011

Using the poor economy as an excuse to exploit workers is still very wrong. I have read the thread. It amazes me that some people think what MGH is doing is acceptable.

BarbaraNM, ASN, RN · Oct 30, 2011

Clearly, you haven't read this thread. I know its long. MGH does NOT pay it's staff nurses $11/hr. It pays it's INTERNS that much for a short term opportunity to learn and gain experience...which in today's economy, is priceless.

"Using the poor economy as an excuse to exploit workers is still very wrong. I have read the thread. It amazes me that some people think what MGH is doing is acceptable."

I DID read enough of the thread to understand the gist of it... and I stand by my statement that it is an insult. I agree with the other reader that using the economy to exploit workers is WRONG... true, the experience is quite valuable, but $11/hr for a BSN new grad is still pathetic, in my opinion!

dfs1961 · Oct 30, 2011

Stayed tuned to this type of program...if it is successful at MGH, be prepared to see it all across the Commonwealth of Massachsetts, with UMASS Worcester looking at starting a similar program now. While I agree with the program being an excellent opportunity for new graduates, it is setting such a poor poor precident for how we treat nurses. In times of economic downturn and struggle, MGH believes it is of such high caliber that it doesn't have to pay a nurse a livable wage. Be careful nurses - I blame us rather than MGH. We need to hold ourselves accountable for how we are treated. Don't blame others. We all know it is wrong what they are doing, but hundreds of nurses are okay with making less than they are worth - as seen by the number of applicants for this program. If everyone said no, they would have no one to staff their program. Don't you think they would increase the pay then?

You accept in life what you think you deserve and what you believe you are worth.

llg, PhD, RN · Oct 30, 2011

I see the negatives for nursing as well ... but I also see the other side.

MGH did not "hire nurses" with this program -- they provided an educational program. The participants were not expected to work a regular schedule, take a "real" assignment, bear the full responsibilities of an RN, etc. It was/is primarily an educational program with no guarantee of a job afterwards. Instead of charging for the educational program, they paid a small stipend and provided full benefits (e.g. health insurance) to those who participated. It's a totally different model -- very similar to the model used by the discipline of medicine in which graduates do residencies before they become attending physicians.

Hospitals are tired of paying for the additional education that many new grads want/need. Hospitals want to hire people capable of doing the job -- not hire students who need another 6 months of schooling before they can do the job to earn their pay. Making it worse, many new grads have the attidute of, "I do my 1 year of this first job, learn to be a competent nurse, then move on to what I really want to do." That's just too expensive for hospitals to provide anymore -- at least without a major committment on the part of the new grad to stay there for a substantial length of time.

So ... hospitals are looking for ways to minimize the costs of those special new grad education programs. Either they will continue to m inimize their hiring of new grads ... they will require contracts (with pay-back requirements if the new grad doesn't stay) ... or they will start paying these new grad orientees less until they get up to speed. We'll see lots of variations on the same theme in the upcoming years.

MGH and others are starting to label these programs as "educational programs" and "charging" for the education. And with the current economy and job market, I can't totally blame them. Why should they provide free education to a generation of new grads who haven't been sufficiently prepared by their school? Making up for inadequate schooling is not the hospital's job.

Hopefully, in time ... the nursing profession will find a good "happy medium" -- one that elevates the standards of its educational programs so that students graduate better prepared for the real world of nursing (as some, but not all, already do) .... and the employer can support the new grad with a program that is within reason.

rn/writer, RN · Oct 30, 2011

Excellent post, llg. This is not an exploitation of staff nurses because of the economy. It's the offering of an internship with a stipend. In the business world, many internships pay nothing at all, and a few require the intern to pay for the opportunity.

I'm sure the tight economy factors in; hospitals and other businesses can no longer afford to spend $50,000- to $100,000 to train the newbies, only to have them jump ship just as they're becoming useful and beginning to earn their keep. But it's also a reflection of the fact that there is an interim period where a new grad has head knowledge but lacks the experience to operate without a lot of supervision.

The MGH interns will continue to have classes. They won't have all of the obligations the regular floor nurses have. And they'll be allowed to grow into full responsibility without the "sink or swim" situation that costs too many new grads their first job or have them toughing it out with so much stress that they cry themselves to sleep and take antacids to get through a shift.

The level of support MGH is providing isn't free. And no one is being forced to take the opportunity. But those who can make it through the six months will find themselves in a better position than their peers who either still haven't found employment or who found jobs that, for one reason or another, are not working well for them.

If I were unemployed several months after graduation and I could in any fashion swing it financially, I would jump at the chance to get an internship like this one.

Bunking with 3 other nurse interns in a crappy apartment for six months--irritating. Getting by on ramen noodles and dollar store shampoo--annoying. ICU training at a hospital of the caliber of MGH? Priceless.

joanna73, BSN, RN · Oct 30, 2011

Nursing students complete an unpaid internship....clinicals. I don't understand why nurses don't rally for one another more, instead arguing that hospitals need to save money. We aren't physicians either, and we do not make the money they make, so that argument falls flat.