Accidentally told my coworker what I make, BIG ISSUES NOW

Nurses Relations

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Hi all! So I am relatively a new graduate (3 months prior experience) before landing a job at a SNF. I have only been there for a week and although I was told during the interview that I would be working nights, my manager wanted me on the 3-11 shift to learn admissions for a month. I've been working with this RN for about 2 days now and shes really nice. We talk about out personal lives and etc. (For example she had a daughter by someone who is the same ethnic background as me..etc). So I'm explain my experience from my last job at a large teaching hospital and simply mention that I am taking a pay cut but its worth it because I want the experience. She then asks "Oh what are they starting you at." I stupidly tell her my wage (37) and didn't think anything of it. I explain that I usually leave the part on the application where it says to put your desired wage blank but this time around I put a high wage (I was getting paid 5 dollars more at my last job than this one.) She then says oh wow your very lucky and that they didnt start her at that wage and she put 38 on her application but management told her that they couldn't afford to pay her that. Anyways she says I'm lucky and we leave it at that.

My next day, I notice that she is acting a bit different but didn't think anything of it...it is a stressful job however. I do notice however that we dont seem to see eachother at all and that she didn't teach the the computer system (the most important part) but is teaching the other new hire the computer system. When I sit down to observe so I can learn the phone rings. She quickly looks at me and says "Can you answer the phone in a dismissive tone." Again, didn't think anything of it.

When night shift comes on, one of the night nurses says its her last day. No body knows why it seems very VERY abrupt because nobody talked about it before. I see her and this other nurse(my preceptor I suppose) kind of talking privately. This nurse that resigned was a nice girl and I ask "Oh where are you going?" All she says is "Somewhere." which again I thought was a bit odd.

The next day my manager comes up to me and asks me to meet him in his office. By his tone I can tell something was wrong but have no idea. He asks me if I told anyone my wage and I said yes to my preceptor. He then informs me that 1 nurse (the night nurse) quit because of it and that 2 more are considering quitting. I explain that it was naive and I didn't know i confided in her. He tells me she is not your friend, she went and told everyone and that she is already treating you differently. He then says next shift you will be on nights, I need to get you away from them. EVERYTHING now makes sense to me.

Sorry for the long post but what should I do or is there anything that I can do to rectify this situation. Should I confront/talk to this nurse who went and talked about me to everyone? I do not know how much the other nurses are making and had NO IDEA I was even making more than them. IDK if its because I have my BSN or bc they knew I wouldn't have accepted a job or a wage any lower when I was making $5 more at my last job. I feel HORRIBLY about this especially because our SNF is already so short-staffed.

I agree

I'm sorry this has happened to you. I found myself on the other side of this situation a few years ago. A co-worker left a paper copy of her pay slip in the change room. She was making almost $7 an hour more than me! She was less qualified then me and had significantly less responsibility in our unit.

I was hurt and furious. I considered quitting on the spot, how dare they pay me so much less when I had so much more responsibility. I did not say anything to her as I understood it was not her fault. But I now understand exactly why HR tells you to never tell your wage to anyone!

Listen to your Mother. It can be a huge deal.

Wow wow thanks so much for sharing your experience. $7 is quite a significant amount and I imagine that I was perhaps making somewhere in that ball park as much more as my fellow coworkers. I completely understand why you guys would be mad, I certainly would too! That is why I kept trying to understand why they would pay me, a less experienced nurse, more. Anyways, lesson learned!

I'm sorry this has happened to you. I found myself on the other side of this situation a few years ago. A co-worker left a paper copy of her pay slip in the change room. She was making almost $7 an hour more than me! She was less qualified then me and had significantly less responsibility in our unit.

I was hurt and furious. I considered quitting on the spot, how dare they pay me so much less when I had so much more responsibility. I did not say anything to her as I understood it was not her fault. But I now understand exactly why HR tells you to never tell your wage to anyone!

Hey guys just wanted to update you guys.

SO over the past week, I've noticed that this particular nurse who has been giving me grief is being a lot nicer. She's making an effort to joke with me, and is clearly not being as antagonizing as before, even offered to show me some charting before she left, since there was an admission from the 3-11 shift that I had to finish up. I thought she finally got over it.

Anyways, so it was about that time to let my manager know that I needed to go part/time or on-call because of this amazing opportunity that I received. As we were trying to figure out the schedule (which is not going good btw), I ask if everything had cleared up with the "situation." He said oh yeah that's been over with, and I hinted that I was curious about how. Instead of giving everyone raises which he someone said he was not going to do, he convinced everyone that I lied about my pay.

O_O. I simply don't know what to think. While I am happy that the situation is finally resolved, I can't help but think that the manager threw me under the bus. One nurse a few days ago gave me this odd look, and can't help but think that it's bc my manager manipulated them into thinking that "This little naive girl lied about her pay." Definitely think that looks stupid on my part, but again I guess I should be happy that the matter is resolved some how someway.

So he took the easy, unethical way out. OK, well keep that in mind for your future dealings with him- he's willing to throw you under the bus if it causes him less of a headache.

This other nurse who gave you grief- do you care about letting her know? Or others? Right now everyone thinks you're a braggart, making you 'in the wrong' in this situation, when really it's the management who is in the wrong. If they valued their current, experienced nurses correctly, they would pay a more competitive wage.

You stay in a hospital because you need nursing care. Hospitals require nurses, it should be the nurses with the power- because that power translates to better care for patients through lower turnover, more experienced staff, better EBP, and a reputation for excellence. That happens through better pay and benefits. Your hospital has it backwards, and that's bad for nurses, and bad for patients.

I hope things work out for you, and if you feel comfortable I'd let that nurse know. Pull her aside, ask her if she thinks you have any effect on how much they pay her. Then ask her why she held it against you that they offered you more. Then prove it. Make sure she understands that it's in her power to get a raise.

Agreed. I work for the government and have for my whole adult career. Every RN is assigned a graded salary based on job title. Those salaries are scaled based on geographical location and cost of living in that area. Then as you get more experience you get step increases. If you're a new employee coming. Everyone knows the system. There's no room for favoritism. Anyone can look up my salary online.

This is the one of the best things about the military. If you know my years of prior service, you know what I make. Even if you don't know, you can take a guess. I think salary secrecy contributes to bad and unpleasant work environments. What I make is no big deal to me and is completely public record.

Being a manager myself, and responsible for the budget, I will never stand for unfairness and can back that up. It helped that I have a long work history and know everyone's performance and abilities. There is no speculation on my part.

On the flip side, seniority doesn't automatically equate better performance. Some people stay mediocre for years (sometimes with a history of counseling just to sustain their mediocrity and avoid termination*) and either cannot or will not take the opportunities for growth even if dropped in their lap with instructions.

*Big lesson learned there.

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