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.
ok lol I went back and looked Bucky and it's about 50/50 for those who think what the OP did was ok and those who thought it was not ok, one post this way and the next post that way. so maybe if I'm in the minority it's by one LOL and maybe I'm in the majority by one, if it matters!
lesson to be learned people is to keep your private business to yourself. money, sex, politics, religion, if you broadcast your details you should then be prepared for the backlash!
There are a couple things that I want to put out there. Firstly this is the first time that I have ever told someone my salary in my history of working, but like I said in previous jobs people discussed salary with no issue. I don't want people to think that I'm going around bragging about my salary or asking people for their checks because that is not the case, I just confided/trusted someone that I shouldnt have. Again I had NO IDEA I was making more than everyone else (if i did I certainly wouldnt have said so, thats only common sense) and still to this day do not know what everyone else is making.
Secondly the "manager" that I talk of is not actually my manager per se but the director. He says he does not know what the nurses make..until now of course. I also wanted some insight on why they paid me a higher wage. I know they defintely needed nurses but there were 2-3 others hired at the same time I was. (Don't know if they make less but assume that they do). Could it be because my previous RN job payed $5 higher than my wage now? Do certain places pay based on your last wage and is that why they ask for your previous salary on job applications?
Again, being fired is not something I'm concerned about. When first speaking to my director I was even going to ask if they were considering firing me, the fact that he immediately moved me to nights suggests that he knows whats going on. In fact at this point I wouldn't mind resigning at all but would feel bad to do so because I feel I would have come in so abruptly and somewhat ****** their whole "groove" up. (And caused them to have less RN's than they started out with). And now thinking about it, firing me is not going to magically make all the other nurses content with their salary.
I agree with another commentor that acting oblivious would be my best bet, but honeslty feel it would be hard to do so at this point.
If pay was fair and equitable at your facility, this would be a non-issue.
Maybe or maybe not. "Fair" and "equitable" are rather subjective. People don't always view those words in the same way, and there is always going to be someone who is disgruntled about someone else making more money.
Maybe or maybe not. "Fair" and "equitable" are rather subjective. People don't always view those words in the same way, and there is always going to be someone who is disgruntled about someone else making more money.
Not true. In an open and structured compensation structure you may have questions as to if someone belongs in a particular position but generally not about the pay. The pay is what the pay is. Men, woman, white, black, they all get the same pay for the same position with the same qualifications.
Now whether someone belongs in their position or if they advance at a higher than normal rate is another issue.
I wish I could like this a hundred times. Back in a previous life I worked in the corporate world. They did this crap ALL OF THE TIME. They would hire someone new to do the exact job (no prior experience) and pay them just as much or even more than someone with seniority. Then they would threaten with termination if you ever mentioned salary or bonus amounts with others. The whole idea of secret salaries is just a way to underpay those with the most experience.
OP,
This is not your problem, this is a company culture problem.
There are more and more companies moving to an open salary culture which I think is fantastic. This is no different than the government sector where you can look up anyone's salary.
Secrecy allows for discrimination and other unethical behaviors.
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I've noticed an increase in the number of over-sharers in the workforce over the past few years. Over-sharing is also known by another name: boundaryless sharing.
Our personal information is too valuable to share with people who have only known us for a day or two. Save the chatter for those who are worth our time, such as family and real friends. Healthy boundaries can serve as a deterrent to spilling the beans.
I think people get the idea from sitcoms that their colleagues are "a family" and that it's OK to share such things because of that. Bad idea!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
And to address someone else's comment no, it was an "accident" ..I should have used the word mistakenly or naively. I was trying to convey that I made a big mistake by doing it.
Fortunately, I know they wouldn't fire me even if they wanted to, I am considering quitting but really dont want to hop around job to job or leave them is an even worse situation. Wondering if they'd consider on-call/per diem with the same pay.
Just curious, anybody have a guess or some idea of what others are making? I'm wondering exactly how much more I could possibly be making to get people so riled up.
So now that you've messed up and lost friends by unwising discussing your salary with someone you barely know, you want to leave the organization paying you that high salary in the lurch. OR, go per diem at the same salary so you're there less often and not working with those people with whom you have poisoned your relationship?
I would think you'd want to stay there, work hard and justify the high salary they're paying you.
I wish I could like this a hundred times. Back in a previous life I worked in the corporate world. They did this crap ALL OF THE TIME. They would hire someone new to do the exact job (no prior experience) and pay them just as much or even more than someone with seniority. Then they would threaten with termination if you ever mentioned salary or bonus amounts with others. The whole idea of secret salaries is just a way to underpay those with the most experience.
Those are legitimate points made by you and others. However, until management provides the transparency (such as was described by someone working for the government or military), people who make more than others and disclose such will face resentment from others. That's the world as it is vs. the world as we want it.
I'm not disclosing my salary to anyone-as far as I'm concerned, it's none of your business. But I also think it's not my employer's place to "forbid me" from telling everyone I know what I make if that's my desire.
This is an extension of the everyone should get a trophy movement which is fine with me.
But the day when nurses, who own their own businesses, open up their books to potential hires, is the day when business in general becomes warm and fuzzy. Different perspectives will always support different rules of engagement. And that I believe is the way of the world.
You know Op, on second thought despite the majority of posters telling you that you should NEVER divulge your salary to anyone, look at it this way. In doing so it's a very efficient way to weed out the green with envy co-workers from those who can be gracious and genuinely happy for you. Sort of like separating the wheat from the chaff and those you would invite to your lovely home to share in both your victories and failures, the death of your mother and the birth of your daughter. But many people being what they are only see the full-picture if that picture is photo bombed with themselves. I'm glad you are doing well.
So now that you've messed up and lost friends by unwising discussing your salary with someone you barely know, you want to leave the organization paying you that high salary in the lurch. OR, go per diem at the same salary so you're there less often and not working with those people with whom you have poisoned your relationship?
I would think you'd want to stay there, work hard and justify the high salary they're paying you.
Honestly, yes pretty much. Sure, I have technically "poisoned" my relationship with coworkers but I haven't myself done anything to wrong anybody and now everyone seems to have it in for me. Again, not placing the blame on anyone but putting myself in their shoes I'd be upset for sure, but wouldn't take it out on someone who had nothing to do with it. I am new to the SNF world and would need to be taught certain things and I can already see games/favoritism that is being played which leads me to believe that they can try and make me look bad/not invest any time in teaching me what I need to know. I've already seen some passive-aggressive behaviors which is upsetting to me...nursing life man. snf's are already busy as it is, and I've been on shifts where I would scramble just to find something/anything to do bc I don't know certain things. I have to consider if I truly want to start my career in this environment and that is certainly important to me. Truly dont mean to sound arrogant but the while the wage is decent, I am still taking a significant pay cut. I'd consider per diem bc I'd feel bad that I caused all of this mess.
Extra Pickles
1,403 Posts
ok lol I went back and looked Bucky and it's about 50/50 for those who think what the OP did was ok and those who thought it was not ok, one post this way and the next post that way. so maybe if I'm in the minority it's by one LOL and maybe I'm in the majority by one, if it matters!
lesson to be learned people is to keep your private business to yourself. money, sex, politics, religion, if you broadcast your details you should then be prepared for the backlash!