Across the borad raise???

Shamrock, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2003

Raise???, what's a raise??

Shamrock, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2003

Sorry, I haven't seen one in so long I

forgot what they were for a minute!

redshiloh · Jul 30, 2003

Try not to think about what management got, it will only make you thow up.

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 30, 2003

Maybe I am misunderstanding, but it sounds to me as if the hospital is trying to do the right thing. Realizing that the new pay rates for new grads were short-changing the experienced nurses, they seem to be trying to make it right by adjusting the pay of experienced nurses to keep them ahead of the less experienced ones. What's wrong with that?

It's common practice for employers to adjust salary scales to keep the pay of people at different levels of experience and in different positions in line with the local market. It's often referred to as a "market adjustment." Sometimes certain segments of the market and/or certain positions see changes in the local salaries that need to be accounted for -- instead of the entire job force seeing the same changing conditions at the same time.

As long as everyone got at least a litte raise ... and as long as the end results keep people in line with the local market ... it doesn't seem worth getting upset about. Of course, we would all like really big raises, but we can't always expect that.

Did I misunderstand the situation?

llg

renerian, BSN, RN · Jul 30, 2003

Not all managers are bad. I have not had a raise for years. I make less now then when I started nursing 17 years ago.

renerian

ainz · Jul 30, 2003

good explanation llg.

A couple of years ago we had to adjust nursing wages due to inconsistencies and mismanagement. So we gave an across the board raise. Perhaps the term across the board is misunderstood or misused. I think many people understand it to mean everyone gets the same amount of pay increase across the board. Others understand it to mean everyone gets an increase period.

We did a salary survey of other hospitals in our region and came up with the averages. We then adjusted our pay scale to be at the midpoint of those pay rates. Then we adjusted each nurses pay according to the scale. Some nurses were very underpaid and received relatively large increases, some as high as $4/hr. Others were very overpaid but we did not reduce their pay nor did they receive anything additional. So everyone received something different.

You would have thought the world was coming to an end when all the nurses started comparing their pay increases. We explained, in detail, how the raises were to be determined before we did it.

flowerchild · Jul 30, 2003

I got one of those last year, but they called it "leveraging" raises. Used to make it fair to those with many years of service who were making less than the new hires. It was a good thing. Some people didn't get anything and other nurses got a few dollars.

altomga, ADN, BSN, MSN, DNP, RN, APRN · Jul 31, 2003

I guess that is what made me so upset....don't use the term ACROSS THE BOARD RAISE..that isn't what they did...

Salary adjustment; market adjustment as you guys mentioned would have been better. The thing is that the staff heard the rumor that we were getting it, but the hospital kept it quiet if it was true until they did it.

It would have helped EVERYONE understand what they were doing if they would communicate with the staff.

We've had this done before a few times for adjustment to average out to the comparable size hospitals that offer the same services that we do (which the closest is over 2hrs away; they still get more...but oh well)....It's not that I am unhappy with my pay, but compared to the average salaries that have been surveyed I am really underpaid. I am a permanent charge nurse, unit educator, clinical ladder rep, clinical coach, and other incidentals...yes I do it as a stepping stone, but there is no adjustment in pay for any position that any nurse does above staffing. It is considered part of the job and the necessary work to climb clinical ladder if you want (which I have and am doing again)

Anyway, I feel better after venting and reading your posts, they simply should have communicated and worded it differently.

THANKS!

angelac1978 · Jul 31, 2003

Originally posted by altomga
What do you guys think?? This really ticks me off....I even heard the hospital gave radiology $1.50???!!1:eek:

just wondering, but what's wrong with giving radiology $1.50 raise?

A

ainz · Jul 31, 2003

Nothing wrong with giving rad a $1.50, give 'em $2!! They deserve it!!

It really surprises me how many hospital administrations are very poor communicators and treat their employees like . . . refuse shall we say. Then they don't understand why employee morale is low, and why everyone doesn't buy into customer service initiatives.

So often, simple, up front, honest communication takes care of a lot of things and avoids so much stress.

angelac1978 · Jul 31, 2003

thanks ainz! Guess I'm just a little sensitive, after a nurse at the hospital where I am volunteering at called radiology techs "button pushers and nothing more" I was speechless I think for the first time in my life.

I agree w/ others that posted that raises should be based on years of experience, not just at one hospital, I really think employers should look at a nurse's or other healthcare worker's cumulative work history.

A