Am I crazy!?

[NeedyourhelpRN]

Am I crazy for thinking ICU nurses should get a unit differential?

(I posted this topic in the general nursing forum and got eaten alive!) I understand that every department of nursing has a special set of skills....but....????

We do not have a differential at our hospital right now...we have 7 opening, nearly always work short and our hospital does nothing for retention of great nurses. We want to pursue getting a differential implemented...any suggestions? We have a meeting this month with the management to talk about it...I am collecting opinions on how to justify or present the topic. thanks.

[CHATSDALE]

i think that most hospital will give staff differential for working special needs floors including icu

[JenSICU_CCRN]

Well, this is a touchy subject. I am a SICU nurse, and in our hospital our patients tend to be the sickest of the sick. Our unit is known for having tons of nursing hours as we frequently have 1:1 patients. I do not think that our nurses should get paid more than the floor nurses (if this is what you mean). If I'm misunderstanding your post, then I apologize. The main reason for this is that we are all nurses....I chose my specialty and chose to not work on the med-surg floors. We are busy in different types of ways...Yes, the Critical Care nurse is more specialized, but I could not go to the floor and take 8 patients and not sink. I think this adds to the long time myth of ICU's nurses thinking they are better nurses than floor nurses and do not agree we should get paid more. I think this would further increase the rift between floor and unit nurses. Our hospital is wonderful to pay for inservices, trips for education, certification (initial and renewel), and other things.

Just my 2 cents.

Jenny

[neneRN, BSN, RN]

Our hospital doesn't give a differential for specialty areas, but does give a differential for obtaining specialty certification; CCRN, CEN, etc....that way most RNs are eligible if they're willing to take that extra step, but it still gives you credit for your expertise in your area.