Am I being underpaid?

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I am a 41 year old RN who has 20 years of full time nursing experience, acute care, home health and for the last four years have been the director of nursing of a 40 bed nursing home. This has been a difficult and stressful job, but I have really made a difference and it is a great facility. My administrator has also been in her position for the past four years, she was the billing person before she went and took her administrator classes. In addition to being the DON, for the last year I have worked second shift every other weekend for a position we cannot fill. When I took the position I was given a $1000 sign on bonus for three years. I just had my annual eval. and was given a 5% increase putting me just over 50K a year. She also had her evaluation which is done by the board of directors. I found out what she is being paid and I am LIVID.:angryfire She was given huge bonuses for the last two years for the extra work involved in an expansion project we are doing, note I say WE. We work side by side, I really like her as a person, but a lot of what I do makes her look good. When I initially expressed my dis-satisfaction at my salary, she said, "well, you know it's a small area, and you can't expect a lot". Well, I guess she can. I am so angry and feel so betrayed. I don't get anything special for pulling these weekends, no charge pay, no shift differential, I get comp. time off. Am I being taken to the cleaners? and if so, how do I approach this without letting her know I know what she is making?

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I am a 41 year old RN who has 20 years of full time nursing experience, acute care, home health and for the last four years have been the director of nursing of a 40 bed nursing home. This has been a difficult and stressful job, but I have really made a difference and it is a great facility. My administrator has also been in her position for the past four years, she was the billing person before she went and took her administrator classes. In addition to being the DON, for the last year I have worked second shift every other weekend for a position we cannot fill. When I took the position I was given a $1000 sign on bonus for three years. I just had my annual eval. and was given a 5% increase putting me just over 50K a year. She also had her evaluation which is done by the board of directors. I found out what she is being paid and I am LIVID.:angryfire She was given huge bonuses for the last two years for the extra work involved in an expansion project we are doing, note I say WE. We work side by side, I really like her as a person, but a lot of what I do makes her look good. When I initially expressed my dis-satisfaction at my salary, she said, "well, you know it's a small area, and you can't expect a lot". Well, I guess she can. I am so angry and feel so betrayed. I don't get anything special for pulling these weekends, no charge pay, no shift differential, I get comp. time off. Am I being taken to the cleaners? and if so, how do I approach this without letting her know I know what she is making?

Your rate of pay depends heavily on where you live. If you live in the south like I do, RN pay is not very impressive when you compare it to say, California. Although it does provide a very decent quality of life since the cost of living is cheaper. You might be getting paid appropriately for your job/experience and yet it might seem or feel low if you compare it to what someone you know is making. If your job is comparable, you have similar years of experience and have the same level of education, I would feel a bit miffed if my co-worker were making so much more assuming all other things were equal. But if she/he has more job responsibilities perhaps it is fair. Hard to say.

Prior to finding out how much your co-worker is being paid, were you satisfied with your pay? Or did you begin to feel disatisfied after finding out about the disparity?

Adri

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Just for comparison. Several years ago the DON job was open at a (chain operated) nursing home in my area. 60 odd beds. Starting salary $60 K. They have gone thru several DONs. Finally got one with an ADN degree.

They said they would hire me as a PRN nurse at $25/hr. (I have about 30 yr experience and they poay based on experience.) Starting salaries for RNs in the area are $16 to $20 for a new grad. This is a fairly depressed area in a small state in the middle of Appalachia.

If you can ask for a raise, I think you have grounds.

Good luck.

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Lost,

Actually both, my eval. was coming up and I had to pull teeth LAST year to get a decent raise. So, I wasn't real thrilled with this raise and THEN I found out her raise, so it just iced the cake. Oh, and by the way, I'm in northeast Pennsylvania.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho.

Who determines your raise? Is it her or is yours determined by a board too. Maybe she needs to go to the mat for you if its the board that determines your salary. If its her then you need to let her know you feel you arent being paid what your feel your worth. If she doesnt see the writing on the wall, id do the job i was hired for and no more.

But, my guess is because you have pulled up those extra shifts without them having to hire another person(saved them a bundle), done work for her on the expansion project(she sure looks good to the board getting all that done), it really looks like shes running a tight ship and is a real go getter, if she came in under budget,and they liked "her" work on the project, she got the compensation, on your back.

I think you know what id do if i were you and wasnt compensated better.

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