charge pay

No extra pay. Half to a full assignment.

It seems so wrong that charge nurses don't get paid more than a couple of dollars an hour more. The workload is frustrating and the charge nurse is held accountable for a montage of things that are out of his/her control (i.e., broken equipment, no bed availability, inadequate staffing, construction going on that inconveniences both staff and patients).

I came home one night from work absolutely beaten. Mentally exhausted, physically exhausted, feeling like a failure because I couldn't make everyone happy (I have since gotten over that daydream) and craving the feel of cool sheets and soft pillows. My husband encouraged me to vent about the issues I faced that day, so I unloaded. After my verbal sewage tirade ended, he shook his head and said, "Do you realize that you make more per hour when you are here on call-and asleep-than you do when you are in charge?" That kinda put things in perspective for me.

So why is it that the national standard reflects charge nurses either make nothing or only a few dollars more? Any thoughts?

Because we've been beaten into submission.

I work in Alberta, Canada.

Charge Nurses are paid an extra $2.00 on top of their hourly wages. At my facility, they have 2-4 "easy" patients--patients who are, for the most part, independent with their own care and doesn't require much (if any) nursing care. We have 20 beds. I work at an inpatient/acute care floor in rural Alberta.

No extra pay for me. I take a full assignment. We are expected to take up to 8 patients each.

No extra pay for me. I take a full assignment. We are expected to take up to 8 patients each.

That's insane.

if you want to add in:

No extra pay...no assignment...25 beds...MedSurg but also must help in OB, ER, and wherever else there is a crisis. Lots of responsibility for no extra money!!

i've recently started researching and benchmarking charge pay for nurses; my hope is that i can gather enough information to present to my organization so that charge nurses can get an incentive that is adequate for the amount of work they are doing.

i would like to know:

1. how much extra do charge nurses make at your facility? 1 dollar more per hour

if you want to add in:

1. if they also have an assignment. yep, get a full assignment and depending on census may be the only nurse on the floor, so have to do meds for all the patients and charge duties

2. what type of floor it is. behavioral health

3. number of beds in the department/floor. 28 i think

4. your geographical location. western pa

any information would be greatly appreciated!

answers above

i've recently started researching and benchmarking charge pay for nurses; my hope is that i can gather enough information to present to my organization so that charge nurses can get an incentive that is adequate for the amount of work they are doing.

i would like to know:

1. how much extra do charge nurses make at your facility?

if you want to add in:

1. if they also have an assignment.

2. what type of floor it is.

3. number of beds in the department/floor.

4. your geographical location.

any information would be greatly appreciated!

med surg- days trys to have free charge, charge gets nothing more an hour but more work, sometimes charge has an assignment on days/evenings. always on nights. most people hate being charge.

Our charges on days and evenings don't get an assignment, but on nights and weekends they take a full assignment. They get $1.00 more an hour (almost typo'ed $100, wouldn't that be great?!?). Most of the nurses I give report to on days don't like being charge - they say there's not enough to do. I'm in New England.