quoted from nurseleigh's postI just have a quick note for all of you that think that the respect would follow if the pay was better. . . . . I have heard comments such as "You must be making a lot of money being a nurse" or "Nurses make really good money" and so on and so forth.
So, seeing as the public seems to think that nurses pay is up there with doctors and lawyers and such, how would actually getting those wages help the publics view of nurses?????
Leigh
p.s. just in case ya'll are reading too much into this post, I am in no way being funny or sarcastic, i am very curious about your answers to this.
I started a new thread rather than shanghai the thread this was posted on, because this is really a different question.
https://allnurses.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&postid=286757#post286757
Since I believe that better nursing wages will increase public respect of nurses, and have far more impact on the nursing shortage than educating the public about what we do, or standardizing educational requirements, I will answer your question, nurseleigh.
Our culture is based on economics, not altruism. When high school kids are looking for a career, they try to match their ability and interests to jobs that will give them personal satisfaction and the best monetary compensation they can get. When they realize that nurses have had a flat salary growth since the Dark Ages, contrary to poplularly held beliefs, and they'll be making $16 an hour working at the bedside, and cap after 5 years without even more costly, specialized education 
===they change their majors.
So suppose I have altruistic leanings and I want a BS degree? I can make way more money while still having job satisfaction by doing something else. Name me one job or career (nothing illegal, please) that a person can do that makes lotsa money but the public has NO respect for.
Here's an example:
John Q. Public has a lot of respect for doctors. He thinks, Why do doctors make so much money? Do I have to understand their work before I adjudge them worthy of their asking price?
No. I only know that they must do something very skilled, very specialized, or they couldn't charge so much. Respect for any career, in today's society, is measured in dollars and cents.
When the pt says, "Gee, you're a nurse. You must make great money," do you want to reply, "No, I don't. But I'm very intelligent and I have a lot of education."
Or, "No, I don't. But I have specialized training and I save lives, and I probably have saved your life at least twice since you've been in here."
Or, "No, I don't. Management doesn't think I'm important enough to pay well, and as soon's I begin to make a decent salary, they'll encourage me to leave, so it'll keep healthcare costs down. They can pay their CEO's millions, the docs have carte blanche to charge you whatever, and the hospital can buy the latest diagnostic equipment, but by golly, since nursing comprises their biggest budgetary outlay, the salaries of nurses must be kept to a minimum. I'm just doing my part for the healthcare industry by allowing it."
The truth is, we're negotiating our low salaries by saying nothing.
The public respects money. The public respects Chutzpah. Nurses have neither; the profession's reputation is built on self-sacrifice. That is why there is a nursing shortage.
If the general public thought, "Nursing is a great way to make a comfortable salary while saving lives," students would be flocking to nursing schools, IMO.
How many of us personally know people who decided against being a nurse strictly because the salary didn't compensate for the personal sacrifice. I know a few.
Finally, I have to wonder: If nurses made more money, would the public have less respect for them? Or more?
Your thoughts appreciated. :)
