Great Salary But Sometimes I Wonder...

[Joe V]

I dare say that nurses do make a good salary but sometimes I wonder. What do you think? What's wrong with this picture? Please share your thoughts with us...

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[gonzo1, ASN, RN]

I'll get my reward in heaven. Actually I pretty much have it right now. Wonderful husband, son, DIL, grand daughter. Wonderful neighbors who are dear friends, and nice/caring people to work with. There is always a trade off. I'll keep my life.

[MECO28, BSN, RN]

Meh. I daresay the professional athlete is more deserving of his millions than your average hospital CEO.

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

Bah. The nurse's caption should continue...:"BUT I spend my hard earned money paying to watch you do your job and paying for products that advertise while your job is being broadcast...and there is that thing where EVERYTHING you do, good or bad, is broadcast on live television...and as soon as someone younger than you can do your job better you are let go immediately..."

I'll take my job, thankyouverymuch.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

It's not just that pro athletes are overpaid, which in my opinion they are...but that health care workers are so underpaid. It is a sad state that a CNA that cares for vulnerable elderly can make almost as much working in fast food. Licensed staff, nurses that are well educated, well trained and literally responsible for the lives in their care are paid less than many office jobs. To continue the rant...lets stick up for the teachers too, ridiculously underpaid for the responsibility of educating new nurses! Nursing schools are requiring a minimum of a masters degree to teach [which they should], but instructors can be paid so more much in other areas of nursing with a masters or higher degree that it is difficult to attract qualified instructors.

[brandy1017, ASN, RN]

We've become a third world country where a few elite make millions more than anyone needs to live and the rest survive on peanuts! There is no reason anyone is worth millions of dollars and others have to get by on minimum wage! Everyone should have at least a living wage and minimum wage is not a living wage in my opinion. That said nurses are underpaid but in this economic system we have to be happy we have a living wage!

Also if anyone deserves good pay it is the doctors who spend so many years in school and residency and end up with hundreds of thousands of dollars in student loans!

[RNperdiem, RN]

The pro athletes have short careers. Unless you are a star and never get injured, your career is over in a few years. Nurses tend to last longer.

Since they are known to make big money, the athletes attract the notice of every sort of human parasite who want to get some of their money. Nurses tend to fly under that radar.

[Z71RN]

even pro athletes have unions that dictate the league minimal salary for each sport...

[NJnewRN]

I wouldn't call our hard earned money "great" that's for six figures and up. Since I have to bleed for it. I make a good salary.

[sunshyne17]

People who entertain typically get paid more. The spots are limited and the competition is fierce. I don't really care what other people get paid tbh. I just want a good career, privacy and a good income to support my family.

[BeTheLight1145]

gonzo1 said:

I'll get my reward in heaven. Actually I pretty much have it right now. Wonderful husband, son, DIL, grand daughter. Wonderful neighbors who are dear friends, and nice/caring people to work with. There is always a trade off. I'll keep my life.

Amen! I feel the same way! I am healthy and I know I will get my jewels in heaven! I am doing this for God's kingdom! There is no dollar amount that will make me as happy as all the love I have in my life. Money is an important tool, and we all need it but it is not everything!!!!!

[Dhalia27]

I'm from an emerging second world country. during communism doctors were paid a pittance yet they got into the profession for prestige, not money. also, everyone got, and still receives, healthcare. also, to this day doctors still are bribed to perform a better job, or to get perform a procedure sooner, or whatever extra care you need... as a result if you visited a doctor's home you could see it littered with vodkas and liquor. today money is used instead of alcohol.

nurses are severely underpaid, way more so than doctors. i totally understand that in this country nurses ARE underpaid for the tremendous responsibility in their care. it is absurd as the world itself. when i was in my country and told people i wanted to be a nurse (in the states) i wasn't praised for it or encouraged or impressed for my career choice like in this country (for the most part). one person even derided my non stop, made fun of me... etc. it almost, at 20 years old, made me change my mind. i find it impressive that i even wanted to get into nursing considering that in my country there is so much stigma behind it. when i saw that my state university offered a degree in nursing i was blown away and immediately considered it. i felt it was my "calling". (is see it as just a job too, the two attitudes are not exclusive).

so, my point is that in the end, America is still very advanced in its compensation. yes it is ultimately outrageous, incendiary, that nurses are waaaaay underpaid when you look at what they REALLY do. their responsisbility, I think, is close to a doctor's. most medical conditions do not involve a complex diagnoses, one could go on WebMd and possibily figure out what the treatment is if you are smart enough. i've been a fan of allnurses.com before i was a nurse and it is obvious to me that nurses have way about average intelligence by how all of you write. i once saw somewhere that nurses have an average IQ of 120. doctors an IQ of 130. the standard deviation is not that much greater between doctors and nurses. ok... i am falling into a rant. the IQ thing was a distraction, sorry! my point isn't that people should get paid according to IQ. what I'm trying to say is that firstly people should get compensated based on level of RESPONSIBILITY then level of KNOWLEDGE. nurses and doctors carry similar levels but different a kind of responsibility which is why the disparity between the two professions should be closer.

ok, returning to my main pt. (when I started I had intended to only focus on this point! hah!)... nurses in America are actually paid pretty dang well COMPARED to the rest of the world. which is related to why nurses in this country are actually respected more well. level of income=level of respect in a materialistic country, not level of responsibility=level of respect.

if i lived in any other country (with the exclusion of a few progressive ones) i would NOT want to be a nurse. compared to the rest of the world i think that nursing in this country IS paid well and I am actually grateful for it. in an ideal world, sure, i would NOT be grateful for it and i would be angry. but this is not an ideal world, and america is a "little" more ideal than most of the rest of the world, therefore, I, am grateful for the salary nurses receive here.

that's it!