Great Salary But Sometimes I Wonder...

smartnurse1982 · Sep 28, 2013

Thats the free market.

I chose nursing,and i have to deal with it.

smartnurse1982 · Sep 28, 2013

I will say that geography matters more than anything.

When i was in the south,the pay and benefits had me in tears.

In Nj,its a huge improvement.

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Sep 28, 2013

Quote

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!

I appreciate your perspective. :yes:

As far as income, I have been paid handsomely for the work I do as a nurse...however, wages have become stagnant for almost a generation; perhaps a generation; I think making close to or at least 6 figures for what we do would make it math to our expanding practice and responsibilities :yes: ; overall most not us in this country need an income raise.

manusko · Sep 28, 2013

The owners get paid even more so why shouldn't the athletes get what they can? You can't compare the two. People do the same thing with comparing teachers. The biggest difference would have to be that 50,000 plus people will never pack a stadium to watch you insert a foley cath. I'm not saying its fair but it is the world we live in.

_firely · Apr 5, 2019

On 9/26/2013 at 1:58 PM, kbrn2002 said:
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.

I’ve experienced that in both computer science and nursing the job of doing pays so much more than the job of teaching, the teachers never have more than a couple years experience teaching on average.

Howardhughes, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 22, 2019

Well... I found out Nursing is no get rich job...as a matter of fact for the Education and Training involved it way under paid. I was just asked by a Travel agency if I wanted a job.. you see the "Agency" Bills out $150.00 a Hour for the Contract...You Get $45.00 Pro rated due to housing etc..and you get all the responsibility to your license and they make $105.00 a HR for a 12 Week Contract YEA IM IN. Folks...Nursing needs to Pay well for good people...You Earned it. There is a reason the Hospitals are making 300M PA as a "Non Profit"...its off your Poor pay and Benefits. Im SO BLESSED to be Semi retired .. If you Don't have Representation you will be worked like a Dog and Paid worse.

Workitinurfava, BSN, RN · Oct 27, 2019

On 9/28/2013 at 10:15 AM, morificeko said:
The owners get paid even more so why shouldn't the athletes get what they can? You can't compare the two. People do the same thing with comparing teachers. The biggest difference would have to be that 50,000 plus people will never pack a stadium to watch you insert a foley cath. I'm not saying its fair but it is the world we live in.

Maybe the patients who need to learn how to do it themselves would. Lol!

Howardhughes, ASN, BSN, RN · Oct 27, 2019

My Point is they ( Travel Agencies) are leaches offering nothing and taking the Lions share of $$$...YOU do the work and take all the responsibilities ...there is NO NO Good reason a RN cant be a Self Contractor OR Get a Group of RN's with Liability Insurance and Negotiate Pay. Hospitals don't do it because folks get taken care of who write these contracts within Management.

Chronic Care Coordinator · May 18, 2020

They both don't have their masks on!

His millions will not help him in COVID land while he'll be one of the thousands she will touch with her expertise and caring!

Editorial Team / Admin · Oct 8, 2021

Any nurse salaries in the millions yet? (wishful thinking)

Catalin, BSN, RN · Oct 11, 2021

Definitely not worth it. My friend works for amazon and makes $300,000+ yearly. Works 2 - 3 days out of his week. He doesnt have even 5% of the responsibility I have as an RN. Doesn't have to deal with violent patients who have no reprecussions for their actions, no working holidays/weekends/nights, all remote.

I'm learning C++ now