How desperate is your state for Nurses?

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2004

My best friend was complaining about RN wages in KS being so low. Now I see why!

A SURPLUS of RNs in KS is expected by 2020.

Currently, pay for RNs in KS ranks 44th out of the 50 states!

Stats were not available for my state, (TX).

nekhismom · Jan 21, 2004

stats were not available for Virginia.

sagelola · Jan 21, 2004

Or California!

manna, BSN, RN · Jan 21, 2004

Lots of states not on that list. (including mine - MS)

mattsmom81 · Jan 23, 2004

but they are looking for that 'perfect nurse' in many cases. Lots of good nurses here who can't get a job as a nurse due to a minor black mark on their work record. Very unforgiving area here.

efy2178 · Jan 24, 2004

Thank you Karen for posting this again! A dear friend of mine was fired last week for "her personality" but she is a 'good nurse'. She is having a difficult time understanding why she was fired. When I looked up the UAN stats for Iowa, we are not in a nursing shortage now or in the year 2020!!! What does that say? Maybe those of us who are experienced and are not working the beginning wages are out the door because there is another body to fill the position!! This effects all nurses.

I challenge all of you to check and find our if you are in a right-to-work state. If so you are in jeopardy if you are making more than the entry wage--especially if you are in a state that has a surplus of nurses. They are weeding out the higher paying jobs before the gang gets fed up and votes union!

Think about it!

hartsbur · Jan 24, 2004

cool, thanks!

efy2178 · Jan 25, 2004

Are they really looking for the 'perfect' nurse? Or is this an excuse to cut more experienced and higher paying staff?

live4today, RN · Jan 26, 2004

"They" don't need an excuse to not hire nurses here in the United States for those jobs. "They" don't need an excuse to cut staff by firing or forcing them out the door, either. Sad to say, the laws give employers the "right to hire/fire/intimidate" their employees. There is NO defense for employees! Absolutely none!

As long as employers have laws like that on the books, no employee or potential employee stands a chance. "They" want us to kiss their azzes, their feet, and swallow whatever "they" throw our way.

I don't think they want educated nurses at all.......just hired hands with no voice who works like a robot and never breaks down. :rotfl:

I mean......don't you feel like a "handmaiden" at work today when working as a bedside nurse? You are not just "feeling" that way, it is expected of you to be that way to your "clients" (the patients and the visitors of your patients). It's no longer what nurses feel is best for their patients, but what the patient wants whether it is good for them or not.

Since nursing has changed its definition of what a nurse is...the only thing left to take away from nurses is their pay...so they'll cut the hourly wages for bedside nurses, bring in foreign staff to replace us with, and still make the profit they are out for anyway.

Boy, did I choose the wrong profession to spend thousands of thousands of dollars on or what???

mattsmom81 · Jan 26, 2004

Originally posted by efy2178
Are they really looking for the 'perfect' nurse? Or is this an excuse to cut more experienced and higher paying staff?

The perfect nurse is young, no chronic health problems, never injured on the job, perfect work record, (never speaks up) and yes, cheaper.

K O'Malley · Jan 27, 2004

Our state, (WV) is desperate for nurses, but not desperate enough to compensate experienced nurses in order to keep them in the profession. Instead the hospitals holler for the nursing schools to churn out more and more new grads.