Losing money being a nurse

SFCardiacRN · Dec 23, 2005

Better see what's up with other professions first! Forget a raise...lots are praying they don't get laid off!

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2005

This is happening everywhere. I will try to find a link for a study I saw recently. It was done by economists, showing that actual income, purchasing power, is going DOWN for working Americans, despite wage increases. (Increased health insurance costs, increased home prices, etc.)

I'll look for the study and post the link if I find it.

ShayRN · Dec 23, 2005

My sil has about 3 classes before she has a Master's Degree in teaching. She works for a large Catholic elementry school, her wage? Less than 30,000 a year. My mom worked for 30 years at Delphi. She may be losing her retirement benefits soon. We are switching from my dh's insurance to mine because we will pay 150.00 LESS a month for mine, he works at the post office. I am not going to complain about my salary or benefits AT ALL.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2005

My husband is a high level federal employee and we have no dental insurance.

We used to have the Postal Employee's insurance and it was awful. It is a myth that post office benefits are good.

In Arizona, housing prices have more than doubled in the last five years, but the AZ Hospital Assoc is on a big campaign to keep nursing wages down.

Many facilities will only accept travelers from agencies who sign agreements with The AZHA agreeing to caps on traveler wages.

An article came out in the Tucson paper this week which specifically mentioned that the nursing shortage in the area will be getting worse, because an RN can no longer afford housing in AZ.

My bil is a PhD college professor and makes only $38,000. a year.

Here in TX, I was just offered a job making far less than I made as a new grad years ago.

The middle class really is getting squeezed out. Being that my husband has a PhD, I'm an RN, and we have no children, I expected that we would be doing much better finacially than we are. But we are barely making ends meet. Prices are too high and wages too low.

A recent article in The Reader's Digest states that the US is losing its'

postion as a world leader in scientific and medical research, as scientists and researchers are so poorly paid. Many brilliant scientists are leaving science and engineering and going into business and marketing to make more money.

I surely do miss the wonderful economy and balanced budget of the Clinton years.

Multicollinearity, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2005

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The middle class really is getting squeezed out. Being that my husband has a PhD, I'm an RN, and we have no children, I expected that we would be doing much better finacially than we are. But we are barely making ends meet. Prices are too high and wages too low.
A recent article in The Reader's Digest states that the US is losing its'
postion as a world leader in scientific and medical research, as scientists and researchers are so poorly paid. Many brilliant scientists are leaving science and engineering and going into business and marketing to make more money.
I surely do miss the wonderful economy and balanced budget of the Clinton years.

Yes, I miss that too. I would hope that it would put politicians sexual scandals in perspective compared to what can really go bad in the country.

This article isn't the study I referred to earlier. It's by my favorite economist, Paul Krugman.

http://www.pkarchive.org/economy/ForRicher.html

He talks about what is happening to the middle class. It's long, but I find it quite interesting. I know a PhD (professor at a large university) economist who thinks that we are headed for an absolute crash in the US eventually. So much wealth is increasingly concentrated at the very top. It has not been this way in the US since the 1920's, before the Great Depression. Add to that the Federal deficit and things just don't look that great, financially in the future.

I do believe financially speaking, that RNs will fare better than many in the future economy though. Not that it will be great necessarily, but if there is a recession or 'crash' other careers will just implode, like service, sales, retail, small business owners, etc.

Hellllllo Nurse, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2005

Yes, I miss that too. I would hope that it would put politicians sexual scandals in perspective compared to what can really go bad in the country.
This article isn't the study I referred to earlier. It's by my favorite economist, Paul Krugman.
http://www.pkarchive.org/economy/ForRicher.html
He talks about what is happening to the middle class. It's long, but I find it quite interesting. I know a PhD (professor at a large university) economist who thinks that we are headed for an absolute crash in the US eventually. So much wealth is increasingly concentrated at the very top. It has not been this way in the US since the 1920's, before the Great Depression. Add to that the Federal deficit and things just don't look that great, financially in the future.
I do believe financially speaking, that RNs will fare better than many in the future economy though. Not that it will be great necessarily, but if there is a recession or 'crash' other careers will just implode, like service, sales, retail, small business owners, etc.

I agree.

RNs will fare better than average, if they don't live where I do. There is a huge surplus of nurses here, competition for the crappy, low paying no benefits jobs is fierce. That's why I am a traveler. I cannot make a living here at home.

Ironically, one of our local universities just got a 2 million dollar grant from The Dept of Labor as a part of Bush's Nurse Reinvestment Act for nursing scholarships and to expand their nursing program. So, there will be even more nurses in an area where nurses already cannot find jobs.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2005

Please.....

American workers have been suffering from eroding wages for about 30 years. Prior to the 1970s, a man could sufficiently support a spouse and several children on one income. In fact, most men could support their families and have money left over for the recreational extras. These days are long gone.

Most men do not earn enough to support their families due to several reasons. Firstly, the cost of living is increasing more rapidly and the wage increases just are not keeping up. Secondly, men face competition in the workforce from women and immigrants, and this 'over-supply' of labor helps to reduce everyone's wage. These days, it often takes two incomes to make ends meet.

Every employee is losing money slowly. I know my words might incite controversy, but that is not my intention here.

CseMgr1, ASN, RN · Dec 23, 2005

Please.....
American workers have been suffering from eroding wages for about 30 years. Prior to the 1970s, a man could sufficiently support a spouse and several children on one income. In fact, most men could support their families and have money left over for the recreational extras. These days are long gone.
Most men do not earn enough to support their families due to several reasons. Firstly, the cost of living is increasing more rapidly and the wage increases just are not keeping up. Secondly, men face competition in the workforce from women and immigrants, and this 'over-supply' of labor helps to reduce everyone's wage. These days, it often takes two incomes to make ends meet.
Every employee is losing money slowly. I know my words might incite controversy, but that is not my intention here.

Sure we are. Even though I made more money last year working in the private sector than I had ever made in my life, I barely could pay my bills. Both my homeowner's and car insurance premiums have increased with every renewal period, as have my property taxes. And look at the cost of Natural Gas and gas for our cars....just so we can get to work. And, just yesterday, I was told by the mechanics who regulary service my car that I need new brakes. Where in the Sam Hill is the money for that going to come from??? I guess if my brakes go out on me, I'll have to drag my foot, so I can keep from hitting someone...

It's an assault on the Middle Class all right...and with no end in sight. :angryfire

Tweety, BSN, RN · Dec 23, 2005

I was fortunate to get 11% raise this last year, due to a market adjustment, and pay for skills, and a 4% raise. So I still feel I got ahead this year. However, I don't feel 11% ahead because of the high cost of gas, and just about every other bill has gone up.

sugabuga · Dec 23, 2005

Absolutely. I moved from Virginia to Arkansas and let me tell you, I was amazed at the difference in real estate. A house bigger and newer than the one I had bought for 225K there I bought for 82K here. I don't make much less than I did there either. But it's still so hard. Everything is going up except wages. We've even talked about not having kids because it's already so tight for us. It would be much worse with another body. That's a sad day when you have to make sacrifices like that.

Sflowerssweeney · Dec 23, 2005

I live in Southern MD. I saw the post from the nurse who moved from Virginia to Arkansas, and I don't know what the date is. Houses in my area are now going an average of $550. A house like mine that I bought 6 years ago for $225 has almost tripled in cost. I don't know how you could ever make enough money to afford a new house without equity in your old one that's going to make up for it.

I think in this area the housing market is the major problem right now. People are getting 50 year mortgages or interest only mortgages just to live or sometimes go beyond their means. If we keep paying these prices, they'll keep going up.

I don't know what the answer is, but in my area you could never make enough money to live. You have to travel and have 2 working people in the home and still it's amazing how little you can save. The RN's make more than the office worker even in a law office around here.