LVN asked me my rate and told my trainer, which turns out its $2 higher

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Hello. I'm a BSN fresh grad and got hired for my 1st job recently. There was this incident when an LVN asked me out of the blue what my rate is, to my surprise, I answered truthfully without thinking of its consequences. After she knew she told me that my trainer is like $2 lower than mine. She also told my trainer my rate, so it turned out that my trainer wants to go to mngmt now and ask for a raise. She doesn't have her BSN yet, so I believe that's the reason. Should I tell our staff devt person or HR of the incident, just so they know that it was never my intention to be comparative with my rate and everything. Its my 1st job and this bothers me. Thanks for ur advice.

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Specializes in RN-BC, ONC, CEN... I've been around.

I can't see how this is much of an issue. It would surprise me that there would be a $2/hr pay difference between an ADN with experience vs a BSN. Simply put, that ADN is more valuable than you from the hospitals standpoint (they are not training her up to do a job and last I heard it costs around $10k to train a new staff nurse). I suspect more that (and you'll learn this working in hospitals) that his or her pay increases has not matched those that HR is using to attract new staff. That being said a couple words of advice:1) don't ask coworkers what they make. It's generally viewed to be rude. 2) when asked to, unless it's a close friend, I'll usually give a nondescript answer and change the subject. It's really none of their business

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That's also what I thought of when she asked me my rate, somewhat rude. Anyways, thanks for saying that this is not much to be bothered with. I was just worried, and that's a relief. Thanks.

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Do not do anything. You did nothing wrong and really the pay part is none of your business. Sorry if I come off rude.

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Specializes in Medical Surgical Orthopedic.

In the giant stack of papers you signed when you got hired, you probably agreed not to discuss your rate of pay. I'm not sure what happens when the rule gets broken, but most places do have the rule.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

Lesson learned. NEVER discuss YOUR salary and benefits with ANYONE. It never ends well, SOMEONE is going to be upset in some way or another....

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that happened to me already, dont tell your answer, or give a lower # then ask hers, plus if its unionized, it all in the contract anyway, jealousy at the end of the day

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No hospital in my area pays a BSN more based on just the degree. They care about experience. If you were a highly experienced nurse, then they would pay you more. Being a fresh undergrad, it's probably some sick twist where they are paying nurses more now to start out. Another possibility is if you are part of a float pool, going to be 2nd or 3rd shift, or a different status (like some supplemental and contingent nurses at my old ER department made 4 dollars more an hour than part-timers or full-timers).

Also, are you union? She could have been hired under a different contract that had less raises. A grocery store union had that where the new cashiers hired under the new contract made more initially starting out but had worse wages than the old contract.

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Sadly, this is not an unusual situation. Hospitals are notoriously bad at keeping up with market conditions for their incumbent staff. For the last few years, annual raises have averaged ~ 3%. At the same time, 'external' benchmarks for salaries have increased more rapidly so new hires (including new grads) end up getting higher base rates than incumbents. The only way to avoid this is for the organization to assess & adjust their entire compensation structure on a regular basis and implement across the board raises when necessary. This is a very time-intensive process and the outcome can be very expensive. So, many companies just ignore everything until it becomes a crisis situation when they lose too many nurses to the competition.

Welcome to healthcare.

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it's true that you should not discuss your pay rates to everyone, it is part of your contract. because if you do, you might violated the HR's rules and policy.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, NICU.

That was quite rude of her. I would avoid her at all costs. She is a trouble-making drama-seeker.

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