No nursing jobs in 2012 ???

PMFB-RN, RN · Oct 25, 2009

To: PMFB-RN
RE: Nursing wages
http://www.worldsalaries.org/professionalnurse.shtml
According to this site US nurses make more than anywhere else in the world.
Question- if the US adopts a health care delivery system similar to other developed nations will US nurse wages become similar to foreign nurse wages? Any thoughts?

*** Ya gross, not net.

stephenfnielsen · Oct 26, 2009

PMFB-RN: Either you or I are blind, this is what I see-

NET MONTHLY INCOME

U.S. average salary= $ 3,168

Australia average income= $ 2,534

UK median salary= $ 2,243

Where am I going wrong?

belgarion · Oct 26, 2009

PMFB-RN: Either you or I are blind, this is what I see-
NET MONTHLY INCOME
U.S. average salary= $ 3,168
Australia average income = $ 2,534
UK median salary= $ 2,243
Where am I going wrong?

I'm not trying to be overly picky put what I am seeing is average salary for the U.S. and Australia and median salary for the U.K. Those are two different things and sometimes the difference is considerable.

stephenfnielsen · Oct 26, 2009

Good point- after further review it appears that this website uses the terms median (which is the industry standard) and average synonymously....

Guest233447 · Oct 27, 2009

As a Canadian working to get my LPN education (here it is a 2 year diploma program) when I graduate I can expect to make about $23.40 an hour as a starting wage. LPNs go up to just under $30 an hour, not including shift differentials or overtime.

The scope of an LPN in (Alberta) Canada is quite wide and we do much of what a RN can do except access PICC lines or do much in the way of Trauma/ICU medicine. That isn't to say there are NO LPN's in these fields, just fewer.

In order to reign in costs, the provincial governments are looking at using more LPNs in places where having a RN is unnecessary.

But somewhere earlier a poster expressed the hysterical idea of a nurse working for $10 an hour. I can't see that happening.

Universal Health is something I cannot imagine living without, though it is certainly expensive in terms of per capita spending - especially with an aging population. Cost saving measures are going to have to be enacted, and this may be a painful process for people who are pathologically afraid to admit that dying is part of living and will do anything, spend anything, from the public purse to put off the inevitable.

justiceforjoy · Oct 27, 2009

I have been casually looking for some comparative statistics on nurses wages between countries for a while now. It is my suspicion that the above quote is dead wrong, but I would be interested to know for sure. Can someone post something that supports or denies this claim?

LPNs start at around $23.50/hr here in BC, Canada with benefits. I forget what the RN starting wage is, but the max is $40.00/hour with benefits. LPNs got fully screwed over a few years back when our "union" (HEU) decided to cut wages by 12% (I think it was 12%).

PMFB-RN, RN · Oct 27, 2009

I'm not trying to be overly picky put what I am seeing is average salary for the U.S. and Australia and median salary for the U.K. Those are two different things and sometimes the difference is considerable.

*** As a full time RN here in the USA I also pay $410/month for my family health insurance premium. In addition, since my hospital's insurance plan only cover 80% until I have paid $5,00 each year my family usually have $3-4K in other health care expenses.

CASTLEGATES · Oct 27, 2009

I'm goin to canada!!!!!!!!!!!!! We stink!

CASTLEGATES · Oct 27, 2009

I'm not trying to be overly picky put what I am seeing is average salary for the U.S. and Australia and median salary for the U.K. Those are two different things and sometimes the difference is considerable.

Australia has a far better standard of living and far better bennies than the US from what I've heard. The US is full of underprivileged and slums in nearly every city; the other two have nothing close to the US disparity; benefits are greater despite pure income.

Why is it I see AUS and UK people on vacation all over the world and ohhhh zero Americans? (we're talking remote destinations). They've got retirement and disposable income for some reason. There are more of us but they've got better bennies over all.

Hushdawg · Oct 27, 2009

I think it will be worse. Probably lots of foreign nurses flooding the market happy to accept $10 hr. as RN.

It is illegal to pay an immigrant worker any less than one pays a native citizen.

I don't know why these kinds of things keep circulating that immigrant nurses are hired because they are "cheaper."

It's pure xenophobia, plain and simple.

stephenfnielsen · Oct 27, 2009

Come on people I give you statistics and you give me weak anecdotes ("I see zero Americans [on vacation]"). If you want to debate this issue give me some measurable, verifiable evidence of your point of view. Here is what would make your arguments more persuasive- x study shows that nurses outside of the US make more money when taxes and health care costs and education are factored in. I'm not saying that you all are wrong, I'm just saying that this anecdotal garbage wouldn't hold up in a middle school debate class. I'm really just looking for the truth.

I'm starting for the point of view: US nurses make more money and pay less taxes than the rest of the world, however they will pay more more for health care and education and receive less public services.

The debate would then come down to whether a person values personal freedoms (money, guns, slums) more than the social safety that many other nations appear to experience.

Home Health Columnist / Guide · Jun 29, 2010

i think it will be worse. probably lots of foreign nurses flooding the market happy to accept $10 hr. as rn.

government regulations require that all nursing staff be paid "prevailing wage" as part of immigration regs to prevent facility undercutting and wage explotation of foreign workers. they can't be paid any lower that lowest salary offered to us born rn.

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