No raise for us

Kooky Korky, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2011

For the OP - if it makes you feel any better, I haven't had a raise in about 2 or 3 years. Many are in the same boat with you.

Our state, for instance, has cut its budget severely and we're being told that there is a whole lot more cutting to come. Yet, certain employees are getting raises - judges, legislators, physicians employed by the state, for example. Can you beat that? They are alreay much higher paid than nurses and nurses' aides who work in the state hospitals and homes for the mentally retarded/developmentally disabled. Seriously more. Yet, these highly paid, six figure workers expect more. They have better health insurance, higher pensions, chauffeurs (the judges, the sheriff, the attorney general, the senators and Congressmen), and so on. Same with certain employees of the cities and counties - we hear new shocking greed stories all the time - how these people not only have 24 hour/7 day per week use of a publicly paid for car even if they are not on call 24/7 or expected to respond to emergencies, but their family members and spouses are using these cars, too, for personal use.

While I am very glad to have a job and pretty decent benefits, I resent the loafers and leeches and the fact that OT results in a bigger tax bite.

As I said above, report anyone you believe is working the system. They deserve to be prosecuted. If you don't report them, who will?

Orange Tree · Jan 18, 2011

I think it's OK to be concerned about your own well-being. I know that the "poor" are not out to get everyone else, but I don't feel the need to set up camp on some sacrificial alter and wait for my heart to be cut out.

It sucks that you didn't get a raise! You have my sympathy.

ckh23, BSN, RN · Jan 18, 2011

So I work hard to take care of all these noncompliant nonpaying patients who come in for the stupidest things over and over again. What do I get in return? A letter saying we aren't getting raises this year. Because so many people aren't paying their bills the hospital is having money issues so I get screwed.
So frustrating. I work hard to pay my bills. I pay taxes to pay for Medicaid patients. I don't get a raise to pay for non payers......It just seems so unfair!

Get a grip and join the club. You are not the only one who works hard and didn't get a raise.

INLPN93 · Jan 18, 2011

I got a raise this past year, 0.33/hr.

But I lost my 1.00/hr bonus I got when I worked week-ends and other benefits have been cut or just taken away.

So now on my week-ends I get $5.28 more when last year I got $16 or more.

danh3190 · Jan 18, 2011

Don't you get a raise anyway according to your level and year as a nurse? We get one every year in Australia. For instance this year I will move up to a Level 1 RN, Year 3. I don't think your hospital can do that can they? I'd be checking with HR and the BON about that.

No it doesn't work that way in the US, at least not in my part of the US. Right now it's an employer's market with an excess of nurses. So they are basically saying that if you don't want to work for what they are willing to pay, feel free to leave and let somebody else have the job. I imagine some union contracts have provisions for pay being based on the number of years worked, but never I worked in a union so don't know.

In my old professional science research job they once froze our wages for almost two years while spending millions re-landscaping the large amount of property around the research center, so this sort of thing happens in all fields.

bjaeram · Jan 18, 2011

OP, I'm sorry you didn't get a raise and I feel for you! It's not fair, after giving it your all!
Wish I could convince your manager to give you what you deserve!
I really don't think it is good judgment to justify not giving out raises by stating that it is because of the nonpayers in the system. As if we had any control over this!

The letter we got specificly stated this was the reason!

bjaeram · Jan 18, 2011

I am suprised at all the negative responses I got. I don't want to seem like a cold heartless person because I'm not. I know people are jobless and poor due to circumstances beyond their control. I am more then happy to help them. My frustration is with those that do it by choice and abuse the system and I see this a lot.

I do work in the ER and I think this is the biggest place of abuse in the hospital. They come in by ambulance for a cough, demand a meal, demand a taxi ride home, want a prescription for tylenol because Medicaid will pay for it with a script. They are ungrateful and demanding. They come in 24+ times a year. No one has that many emergencies. They steal supplies out of the cabinets. They "forget" to bring diaper bags so we must provide the diapers and formula. Nurses on the floor don't see it as much because these patients aren't even sick so they don't get admited. Plus we are the only non profit hospital in town so we get them all. The other hospitals can do a quick EMTLA screen and kick them out. We can't so we get them all. They even come in groups. Jane is checking in so since I have to sit and wait on her me and my kid might as well check in too.

I see it EVERYDAY and it's so annoying. It is so personal at this point. I can't buy my kids the same video game yours has because you get your healthcare for free. I can't have a new cellphone or designer bag because I'm paying for your third nonpaying visit this week.

I am grateful I have a good job but that doesn't mean I like to be giving these people my raise. They are usually the rudest most ungrateful patients.

bjaeram · Jan 18, 2011

Plus I just lost my weekend reward position on top of this due to budget issues. So basicly I got a $10/hr paycut and I'm not getting a raise!

I have to work more hours to make less money to pay for the very people I can't stand taking care of!

That sound horrible but it's true. I LOVE my job when I'm taking care of sick patients. I hate the part of my job that makes me take care of selfish, demanding, ungrateful people.

neatnurse30 · Jan 18, 2011

Healthcare in US is so screwed up and so many people are abusing the system, so no wonder hospitals cannot be profitable. I didn't get any raise for my last 4 years ( I work per diem), I don't even care anymore.

You have every right to be mad at the situation in the hospital. I don't understand either, why the hospital has to admit this type of people without insurance, illegals, homeless etc. We are the victims of this system. Well, all I can say, things won't get better anytime soon.

Spacklehead, MSN, NP · Jan 18, 2011

I wonder if your hospital administrators are going without a raise, also? If not, that would be what I would be most angry about.

flashpoint · Jan 18, 2011

I get really tired of the "you should be glad to have a job" thing. I am glad to have a job and 99% of the time I like my job very much, but I do have a right to vent now and then. It is frustrating to have been given a raise every year and not to receive one. I know the economy is bad and that jobs are hard to find, but no matter what, I have the right to vent a little bit.

tyloo · Jan 19, 2011

What really boils my blood is the Wallstreet bailout and the bonuses months later. Sometimes my best days in life is when my expectations are low and I am blissfully ignorant!!! The worst days is when I am keenly aware of my surroundings and taking note!!!