Nursing pay..Check this out!

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Why is nursing pay across the board not standardized? What I am referring to is, why do nurses get paid more or less according to the cost of living across the USA and not according to skills a nurse possess? I am not sure for other nurses but my quality of care does not fluctuate as our pay does across state lines etc. If a nurse was getting paid a lot more for the same job in a different city then moves to a city where the pay is much lower for the same job, are we allowed to decrease the quality of our care just like the pay decrease the nurse will receive?

This isn't just nursing, FYI. It's pretty much any skilled job out there. Check out police salaries in California vs. Texas for example, or physician salaries. My husband is a plumber and even his income varies state to state.

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Specializes in ICU, trauma.

cost. of. living.

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Specializes in PMHNP-BC.

Fast food workers in Los Angeles make more than they do in Montgomery, AL....I think the Big Mack tastes the same pretty much anywhere you go.

I am all for taking care of patients but I have to be able to meet my basic needs as well and in major cities that takes significantly more money.

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The cost of living.. is what it is. It is an INDEX that measures differences in the price of goods and services. The value of your service depends on your location. I have made 60 bucks an hour in Hawaii, 25 bucks in Detroit.

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Does the cost of cellular service packages vary from city to city even though coverage varies from location to location?

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Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

Don't ALL incomes vary according to the COL? Nursing isn't unique in this regard. Even minimum wage varies according to COL. a

If a rural WV hospital is going to pay nurses the same as NYC nurses... guess what? They won't be able to afford safe staffing.

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Not quite sure. But why would you compare phone service.. to nursing service? I always thought we should get paid by the individual service we provided. What is this enema or IV pain relief injection worth to you .. consumer?

We don't call the shots on this one.

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Specializes in ICU, trauma.
Does the cost of cellular service packages vary from city to city even though coverage varies from location to location?

no, but i'm sure what the employee of a cellular store gets paid is difference from city to city.

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It's what SmilingBlueEyes and TriciaJ said.

Like most jobs, pay is based on what the employer is willing to pay to get the desired result from the employee. That varies among different labor markets.

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It's what SmilingBlueEyes and TriciaJ said.

Like most jobs, pay is based on what the employer is willing to pay to get the desired result from the employee. That varies among different labor markets.

Well like many people, I do not trust an employer anymore. Employers will do anything to pay you as little as possible but expect you to perform flawlessly.

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Don't ALL incomes vary according to the COL? Nursing isn't unique in this regard. Even minimum wage varies according to COL. a

If a rural WV hospital is going to pay nurses the same as NYC nurses... guess what? They won't be able to afford safe staffing.

They do not staff adequately for safety as it is.

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Specializes in Peds, Med-Surg, Disaster Nsg, Parish Nsg.

To understand more about the cost of living and nursing wages, take a look at this article based on the 2017 allnurses Salary Survey results: Registered Nurse Salary Purchasing Power Across States

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