Nursing Pay - Why So Low?

thm107 · Oct 23, 2003

Why is pay so low?

First off, it is not too low in many areas. RN's make above average wages when compared to all 2 and 4 year degree professions. Of course some make more-many make less.

Second, the majority of RN's are women. I guarantee that if nursing were a male-dominated profession that the wages would be significantly better, for the myriad reasons which cause this to be true. I will only touch on a few of those reasons:

--Nursing, and female nurses, tend to be more concerned with doing good and caring versus income, and this shows time and time again during hospital negotiations regarding nurse salaries.

--Women tend (note the term TEND) to be the second income-earner, or allow their career to be less of a priority than the male in the family's career.

--Nursing, being female-dominated for so long, has had a much steeper hill to climb regarding wages. Nurses accepted low pay for far to long, and many in nursing administration today were a part of those low-pay generations, so they honestly see the increases in nurse pay as wonderful and quite generous. They are, in fact, rather pleased (and rightfully so) at the advances they helped nursing gain. This has caused their fire to burn out, however, and we newer generation nurses will have to stoke that fire back up, and fight for our wages.

--Nursing, while making advances, is still percieved as a 'bedpans and bedmaking' profession. People just do not understand what we do, as men are still the primary decision makers in hospitals the appreciation of our real duties is sorely lacking. As more men enter nursing, and communicate the reality of nursing to other men, this also will change.

--Women have maternity leaves and are far more likely to work part time. This may seem unfair and rather insensitive, but do you want political correctness or reality? The reality is that women are NOT as dedicated to the CAREER aspect of working as men. (Of course, many are, but how many men work part time, take months off every few years to have a baby? FAR less than do women)

I am an RN, and a male. I am quite proud of my profession, and will willingly admit that AS A WHOLE women are more compatible with the nursing profession than men. (Not to knock men or nursing, but it is NOT a very masculine profession-again, reality vs. political correctness) So long as this is the case nursing will ALWAYS be paid less than the responsibilities and technical expertise merit.

We all knew going into nursing that we would never get rich being a nurse. It was a CHOICE to become a nurse. While I actively fight for higher wages and frankly expect better pay, I cannot reject the reality that compared to most professions nurses are NOT paid poorly.

I mean, come on now, I made $65,000 last year with an associates degree from a community college! I am not exactly hurting here.

cannoli · Oct 23, 2003

Was that $65,000 earned through just one full-time job at 40 hours a week, or did it include a lot of over-time hours?

thm107 · Oct 23, 2003

Originally posted by cannoli
Was that $65,000 earned through just one full-time job at 40 hours a week, or did it include a lot of over-time hours?

Actually 36 hours per week, with not much overtime. (I don't do overtime in the summer, and limit myself to one or two days per month)

cannoli · Oct 23, 2003

Then what part of the country do you live in, that the pay is that good, and what is the cost of living?

CougRN · Oct 23, 2003

Personally I don't think nursing pay is low to begin with. When you graduate and start out at 40,000$ a year or more that is a pretty living for a single person. The problem is that pay doesn't go up very much. We top out too soon and the top pay isn't enough to support a family with one income. I've been working as a nurse for over a year and make about 50,000$ a year now with about one extra shift a month. It's nice for now but I know I'm going to have to go for my master's to earn a better living. That's just my opinion.

eltrip · Oct 23, 2003

Originally posted by CougRN
Personally I don't think nursing pay is low to begin with. When you graduate and start out at 40,000$ a year or more that is a pretty living for a single person. The problem is that pay doesn't go up very much. We top out too soon and the top pay isn't enough to support a family with one income. I've been working as a nurse for over a year and make about 50,000$ a year now with about one extra shift a month. It's nice for now but I know I'm going to have to go for my master's to earn a better living. That's just my opinion.

I don't know where you are living, but that's not the experience for nurses in my neck of the woods.

CougRN · Oct 23, 2003

Originally posted by eltrip
I don't know where you are living, but that's not the experience for nurses in my neck of the woods.

What do mean? Do think that this pay is ok to raise a family with? What are you trying to say with this?

km rn · Oct 23, 2003

It is not so much the starting wage in nursing that is horrible - it is the fact that your salary will stagnate and you will forever be making within 1000 - 3000 dollars more than a new graduate.

The starting salary seems reasonable - I started at the same wage as many of my friends in non-nursing jobs...however now 19 years later - their wages are double to triple mine and their benefits have also increased. Any 1 - 2% pay raise I make is eaten up by my having to spend more money on my health insurance etc.

During this last year, congress discussed the stagnation of nursing pay and compared it to teacher's pay. Both are predominately still female professions, yet the teachers did not have the same stagnation of salary issues. Teachers have received a lot of media attention towards their salary woes and it has done some good - less stagnation...yet neither teachers or nurses receive adequate compensation.

I'll try to find the web link to the study...it was fascinating and helped educate me regarding stagnation of salary issues.

eltrip · Oct 23, 2003

Originally posted by CougRN
What do mean? Do think that this pay is ok to raise a family with? What are you trying to say with this?

So sorry, I didn't mean to be so obtuse. What I meant is that in my area, registered nurses with mulitple years of experience are not yet earning $40,000. It is something we look forward to earning in the future.

As the primary breadwinner in my family, I would welcome earning $40-50,000 per year. I'd have to change jobs to make that particular dream come true.

Again, my apologies for not being crystal clear with my previous response.

thm107 · Oct 23, 2003

The stagnation is an excellent point.

As for where nurses make more money, you have also raised another issue keeping nurse's salaries lower. Nurses, being women, are very often not as free as men to move to where the money is. Nurses are often 'trapped' by the circumstances of their lives. It is often difficult for a nurse who is a woman to go where market forces drive nurse salaries up.

km rn · Oct 23, 2003

Government statistics regarding nursing salaries. October 2002

Nursing salaries overall have remained STAGNANT in the past 10 years.

Nurse's actual earnings have increased steadily from 1983 - 2002 BUT "real earnings" have been FLAT since 1991.

(real earnings = money available after adjusting for inflation)

Average Annual Salaries of RNs versus "Real Earnings"

1984 annual salary = 25, 064 Real Earnings = 22, 063

1990 annual salary = 29, 588 Real Earnings = 23,861

1995 annual salary = 35,146 Real Earnings = 23,711

2001 annual salary = 41, 060 Real Earnings = 23, 409.

Futhermore....much of a nurse's wage growth takes place early and TAPERS off with time.

New grad

Nurse 5 years experience: makes 15 to 17% more than newgrad.

Nurse 15 - 20 years experience: 16 to 20% more than new grad.

Secretary Thompson points out that nurses' salaries are actually BEHIND those of another perceived low income group - elementary school teachers. Nurses' salaries are falling futher behind each survey period.

1984 Elementary school teacher = 25,000

1984 Nurse = 19,000 (4,400 less per year)

2001 Elementary school teacher = 54,800

2001 Nurse = 41,000 (13,800 less per year)

Now please don't make this into a teachers versus nurse war - both groups have difficult jobs. However, I believe the teachers have done a much better job educating the public about their salary issues.

Source: Government Statistics regarding Nursing Salaries October 2002 Contemporary Long Term Care

In addition, the salary for a nurse varies significantly dependent on area of country and area of practice (hospital versus non-acute).

I get very frustrated when I hear that nurse get very high wages - it needs to put into the right context.

Medic 26460 · Oct 23, 2003

The problem with arguing nursing wages is that in my experience, nurses complain about not getting enough money, which i wholeheartedly agree with, but per skill and practice level, a paramedic is MUCH lower paid than a nurse. With the liability and nature of the business (violence, etc.) we as medics make roughly half as much hourly than nurses do. The starting pay for medics at my service is $10/hr, recently raised from 8.70/hr. The average pay for a NEW nurse at area hospitals is just a few cents under $20/hr. Not complaining, but just keep in mind that there are those working just as hard if not harder for much less money.....