Overwhelming # of Nars and Nurses Quitting

RedhairedNurse, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2008

I don't know what to do. I really like the patients, my hours and the days I work. The facility is brand new. I am well liked. But, the staff shortage is unbearable. Then I found out that I am not being paid the same as other nurses - even new ones! A nurse with less experience than me is getting 3 more $ than me? I went to management and requested a raise and I was denied. Now, I am the lowest paid nurse there! The lone ranger nurse that is still there working double shifts and everything else to hold the fort down and they say no to me?
I should quit huH? I should run like everyone else. Everyday I go to work, I learn of someone else quitting. They put a freeze on admissions because staffing is so bad. They are using the pool to attempt to fill positions.
But, I like the place, hours, days that I work. I should quit too? Right?
Ugggg:confused:

Good jobs are hard to come by. If you're happy you shouldn't quit. Are the nurses that work with you, that get paid more, have higher education? I know that sometimes RNs make more than LVNs. Is that the case? I'm really sorry to hear that....maybe you should communicate with them that you want to quit because you're feeling undercompensated for your loyalness or whatever it may be.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Sep 19, 2008

Wage information is supposed to be considered confidential information for this very reason. In some places that I worked it was considered a disciplinary problem if workers were comparing and talking about their hourly pay rates. To even mention a wage discrepancy to a boss got both people in trouble. You have to prove that the facility is violating it's own policy. If there is a wage range, you fit within it, and the facility followed its own rules placing you within that range then there is nothing more you can do.

woknblues · Sep 20, 2008

To me, you have two things that are problematic. First, your wage issue. Second, you are being overworked. If you cannot settle at least one of these problems soon, I would move on. Overworked and underpaid is cliche, until it happens to you. Go shopping on your days off.

sshannon · Sep 20, 2008

>

I've always had a problem with such policies. The only reason for their existence, so far as I can see, is to cloak salary discrepancies. I think salary information and wage scales should see full light of day. Nurses need complete information to make decisions about their employment options and opportunities.

Atheos · Sep 20, 2008

>
I've always had a problem with such policies. The only reason for their existence, so far as I can see, is to cloak salary discrepancies. I think salary information and wage scales should see full light of day. Nurses need complete information to make decisions about their employment options and opportunities.

Nope, they are there because sometimes companies need wiggle room to get new employees.

It is not anyone's business what someone else makes. Your salary is your issue. You are responsible for negotiating your own pay. In no industry is pay equal except a couple of places like factories.

There are always going to be people that make more than you. If they won't negotiate a pay you think you deserve you always have the option of going somewhere else.

sshannon · Sep 21, 2008

Nope, they are there because sometimes companies need wiggle room to get new employees.
It is not anyone's business what someone else makes. Your salary is your issue. You are responsible for negotiating your own pay. In no industry is pay equal except a couple of places like factories.
There are always going to be people that make more than you. If they won't negotiate a pay you think you deserve you always have the option of going somewhere else.

I did not say that I expected everyone to receive the same compensation. I said only that such policies seem to me to be used to cloak salary discrepencies. I did not offer an opinion about whether or not those discrepencies should or should not exist. I only wished to state that it seems completely absurd to me that what people make is considered some kind of top secret information. My salary is a simple fact. A dollar amount. Not the recipe for original Coca-Cola.

If you and I work side by side and you're a better negotiator than am I and can, due to need or want on the part of our employer, compel a better price for your services, bully for you. But what purpose is ultimately served by keeping the information closeted?

There never would have been a Lilly Ledbetter lawsuit if such information were widely available at places of employment.

chevyv, BSN, RN · Sep 21, 2008

I hate that places have that little no tell in their hand book. If everyone is leaving, you know they'll talk about their pay simply because they could care less at that point. Maybe you should just start checking out the want ads and see what else is out there. You never know and you can still decide to stay. Would they offer you more if they knew you were putting in apps at other places? If another employer called to check your reference, would they pay you more? It sounds like there are going to be some serious changes taking place or else they will go down. Not accepting new admits due to staffing is scarry. Something has to change. It might be good to keep some feelers out there just in case.

It sounds like they might choose to let you go rather than try to keep you, but that would be ridiculous. However, I don't claim to understand management one bit. Apart from being almost done with ns, I'm also just about done with a health care admin degree and I haven't a clue as to how and why a facility operates the way they do.

Durable · Mar 23, 2009

i agree with sshannon. while it isn’t anyone's business what you earn, the fact that a facility comes down hard on workers, and acts like it is a crime that you found out what one of your peers earns, tells me they are up to no good. like any business, health care and nursing can be cut-throat. of course if they can take advantage of a good employee with a good attitude and have them work harder and longer for less money they will do it. it is not honest nor is it good for business to keep employees in the dark about facts which impact their career. it is not good to take advantage or short change employees nor is it good for business to be just plain sneaky and dishonest. a good facility doesn't need to pit nurses against each other. and of course they know that eventually, no matter what policy they have, employees will find out by accident sometimes that salary and benefits are not standard - and they should be for employees in the same position and experience! personally i think management is the "enemy" and i never trust them. i also don't think doughertyz should leave unless a better position has been found and accepted. cool off and think - don't let them control you and your emotions. being gainfully employed in this economy is the most important thing. then think of ways to find out why there is a pay discrepancy. i found out new nurses were getting car service pay while i was not, on the same shift. i have to calm down for a few days before i pursue some information cause that really made me angry and i'd like to give them a piece of my mind but i refuse to lose control so...i have to calm down.

ShiphrahPuah · Mar 23, 2009

I really like the patients, my hours and the days I work. The facility is brand new. I am well liked.
Ugggg:confused:

These things are hard to come by and there is no guarantee that you will find them in your next job. I made the mistake of leaving a job I really liked for more money in the career that I had before nursing, and I always regretted that decision because the next two places I worked did not have any of those things I loved about the original job that I left. If things become unbearable because of the staff shortage and you are being overworked, leaving is worth considering. Just remember that the things you do like about your job are not always going to be in the next job. I wish you the best as you weigh it out. It's never an easy decision, and of course you do not want to feel undervalued and stepped on. I don't envy your situation, but I do hope that it will be clear to you one way or the other in the next few months. Don't burn any bridges as you are looking and even once you have left if you do leave.

newgrad82 · Mar 25, 2009

I am confused about why there is a staff shortage at your facility when there are so many new grads that can't get a job. Where are you... maybe I will relocate there.

Durable · Mar 25, 2009

I think it's because even though there is a staff shortage, facilities don't hire, especially new nurses they have to train, when they are facing bad economic times. They give their experienced nurses impossible patient loads instead and force them to pretend they're superhuman. And if you don't pretend you are superhuman they tell you that you're incompetent. These are not nice people. In better economic times they still operate understaffed in order to make a higher profit. Training new nurses costs money cause you need extra staff to preceptor them (unless you throw them into working without training them like they did to me). And although facilities have a responsibility to train new nurses they shirk responsibility in favor of more money for themselves. I'm for nationalizing health care. Earning a high salary is nice but not so much fun when you have to worry about dangerous patient loads everyday. Health care facilities focusing on the wrong goals are as criminal as the banks and investment companies that created the current economy.