pay

I do not expect for YOUR tax dollars to pay my mortgage, nor did I expect to take everything MY husband and I worked for and place it into a BASIC family home. Only to have the value flushed down the toilet, and owe more than the home is worth now. That is not my fought. You are possibility the only person in America who own a home and it has held it's value. GOOD FOR YOU. THE REST OF US FULL TIME WORKERS,STUDENTS,and PARENTS can use a little help. And I don't care where it comes from! You sound like the finance companies. What are all these home owners supposed to down size to? HOMELESS!

Well personally my plumber is worth every penny of $65 an hour. Years back I do think nurses were underpaid but for the most part now we make a good income, at least in my area of the country if you consider the amount of education needed for your ADN.

How much education is necessary to become a plumber?? How much is their college tuition? I'm not dissing plumbers, it's a necessary profession, but come on, you're going to compare what nurses do to what plumbers do? Other than handling pipes, I already do most of what plumbers do, I work crappy hours, I deal with feces and other bodily fluids daily, smells don't bother me - yet they make $65/hr and I make just over a third of what they do! That's hardly reasonable or fair.

They unclog inanimate pipes, I disimpact real people. They "save" my water heater, I save their children.

We are sooo underpaid. Doesn't matter our education. Most plumbers learn their trade by apprenticeship, not by formal education, they are way overpaid compared to nurses - better yet, we are way underpaid compared to plumbers.

I have to pay plumbers too, and trust me, I haven't found one who makes less than $50.00/hr. I had one come to "fix" my water heater, took him - no exaggeration - 5 minutes, and I got a bill for $97.50! That's a HELL of a wage.

I make approx 26.00/hr (I say approx because I just had an eval and haven't gotten a pay check to see what my raise is) I agree with some of the other posters. Comparing jobs is useless. It's what we have to do and the responsibility we have that makes us so underpaid.

I can't tell you in the past years how many patients were saved because I intervened at the approp time, called the MD, argued with the MD (who couldn't bother to come off the golf course) and due to MY assessment skills and knowledge was able to get the approp orders from the MD far away. Yes, I've even had to TELL the MD what would be appropriate to order for the situation - many times!!!

We are the infantry, we are the first line of defense for the patients.

I spoke with or CEO, I told him, "This hospital would function just fine without Administration, for probably several months" he agreed "yeah, that's true" I continued "Yet, this hospital couldn't function even one shift without the nurses". He again agreed. So I asked "Why then are we paid such a pittance in compared to administration?" He didn't have an answer to that.

The good news is that property, like stocks, is only worth more or less when you actually sell it. The rest is on paper. With real estate everyone should accept that it is not a liquid asset and if you find yourself in a position where you have to sell it can be unfortunate depending on the market climate. The problem with "the mortgage crisis", imo, is that people took out more than they could afford and now can't make their mortgage payments. When interest rates are so low the only people taking out a variable rate is buying over their head and as for the interest only loans, well don't get me started. I also find it hard to swallow that there needs to be a bail out. Kind of a moot point now I guess but if Americans started living within their means this wouldn't be necessary.

Exactly the response I'd have made, and worded better. Thanks.

Here we go again...lol. To the original poster have you ever worked in a hospital before? Most people have a distorted image of what nursing is like. Even my husband does not get it. Hes been in the army for 7 years...he knows what overworked is and I see what he goes through. However, no matter how much I try to explain what I really do at work, he still thinks I run around fluffing pillows and giving nice, friendly people their medications. I've given up explaining what my job really entails, because nobody gets it until they are there.

i prefer not to make judgement calls about which contributing member of society is more valuable than the other

i agree 100%, jules. what if everyone was a nurse? well, that wouldn't be possible, would it?

if i had chosen to continue in my family tradition, i would be a third-generation auto worker. (thank goodness we got out of the coal mining business!) my grandfather made a handsome sum at general motors, yet he was not educated past the eighth grade. i know that cars are not people, but think about it...don't you want the person making your car to make it safely, to prevent the need to have a life saved? also, auto workers are in danger, exposed to chemicals, equipment, et al., and plumbers like them are in charge of dangerous materials and preventing danger. (as someone who has been given a concussion by an aggravated patient i'm not saying we're not in danger ourselves, i'm just saying we're all needed to make society function!)

jess

I could make alot more money working on the floor but I enjoy teaching so I don't whine that I make less than other nurses with less education I just have some crackers and cheese with my whine.

Hey, my dh is an electrician and they make good $$ (if they own their own business). They can charge upwards of $90 per hr. I don't care how much plumbers, electricians, or other trades make, I have no inclination of doing what they chose to do. Most people in the trades have classes to take as well as state tests to pass for credentialing (sorry sp). I could care less about having to pay my plumber to fix anything. If it takes 5 minutes to fix something and you get a $97 charge, you have been charged a trip charge (which is standard in many trades). I know that the op used plumbers as an example of comparison.

Perhaps we are overworked and underpaid, now, what can we do about it? I just passed my pn boards and want to know what works and what doesn't.

Actually plumbers in my state do have education/work requirements as well as a board exam to pass for their license:

For work experience in state you need four years of Board-approved work experience under a licensed master plumbing, including at least 7,500 hours under the supervision of a licensed master plumber.

You can apply up to 1,500 hours of Board-approved education to the 7,500-hour requirement. You must also list any hours you've worked as an apprentice plumber. Any hours you work as an unlicensed apprentice plumber will be subtracted from your hours worked as an apprentice plumber. An unlicensed apprentice plumber must register with the Board before applying for the journey plumber exam. (http://www.contractors-license.org)

In truth few plumbers are paid $65 an hour unless they either master plumbers or do HVAC work also which has other experience/educational requirements. They have to drive and maintain their vehicle/tools to the job, carry expensive insurance etc. but none of this is really the point. The truth is that it is about market value and for anyone that thinks plumbers have it so easy please feel free to become one.

Bottom line is I prefer not to make judgement calls about which contributing member of society is more valuable than the other and the truth is its all about market value anyway. Plus as a new grad with my ADN I'm making over $50 an hour when I do weekend work so no complaints from me. :)

Regardless- you are still saying that you feel that the work that your plumber does is rightly worth more in our society than the work that you do.

Not to put too fine a point on things- but the requirements for licensure as a plumber that YOU posted stated that an apprenticeship is required. Last I heard, an apprenticeship was on the job training. The education that they talked about was voluntary, and only served to substitute for some of the hours of the job training. Yes they have to maintain the tools of their trade and carry insurance- but last I checked I was responsible for my liability insurance, uniforms, stethoscope, continuing education, certifications etc, etc, etc.

What I do agree with is that salary has a large deal to do with market value. Nursing wages, which are not billed separately as are PT, OT, Speech, RT or other professional therapies, are included in the bill for the hospital room. Our services are grouped with the cost for housekeeping, nutrition, and other basic supplies. As such we do not have the ability to raise our prices to meet market forces. As a matter of fact, there is pressure from the community because of the high cost of healthcare. This may be why yearly increases for nurses rarely meet cost of living increases, and that professional nurses top out the wage scale so quickly even in the face of critical shortages across the country. With nurses so in need, would you not think that wages would be increasing exponentially?

It all comes down to public perception, but also in the ability of professionals to set prices in a competitive market. As you have stated, there is really very little comparison between plumbing and nursing- I think the comparison was started as a more realistic comparison than the ones that were being bandied about professional athletes. If nurses were in the private market, and were able to market their individual services and specialties for people to choose who would be providing their care- then I think that wages would be much higher. If you were shopping for nurses to care for you after your heart surgery, would you bargain shop, or look with someone with the experience, certification and ability to assess and problem sove possible complications? How much would you be willing to care for that expertise?