Okay so I don't want to come off as rude or biased but I am pretty confused as to how my facility can pay medsurg nurses an extra $3/hr over what they pay me!
I know they work very hard but I work in a large level one ICU and I make critical life altering decisions on a daily bases. I have far more autonomy and with that comes more risk to my license. Don't get me wrong I LOVE my job and LOVE my facility but how can a nurse get paid more to pass meds on the floor than I do in the ICU. And before anyone makes any comments about the "just passing meds" remark, I have worked a few shifts on the floor and that is just about all I did was pass meds!
Is it like this on y'all's unit or is this specific to my facility?
Is ok . Nobody is perfect . I guess Medsurg is not for everyone . I love it more than I hate it . I have learned so much and I am much grateful for the opportunity my facility gave me to grow as a new nurse. I understand you and your points . There is nothing more in this world I want to do than ICU/Critical Care . I really wish you the best and a great nursing career ! It sounds like you have great moral traits and that can take you far in life.
If anyone needs more money it is LTC and med-surg nurses! I honestly don't know how they do it. Just be happy you got the job you wanted, not many can say that.
It is all supply and demand. If they can not staff Med/Surg floors then they are going to offer incentives. When an ICU position opens up and 20 people apply then there have no reason to offer high pay rates. It would be nice to have the job you want and be paid exceptionally well but it doesn't always work out that way.
I think it's been covered pretty well, but I'll add that until you've actually worked a floor regularly you really have no idea how it compares to unit nursing. It is not easier - and in many respects it's more difficult - but it's true that the nursing priorities and interventions are not as medically focused.
I realize my opinion is unpopular, but I absolutely think ICU should be paid more than the floor, especially since we are floated everywhere. Just this week I have seen my MSICU coworkers floated to IMCU, postpartum, the ED, and various med/surg floors. Do we get help from any of those places? Nope! The only unit that can float to us if we need help is CICU. They have been overstaffing us lately and floating three to four of us a night. Just in the past month I have floated five times. MSICU is currently staffing the whole hospital. It's a little ridiculous. If they expect us to be ICU nurses and also basically be the whole hospital's float pool and take everything from newborns to 100 year olds at any acuity with any problem, we should all get float pool pay. Period.
I realize my opinion is unpopular, but I absolutely think ICU should be paid more than the floor, especially since we are floated everywhere. Just this week I have seen my MSICU coworkers floated to IMCU, postpartum, the ED, and various med/surg floors. Do we get help from any of those places? Nope! The only unit that can float to us if we need help is CICU. They have been overstaffing us lately and floating three to four of us a night. Just in the past month I have floated five times. MSICU is currently staffing the whole hospital. It's a little ridiculous. If they expect us to be ICU nurses and also basically be the whole hospital's float pool and take everything from newborns to 100 year olds at any acuity with any problem, we should all get float pool pay. Period.
I don't think it is unpopular, but I do think it depends on the facility you work at. I was always paid premium pay when I worked critical care in a level I trauma center, and we were expected to be able to float anywhere. Many facilities across the country do not expect the ICU staff to float anywhere but the step down and to not take more than 4 patients. And some facilities maintain a closed unit. In this case I do not think they should be paid anymore than the other nurses in their specialty area. I think it greatly depends on the place one works in and how they utilize the education of all their nurses, if they are certified in their area of expertise, experience etc.
Don't underestimate the difficulty in taking care of a demented patient without a sitter, or trying to convince your super fall risk bedrest patient with C. diff that no, she cannot use the commode because she will fall, or of assisting a new CVA with paralysis in their dominant hand with dinner. I'm an ER nurse and I will often get my med surg patients up before my non-crashing ICU patients because they are just as much if not more work.
I've been a nurse for 4 yrs now and have both ICU and M/S experience. I've run across several nurses (almost all from M/S) who tend to downplay their knowledge and skills, as if they're not 'good enough' to work in critical care. What's up with that?? M/S is hard work and you do use your critical thinking skills, just in a different way. Never, ever underestimate what it takes to work in a less acute/subacute setting. As a full-time ICU nurse I get sick to my stomach at the thought of floating to the floor. 6 patients?! What if I miss something??
Anyway, it sounds like there is a high turnover in your M/S if they're paying a $3/hr differential.
THIS. I've never worked M/S, but the idea scares me. Even most of my nursing school clinicals were done on step downs or ICUs. A nurse I worked with made a rude remark about a patient who came back to us after coding on the floor (trach secretions I think). And all I could think was 'how would you know?' You wouldn't. They aren't all hooked up to monitors. You can't stand in one 'room' (or curtain) and see your other patient. You wouldn't know. And I wouldn't have the slightest clue as to what to do if we floated.
THIS. I've never worked M/S, but the idea scares me. Even most of my nursing school clinicals were done on step downs or ICUs. A nurse I worked with made a rude remark about a patient who came back to us after coding on the floor (trach secretions I think). And all I could think was 'how would you know?' You wouldn't. They aren't all hooked up to monitors. You can't stand in one 'room' (or curtain) and see your other patient. You wouldn't know. And I wouldn't have the slightest clue as to what to do if we floated.
THIS. I've never worked M/S, but the idea scares me. Even most of my nursing school clinicals were done on step downs or ICUs. A nurse I worked with made a rude remark about a patient who came back to us after coding on the floor (trach secretions I think). And all I could think was 'how would you know?' You wouldn't. They aren't all hooked up to monitors. You can't stand in one 'room' (or curtain) and see your other patient. You wouldn't know. And I wouldn't have the slightest clue as to what to do if we floated.
I worked M/S for my first year of nursing and I struggled for exactly that reason. I was constantly terrified that every time I'd enter the next patient's room, I'd find them dead because there were no monitors. Nurses who can survive and thrive in M/S should be proud! I barely survived it, and I definitely didn't thrive there! I think the idea that a hospital would give a M/S differential because they know how hard it is to keep staff is a great idea!
it is unfortunate you are being mistreated by your employer. Unfortunately there is little you can do about it since nurses in most hospitals only option is to quit and look for other work. Nurses choose not to organize for the most part which is basicly the only way to help in a situation like this. I have worked in Unionized hospitals and we were always treated fairly. We had grievance procedures and could have hearings if subject to discipline. I was also a Union executive officer and stewardl. It is really unfortunate that nurses thing sticking together for their own protection is a bad thing. In my experience besides bargaining and legally supporting nurses we supported them when they felt things were not being done properly in hospital. I remember at one point the nurses felt that long term disabled patients were not getting proper diets and we stood up with them to improve the patients health and rights. As far as higher pay for icu i believe that the pay for a nurse should be equal to med surg. I do however believe that nurses who actually become ICU nurses through special training and certification should be paid a fair amount for such training, etc If they are called upon to train other nurses this is another reason to increase their pay. In other words evidence showing that they truly are icu nurses not just nurse who decided to work there. Good luck with conditions at your work.
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Whoatemyburger
147 Posts
Is ok . Nobody is perfect . I guess Medsurg is not for everyone . I love it more than I hate it . I have learned so much and I am much grateful for the opportunity my facility gave me to grow as a new nurse. I understand you and your points . There is nothing more in this world I want to do than ICU/Critical Care . I really wish you the best and a great nursing career ! It sounds like you have great moral traits and that can take you far in life.