Should ICU nurses receive a higher salary than Floor Nurses?

future L&Dnurse · Feb 12, 2008

no, I don't. I've done an ICU rotation and while it was different, it wasn't harder because my experience was that the higher acuity of the patients was balanced by a lower patient load. An ICU nurse around here has 1 or 2 patients. A general med-surg nurse has 6 patients. A nurse with a full load in mother-baby can have 8 patients (4 mom and baby couplets) and there are some pretty high acuity patients on the regular floors, too. ICU is definitely a different area to work in compared to a regular floor, but my experience in clinical is that the work load feels about the same there as it does elsewhere.

PMFB-RN, RN · Feb 12, 2008

Hi everyone,
I am doing a debate presentation for my critical care nursing class and the question that I need to debate is weather I think ICU nurses should receive a higher paying salary than floor nurses? Now I think that they should not because if these nurses are right out of school and hold the same degree, then they should not receive a higher paying salary. If they had experience regarding the field they wanted to go in then I can understand. What do you think? Do you think ICU nurses should get paid more? I'm stumped on this one!

*** In my hospital we (ICU nurses) are paid more. It has nothing at all to do with what we deserve or what degree we have, it is simple supply and demand. In this area and in my hospital the ICU has the worst shortage of nurses. We are paid more to attract more nurses to the ICU. IMO asking whether certain nurses should get paid more because they deserve it by virtue of how much work they do , their education level, skills or whatever is the wrong way to go about it. The question should be do we have enough nurses in this specialty? If not would paying them more attract more nurses? It has been working in my unit. If you base it on skills and knowledge necessary to work in a unit then ICU is going to get more money because of the skills and autonomy they exercise. I have often though that ICU nursing should be an advanced practice nursing field.

If the ICU had a long line of nurses knocking down the door to work in it but (let's say) the med/surg floors where really short it would make sense to pay med/surg more.

leashmarie · Feb 12, 2008

touche :)

ukstudent · Feb 12, 2008

I work in a union hospital and all nurses are paid according to experience and not on which floor or unit they work on. Personally I work in a SICU and you couldn't pay me enough to work on med/surg. So no, I don't think I should be paid more to work in an area that I love.

I do think that those nurses that have gained certification in a specialty, and that could be in med/surg not just CCRN or CEN, should be paid more. Advanced knowledge in any area should garner more pay, but that doesn't happen very often.

livingthedream, APN · Feb 12, 2008

I agree with UKstudent. this is one of the only fields where no matter what degree you have, we are all paid the same when starting. It makes little interest for nurses to continue on with school. They end up getting an advanced degree and then leaving floor nursing due to their ability to be paid more doing something else.

I am ok with being paid more with experience, but I also think their should be more room to negoiate and more room for better pay for advanced degrees.

Gia1384 · Feb 12, 2008

Hi everyone,

Thank you so much for insight. It helps tremendously with my debate. All of you have some very good points and I will keep that in mind while analyzing and consolidating my project. Thanks again!!

crb613, BSN, RN · Feb 12, 2008

At my hospital if you work any critical care area you are paid $2.00/hr more.

MB37 · Feb 13, 2008

I believe experience and education should be rewarded more than one particular specialty (and I plan to go into critical care). I think there should be pay bumps based on years of service, higher degrees including BSNs, and certifications. CCRN and ACLS certifications would result in many ICU nurses getting paid more than MS nurses, but when two GNs with the same education get hired for two different intro jobs at the same hospital, they should get essentially the same base pay. Unless, of course, one of them goes into an area that is desperate for staff. Just my personal opinion...

TRINI_RN · Feb 13, 2008

hmmmm.... Yes I do think they should get more.........kinda.

what I mean is, there is a certain level of knowledge that comes working in the ICU over a period of time. And, nurses in the hospital I'm interested in do get compensated for this knowledge...........if they get thier CCRN certification. I definitely support this aspect.

I hope that made sense?

**SKM-NURSIEPOOH, BSN, RN** · Feb 13, 2008

imo, any area of nursing specialty should pay more than the general entry/base level or clinical nurse level i. it matters not what the area of specialty is; i.e., nurses who've worked a minimum required years (or clinical hours) in order sit for certified nursing examination should receive more pay. it matters not in what area...l&d, ed, icu, peds, geri, & yes even, ms.

therefore, the additional compensation (on top of the cost of living raises) should be based on education, years of experience, & even certification. that would be fair & merit based.

as an sort of off topic, i strongly feel the same minimum requirements for msn/dnp should also apply before acceptance into such programs. i'm mystified when second degree candidates go through an accelerated bsn/msn & even direct admission to msn/dnp programs without having any nursing experience first. to me, it seems that advance practice level should be reserved for just that, nurses with prior experience of say at least three to five years who are beyond a beginner level/experience of one year or less. i'm having a hard time with the award of any advance nursing degree to people who've only done didactic & minimal clinical hours & no on the job experience. how can that qualify as being a master or expert at that point? just something else to think about for a debate topic of discussion.

cheers :cheers:,

moe