There won't be any raises this year

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My sister & I are both nurses in different areas of practice at different hospitals in different communities, but both of our hospitals have told us that the staff will not get raises. Is anyone one experiening this at their hospitals? I've only been a nurse for a year now sp this would have been my first raise, but I won't be getting one at all now. There is a lot of frustration at my hospital over it. Recently, over a million dollars was spent to upgrade the orthopedic unit including all single rooms, flat panel TVs, a family room with cappicino machine and granite countertops through out the unit. They've also recently revamped out court yard; ripping out existing trees & putting more benches and lamdscaping. My coworkers are angry because the is money in the budget for those things, but not to give the nurse who work so very hard a cost of living increase. Any thoughts on this subject? Anyone with similar things happening?

The solution jhere seems obvious.

Unionize

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CardioMadeline,

Love to know where you work:O) *wink..Am glad for you ..nice to hear a good report.

Mabey I just come from a different mind set..If I hire on with a company and they offer a certain amount to me...and I am happy with it and can make ends meet...well...raises(for me) are icing on the cake...a recession requires the understanding and tenacity of every professional across the board.So we give up a few years of goodies and keep our jobs.??...7 families have moved out of my neighborhood this year...not for good reasons..they lost their homes. Their Jobs..Their savings. Some sent children with relatives to live. Is heartbreaking.I cant say I dont scratch my head when the hospital can play fix up but cant pay cost of living increases...and like I said...I think the sacrifices should be across the board.CEO'S and all.But I can only answer for myself.If I love my Job...and my patients..and working conditions are safe and fair..then raises can wait until people can afford to feed their families and pay their necessary bills.

Its only my opinion..I like raises too...But I guess growing up in poverty changes some people see things....as well as seeing people you KNOW are good employees..HARD workeres all their lives, even nurses," shopping" at the food banks,and praying for a miracle to save their home.If I did get a raise in this hard time...Id like to think I would live exactly the same..and increase my hand up to those who are barely scraping by. ....I hope I would, God Help us see the bigger picture.I dont claim to be politically wise..Nor Do I even think I am all that different than most people.I think If it came down to it..most nurses would give up extras to help a friend or family member.mabey even a stranger..who is struggling but really trying to keep their bills paid. I just dont let myself get caught up too much in money.ALL my life, when things were hard, God made a way for us, now , when times are tough for everyone?By HIS grace and provision, we can do the same.

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Specializes in He who hesitates is probably right....
The solution jhere seems obvious.

Unionize

Our facility is unionized. The big difference between us and the rest of the hospitals in Pittsburgh? We pay 70.00/month in union dues. Wages and benefits are basically the same, we just get to keep 840.00 per year less than the non-union hospitals. Of course, there are some who will debate whether or not the SEIU is actually a union...

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Specializes in CCU, OR.

I work for the state of North Carolina. EVERYONE in state employment had to give back .05% of last year's salary back. That happened in June, and it hurt everyone I work with. The state also announced that there would be no raises, across the board, for the next two years. There was also a little thing called longevity pay for those with ten plus years in that is some formula based on time in and salary- that was discontinued for the next two years.

So far, the state has not laid off anyone. Our budget is blown away to the darkest abyss, but the Governor made some tough choices to try to keep everyone's job in place. I can't imagine what will happen next year if things don't improve economically!

I'm grateful that I have a job to go to, right now. Our overtime is way down; our OR cases are way down, and yet, the hospital stays full, because we take in almost any patient that knocks on the door, insured or not.

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Shame on all of you who are upset about not getting your raise this year.

1. You should be thankful you have health benefits.

2. You should be thankful you have a dependable paycheck.

3. You should be thankful you have the chance to make a difference.

4. You should use your energy in support of universal health care.

Yes we all work very hard and under extremely difficult circumstances, however next time you see the flat screen TV's and new furnishings for the hospital, just remember that is someone else's greed and praise to your God that it is not yours to own.

Good fortune will come to those not looking for it. Remember why you became a nurse - I hope it wasn't for the $$

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Specializes in ICU, M/S,Nurse Supervisor, CNS.

We were fortunate enough to get 2% raises across the board if you had a satsfactory score on the yearly evaluation. We also got our yearly bonus in the spring, but it was alot smaller than usual. Personally, I was just grateful to have a job and at an organization were numerous executives volunteered to give up their own massive bonuses (either partially or totally), so that us worker bees could get decent bonuses and raises. It didn't come to that in the end, but the fact that the offer was made was really encouraging.

My father, who doesn't work in healthcare, said he is getting neither a raise or a bonus this year, but had read in the paper a few months back that the new CEO of his employer and the outgoing CEO received a total of $7 million in bonuses this year. On top of that, all of the upper level management and supervisors also got bonuses; everyone but the people that actually do the work. Yeah, that makes sense...

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Specializes in neurology, cardiology, ED.
The solution jhere seems obvious.

Unionize

My facility is unionized, for staff nurses anyway. We got a raise this year (and so did all of the non bargaining unit employees), our shift differentials were increased, and I got a sign on bonus! Not bad considering all of the other hospitals in the area have hiring freezes, are taking away vacation time, freezing (or cutting) wages... but our contract is up for re-negotiation this year, so who knows what will happen next year

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Specializes in A myriad of specialties.

We're still in union negotiations but it looks like we'll all get one pay step increase over the next 2 years but at the same time depending on one's salary, between 10 and 14 "furlough" days(unpaid days off) have to be taken in 20 months of those 2 years. For my husband and I, we will each have to take 14 days off unpaid so that's losing a MONTH'S of pay between the two of us. Thankfully, there should be overtime shifts to work to make those up.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Shame on all of you who are upset about not getting your raise this year.

1. You should be thankful you have health benefits.

2. You should be thankful you have a dependable paycheck.

3. You should be thankful you have the chance to make a difference.

4. You should use your energy in support of universal health care.

Yes we all work very hard and under extremely difficult circumstances, however next time you see the flat screen TV's and new furnishings for the hospital, just remember that is someone else's greed and praise to your God that it is not yours to own.

Good fortune will come to those not looking for it. Remember why you became a nurse - I hope it wasn't for the $$

Whoa!!!! Hold the phone! Why in the world should I not be upset about not getting a raise? I work hard, take excellent care of my patients..and I too have expenses to meet. Why shouldn't I be compensated for my time and skill? Why should the CEO's and other administrators be compensated for making poor decisions when I don't merit compensation for making good decisions that impact my patients in a positive way?

And why in the world should I support universal health care? Have you looked at salaries for RN's in the UK???? Abysmal!!!!!! I don't see the adoption of universal health care having a positive impact on my bottom line...in fact, I'm concerned it's going to have a negative one!

I became a nurse because I wanted a career. I didn't go into nursing, pay all the money for schooling for some altruistic, feel good reason. Yes, I do care about my patients and I work hard to have positive impacts in their lives. HOWEVER, that doesn't mean I should have to go into poverty to do it! We don't ask physician's to take paycuts, why should nurses have to? My physician bills my insurance company $150 for an office visit..and she spends about 10 minutes with me...and she's paid $120 per her negotiated contract. She's not taking a paycut for her time, why should I? I am just as valuable to the health care team as she is and I deserve to be compensated appropriately.

Your post just doesn't add up, IMHO.

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Specializes in Neuroscience/Neuro-surgery/Med-Surgical/.

rumors of no bonus this fall.....

they have combined director jobs to cover several floors/specialities....

cut staff educator jobs.....

and just heard our hospital laid off 16 people in the ER department.....

to say i am very concerned is an understatement.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Home Health.

same here. They redesigned the ER and registration with hard wood floors, huge flat screen tv's, etc. they even wasted thousands on a "veinfinder" machine that no one uses. Then they announced that we wouldnt get a raise. I stayed for about 3 months and kept seeing them put out money on everything except for us, the ones who make the place run. So I quit and got a better job.

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Specializes in He who hesitates is probably right....
Shame on all of you who are upset about not getting your raise this year.

1. You should be thankful you have health benefits.

2. You should be thankful you have a dependable paycheck.

3. You should be thankful you have the chance to make a difference.

4. You should use your energy in support of universal health care.

Yes we all work very hard and under extremely difficult circumstances, however next time you see the flat screen TV's and new furnishings for the hospital, just remember that is someone else's greed and praise to your God that it is not yours to own.

Good fortune will come to those not looking for it. Remember why you became a nurse - I hope it wasn't for the $$

Holy bong hit, Batman!! I'm a nurse, not a nun.

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