U.S. Nursing Salary CHANGES?!

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Purely hypothetical... IF Hillary Clinton gets elected and IF she pushes through her socialized medicine plan then what would happen to the payscale for U.S. nurses? Would it drop $10 an hour per nurse?

I know these are big IF's and I am not here to argue if her plan could ever work but I am just trying to plan ahead in case it DOES happen.

Also I cant seem to find anything to tell me how much nurses make in the socialized medicine countries like canada or united kingdom. Does anyone know how much these nurses make on average?

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

Here's my blunt $0.02 on this issue. If my pay were to decrease $10 per hour overnight, then I would abandon nursing forever. The steep decrease in pay would incite me to seek another career that involves less stress, more money, and less liability. People can toy around with other aspects of my life, but they'd better not play around with my money.

I'm certain that other nurses would leave the field if their pay rates were to plummet overnight, because I have faith that we have enough common sense to realize a colossal rip-off occurring before our very eyes.

There are about 3 million nurses employed in the US (RNs and LPNs). Imagine if 1.5 million switched careers because their pay rates dropped by $10 hourly. Health care in America would crumble faster than a smashed cookie, because nurses are the backbone of healthcare. Healthcare would not go on without us.

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Specializes in ICU,PCU,ER, TELE,SNIFF, STEP DOWN PCT.
Purely hypothetical... IF Hillary Clinton gets elected and IF she pushes through her socialized medicine plan then what would happen to the payscale for U.S. nurses? Would it drop $10 an hour per nurse?

I know these are big IF's and I am not here to argue if her plan could ever work but I am just trying to plan ahead in case it DOES happen.

Also I cant seem to find anything to tell me how much nurses make in the socialized medicine countries like canada or united kingdom. Does anyone know how much these nurses make on average?

I know in Poland they are going broke, and there was another article not too long ago how nurses make less then the average worker.

I will go work in a store if I am required to make a cut like that after school, it is not worth my time, effor, energy or back pain. Had that with EMS do not need it with being a RN

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Specializes in Medical and general practice now LTC.

This link should give you a rough idea on what UK nurses make but be aware many nurses are struggling to find work currently especially newly qualified and some nurses are even being laid off or having to re apply for their jobs finding job description and pay has changed and usually pay had dropped and some even finding 2 or 3 are applying for their job and there is actually only 1-2 positions. Also nurses living in big cities are finding their pay alone is not enough to afford either rental or buying a house especially in places like London

Pay scale 2007 UK nurses

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This is what PNHP has to say about salary structures under single payer:

There are three reasons why the U.S. health care system costs more than other systems throughout the world. One, we spend 2-3 times as much as they do on administration. Two, we have much more excess capacity of expensive technology than they do (more CT scanners, MRI scanners, mammogram machines than we need). Three, we pay higher prices for services than they do. There is no doubt that we do not need to spend more than we currently spend to cover comprehensive care for everyone. But it would make the transition to a universal system very difficult at first if we spent less. That is because we have a tremendous medical infrastructure, some of which would likely retain its slightly larger than necessary capacity during the transition phase. Secondly, we would likely retain salaries for health professionals at their current levels. Thirdly, we would cover much more than most other countries do by including dental care, eye care, and prescriptions. And for these reasons we would need the extra 40% that we are already spending – but NOT more. We could cover all the uninsured for the same amount we are currently spending!

Source: http://www.pnhp.org/facts/singlepayer_faq.php?page=4 accessed boxing day.

I think that the canard about salaries dropping is just that a canard. Part of the grand bargain for all workers should be a strengthening of collective bargaining laws.

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Purely hypothetical... IF Hillary Clinton gets elected and IF she pushes through her socialized medicine plan then what would happen to the payscale for U.S. nurses? Would it drop $10 an hour per nurse?

I know these are big IF's and I am not here to argue if her plan could ever work but I am just trying to plan ahead in case it DOES happen.

Also I cant seem to find anything to tell me how much nurses make in the socialized medicine countries like canada or united kingdom. Does anyone know how much these nurses make on average?

Where in the world did you get the idea that wages would drop $10 per hour??? Senator Clintons plan aims to lower costs, improve the quality of healthcare, and most importantly make sure that everyone is insured. Her plan is a seven point plan that aims at tackling rising health care costs. In short her 7 points are:

1. Focusing on prevention

2. Using technology to increase security and accessibility to medical records

3. Streamline the healthcare of the chronically ill.

4. Offering individuals and small businesses access to larger insurance pools

5.Improve the quality of care by driving down costs

6.Get prescription costs under control

7.Reform medical malpractice.

Nowhere in her plan does it indicate that costs will be lowered by lowering the wages of nurses.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/72229.php

You also state that you cant find info on how much nurses make in "socialized " countries such as Canada- a quick search on the internet gave me the information.

Here are a couple of links to give you that information- one is the manitoba nurses union contract and the other is a link to Capital Health in Manitoba.

The nurses union contracts salary range for 2007 is $20.28-$38.74. Capital Health salary range is $26.13 to $30.63. Sounds pretty on par to the US if you ask me.

http://www.nursesunion.mb.ca/pdf%20files/CFNU_ContComp(7-16-07).pdf

https://erecruit.cdha.nshealth.ca/psc/EXTAPP/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/HRS_HRS.HRS_APP_SCHJOB.GBL

It sounds to me as if you are not a supporter of the Senator, as I most certainly am. That's fine with me but please before you start making generalizations about the issues please become informed first and state the facts.

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I know these are big IF's and I am not here to argue if her plan could ever work but I am just trying to plan ahead in case it DOES happen.

Are you a nurse?
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Specializes in Med/Surg/Tele.

I've heard nothing about nurse salary changes.

I do agree that the healthcare system would crumble if we did not have nurses (obviously). If the salary was dropped even a little, I imagine we would lose many nurses...

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all i have to say is if salaries droped that low, there would be noone to work in the hospitals to care for the pts, plus i think unions would come in and see they could help nurses out and make a lot of money themselves..

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Specializes in ICU, ER.

By providing insurance to more people, the amount of care provided might increase, increasing the demand for nurses, therby posssibly increasing pay rates.

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Purely hypothetical... IF Hillary Clinton gets elected and IF she pushes through her socialized medicine plan then what would happen to the payscale for U.S. nurses? Would it drop $10 an hour per nurse?

I know these are big IF's and I am not here to argue if her plan could ever work but I am just trying to plan ahead in case it DOES happen.

Also I cant seem to find anything to tell me how much nurses make in the socialized medicine countries like canada or united kingdom. Does anyone know how much these nurses make on average?

Gee, "HotStud," are wages suppressed in your town's "socialized" fire and police departments? Are you worried about the "socialized" education programs you've been supporting for years with taxes? And why would you suggest that wages would fall under a "socialized" medicine proposal that would allow people to retain the same private insurance coverage they have now should they choose to do so?

I smell socialized Kool-Aid. Give it up.

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Specializes in Chiropractic assistant, CNA in LTC, RN.

With the nursing shortage still going strong, I see no way nursing salaries will drop. As other posters have said, nursing is very stressful, often physically taxing due to long hours and dependent patients, and the responsibility and liability of the profession are tremendous. Dropping pay rates would discourage newcomers from entering the profession as well as cause some seasoned nurses to leave.

I also agree that Hillary's proposed healthcare plan would INCREASE the need for nurses because more people would be insured. In order to entice more people to enter the field, pay rates would likely increase not decrease.

I'm no authority on economics but I would be completely shocked if nursing pay rates were ever cut. In NC, we see an increase each year of .60 to .65 an hour.

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