Wage Increase for All RNs But Not Me Please advise

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a nurse in administration. When I took this position my wage was increased by 2 dollars and hour. I care for Infection Control, Employee Health, Survey Readiness, Education and am an active member of our nursing leadership team. A substantial increase was voted for RNs. It means that a staff nurse with less experience than mine will be making more money than I do by about 1,000 dollars per month. I am the only RN on the leadership team with the exception of our COO who is already highly compensated that would not receive this raise. :o I would receive only a 3% raise which will not come even close to the others. Am I wrong to feel this is totally unfair? I am also salaried and when I do work extra clinically I only receive straight time!! Any thoughts?

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At the risk of sounding flippant, which I am NOT trying to do, I suppose you could go back to staff nursing. There are, I would think, based on what I see at my hospital, certain perks to your job, that are not available to staff nurses. Nurses in a position such as yours at my hospital do not ever have to work weekends, nights, or holidays. I think of the bedside nurse as the one on the front line; and in my opinion, monetary compensation for this, and for being part of the group that is always there, 24/7, that isn't given to administrators, is understandable and reasonable.

I hope I haven't misunderstood your situation, and if I have, and have replied inappropriately, please know it was not intended.

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At the risk of sounding flippant, which I am NOT trying to do, I suppose you could go back to staff nursing. There are, I would think, based on what I see at my hospital, certain perks to your job, that are not available to staff nurses. Nurses in a position such as yours at my hospital do not ever have to work weekends, nights, or holidays. I think of the bedside nurse as the one on the front line; and in my opinion, monetary compensation for this, and for being part of the group that is always there, 24/7, that isn't given to administrators, is understandable and reasonable.

I hope I haven't misunderstood your situation, and if I have, and have replied inappropriately, please know it was not intended.

I see your point. I even thought about this. However if there is no financial incentive to advance I don't think many nurses would want to do so. I have been in the trenches for 30 years and have worked my share of all the shifts and holidays known to nursing. I still work my share of holidays and cover on weekends for folks if they need me to. I just think that if my position was worth 2.00 more an hour than my staff nurse pay when I took it that should still be the case. Sure I can go back to staff nurse and I may. However I still don't think this is quite fair.

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I am a nurse in administration. When I took this position my wage was increased by 2 dollars and hour. I care for Infection Control, Employee Health, Survey Readiness, Education and am an active member of our nursing leadership team. A substantial increase was voted for RNs. It means that a staff nurse with less experience than mine will be making more money than I do by about 1,000 dollars per month. I am the only RN on the leadership team with the exception of our COO who is already highly compensated that would not receive this raise. :o I would receive only a 3% raise which will not come even close to the others. Am I wrong to feel this is totally unfair? I am also salaried and when I do work extra clinically I only receive straight time!! Any thoughts?

I understand what you're saying and I'd be frustrated if I were in your positions too. I guess I would look at this from different perspectives..

- do you love your job? If you're truly happy, is it worth the difference in money?

- you mentioned that you're salaried and work extra clinically for straight time. Are you sure you want to continue doing that? Just thinking of wear and tear on the body.

- have you spoken with your direct supervisor about your concern? Maybe you can negotiate an increase in pay?

I'm a firm believer that if something really gnaws at me, I just confront it head on. The stress of worrying about it and keeping quiet just isn't worth it. Point out all you do and how long you've been doing it and ask to be compensated accordingly.

Good luck!

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I understand what you're saying and I'd be frustrated if I were in your positions too. I guess I would look at this from different perspectives..

- do you love your job? If you're truly happy, is it worth the difference in money?

- you mentioned that you're salaried and work extra clinically for straight time. Are you sure you want to continue doing that? Just thinking of wear and tear on the body.

- have you spoken with your direct supervisor about your concern? Maybe you can negotiate an increase in pay?

I'm a firm believer that if something really gnaws at me, I just confront it head on. The stress of worrying about it and keeping quiet just isn't worth it. Point out all you do and how long you've been doing it and ask to be compensated accordingly.

Good luck!

I know you are right. I am going to talk with my direct supervisor and my CEO on Tuesday. I was just trying to get some advice prior to the meeting. Yours is good. I do love my job but I do resent already the fact that OT is not OT for me. I also didn't mention that I don't ever work only 40 hours. I have a lot of thinking to do.

Thanks again

Eeyore

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I know you are right. I am going to talk with my direct supervisor and my CEO on Tuesday. I was just trying to get some advice prior to the meeting. Yours is good. I do love my job but I do resent already the fact that OT is not OT for me. I also didn't mention that I don't ever work only 40 hours. I have a lot of thinking to do.

Thanks again

Eeyore

Best of luck! I'm sure you will do well with all of this - you sound like a valued member of the team, and dedicated to your profession. :flowersfo

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I am a nurse in administration. When I took this position my wage was increased by 2 dollars and hour. I care for Infection Control, Employee Health, Survey Readiness, Education and am an active member of our nursing leadership team. A substantial increase was voted for RNs. It means that a staff nurse with less experience than mine will be making more money than I do by about 1,000 dollars per month. I am the only RN on the leadership team with the exception of our COO who is already highly compensated that would not receive this raise. :o I would receive only a 3% raise which will not come even close to the others. Am I wrong to feel this is totally unfair? I am also salaried and when I do work extra clinically I only receive straight time!! Any thoughts?

I am totally understand. I am in the exact same sistuation. I am also in infection control/employee health/staff development. I am also concidered leadership administration/executive professional staff.

I disagree that beside nurses should make more than administrative nurses.

Salary should be dependant on experience and responsibilities. Administrative nursing is just as vital as beside nursing. I worked my whole life getting higher degrees, working swing shifts, weekends etc. to be able to get out of clinical nursing.

I would think we would make more than clinical nurses.

Sandy

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I am totally understand. I am in the exact same sistuation. I am also in infection control/employee health/staff development. I am also concidered leadership administration/executive professional staff.

I disagree that beside nurses should make more than administrative nurses.

Salary should be dependant on experience and responsibilities. Administrative nursing is just as vital as beside nursing. I worked my whole life getting higher degrees, working swing shifts, weekends etc. to be able to get out of clinical nursing.

I would think we would make more than clinical nurses.

Sandy

This is a good example of something that I think contributes to the nursing shortage. Bedside care is traditionally seen by many as the "bottom rung" in nursing. Since I have made a conscious choice to remain at the bedside for 30 years, and have no intention of moving into a different type of nursing, this bothers me. We need all the various positions in order for it all to work. Goodness knows, I don't want to make out schedules, get ready for Jayco (sp), and all those other administrative tasks. I don't always enjoy patient care either; it isn't that "I love what I do". I do like it, but I know I wouldn't like the other stuff. I have 30 years worth of practice on my skills, and an excellent knowledge base on which to base my assessments and plans for my patients. So I have chosen to stay at the patient's side, and with this decision comes automatically the knowledge that I will work weekends and holidays for the remainder of my work life.

I am not complaining about this, as it is my choice. But I really believe that the various avenues of nursing should be seen as lateral positions, not a move up, thereby deserving of more money. The general implication has always been that to "advance" in one's career, one "gets out" of patient care. This strikes me as sad and frustrating and is a contributory factor in the feeling that many bedside care-givers have of lack of respect. If you sense that most view you as the bottom rung of a career, it is frustrating when you believe differently.

I am not trying to pick a fight; really. I've heard many many nurses say something similar to what you wrote, and it has always hit me as ironic. Who else would do the patient care if no, and I mean NO RN's did it? If we all "advanced" away from the bedside?

Respectfully.

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Specializes in MICU, neuro, orthotrauma.

Have you considered going to human resources or your supervisor to ask them to re-evaluate your positions pay? This may have been overlooked, and if you do not speak up about it, they will probably never research this on their own.

After you go through this step, then consider change of job, if appropriate.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Trauma, Ortho, Neuro, Cardiac.

Good luck. I was a charge nurse and got a raise when I accepted the position. Soon after the RNs got a market adjustment, which didn't include me. My manager simply stated "you just got a raise". Well duh, I earned that one, what about the market adjustment! "That's only for staff, you're higher than that". Aggravating.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, , Home health, Education.

I also work in Staff development. I took about a $2.00 cut in pay when I took this position.(2 years ago) On the other hand, I am not salaried and I don't work weekends or holidays. I also fill in as a discharge planner and when I work those hours I get RN wages-(now it's $5 more per hour) otherwise the nurses I teach make more than I do. I understand your frustration. I was a staff nurse for 25 years and worked many weekends, and holidays and on-call shifts. I guess I can put up with a couple of bucks less for those perks. Good luck.

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I think it is smart to keep your resume in top shape. If you are worth more to someone else then you might want to move on. Could they replace you at that salary? Sounds crass, but I believe we are all self-employed to some degree and if you can't get out of your employer what you expect (money or anything else) then consider what you would be worth to someone else. If there is a deficit in your worth, consider what it would take to make you more valuable. I agree, you are getting a bum deal.

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