What is your minimum base pay on Covid-19 unit???

Nurses COVID

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I just need an approximate point.

They are offering us way below the other facilities around .

I want to help, and have been , but I come home and I feel used, as my life is worth only a few $ more an hour????

No I won't accept that anymore.

Part of our unit recently became COVID overflow. No hourly/shift bonus for working on that side. Our "bonus" is that we have better staffing.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

Never make the mistake that your pay somehow reflects the "value of your life", whether you are a nurse or anything else as a career. Pay reflects one thing and one thing only - the demand for whatever it is you do to earn money. If your pay is low, that means where you live, there are a lot of people able and willing to do what you do. This is why nursing pays so much more than being a nursing assistant. The greater the requirements for the job, the fewer number of people who have the basic qualifications and the higher the job will pay. This is why working at McDonald's is, in general, a low paid position but being a neurosurgeon is a highly paid position.

If you are earning $23/hr, then that means your institution can easily get $23/hr for nurses where you live. If you find that insulting - move, advance your education or look into doing something that has greater demand.

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8 minutes ago, Nurse SMS said:

Never make the mistake that your pay somehow reflects the "value of your life", whether you are a nurse or anything else as a career. Pay reflects one thing and one thing only - the demand for whatever it is you do. If your pay is low, that means where you live, there are a lot of people able and willing to do what you do. This is why nursing pays so much more than being a nursing assistant. The greater the requirements for the job, the fewer number of people who have the basic qualifications and the higher the job will pay. This is why working at McDonald's is, in general, a low paid position but being a neurosurgeon is a highly paid position.

If you are earning 23/hr, then that means your institution can easily get $23/hr for nurses where you live. If you find that insulting - move.

I never went into nursing for money. It is just when you read these statistics about what nurses make all over the country, and you look at your own paycheck, you begin to feel worthless. Not worth a living wage, with all the education that you invested in. I know nursing is misunderstood, and it is all about supply and demand. Cognitively I know this. But it is soul crushing to have to work second jobs and things to get by. I just am so disappointed in how nurses are treated.

But every job comes with trade-offs and you have to do what works for your family sometimes. If I were younger, I might very well move. But not now at this stage in my life. There was a time when I was doing well as a nurse. Our paychecks have lost value over time in my area. Even those who are making more are spending $10,000 a year in benefits and health care costs out of their own pockets. It would be different if insurance and retirement benefits were good like they were at one time.

If you work for an employer that makes you feel valued, you can accept a bit lower paycheck. It is when they make you feel like you do not matter at all and pay you accordingly that is is hard to deal with. But I work to live, I do not live to work. I look for joy outside of work. And I try not to compare myself with others. Just trying to stay alive through the COVID situation with the hope of a better tomorrow.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
6 minutes ago, nursemarion said:

I never went into nursing for money. It is just when you read these statistics about what nurses make all over the country, and you look at your own paycheck, you begin to feel worthless. Not worth a living wage, with all the education that you invested in. I know nursing is misunderstood, and it is all about supply and demand. Cognitively I know this. But it is soul crushing to have to work second jobs and things to get by. I just am so disappointed in how nurses are treated.

But every job comes with trade-offs and you have to do what works for your family sometimes. If I were younger, I might very well move. But not now at this stage in my life. There was a time when I was doing well as a nurse. Our paychecks have lost value over time in my area. Even those who are making more are spending $10,000 a year in benefits and health care costs out of their own pockets. It would be different if insurance and retirement benefits were good like they were at one time.

If you work for an employer that makes you feel valued, you can accept a bit lower paycheck. It is when they make you feel like you do not matter at all and pay you accordingly that is is hard to deal with. But I work to live, I do not live to work. I look for joy outside of work. And I try not to compare myself with others. Just trying to stay alive through the COVID situation with the hope of a better tomorrow.

Yes, though it is worth noting that this is true in every industry in our country now. It isn't just nursing that has faced these issues.

At your age and with your level of experience, I am surprised you have not transitioned into a different job role. Have you considered being an educator, a nurse navigator or other such roles that tend to pay pretty well and are less life threatening?

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I am currently going back to school. And I have had a couple of opportunities that were pretty juicy, but I am in a retirement plan right now that I have to stay in for a while. Catching up after some part-time years during child raising. Caring for my parents in their older years taught me that I need to have a solid retirement built up.

I know it is not likely I will get hired by the time I finish school, I am getting older by the day, but you never know! I am pretty close to where I need to be retirement wise. Probably in the next year or two I will be out there looking for something better! Thanks for the encouragement.

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Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.
1 minute ago, nursemarion said:

I am currently going back to school. And I have had a couple of opportunities that were pretty juicy, but I am in a retirement plan right now that I have to stay in for a while. Catching up after some part-time years during child raising. Caring for my parents in their older years taught me that I need to have a solid retirement built up.

I know it is not likely I will get hired by the time I finish school, I am getting older by the day, but you never know! I am pretty close to where I need to be retirement wise. Probably in the next year or two I will be out there looking for something better! Thanks for the encouragement.

What are you majoring in? Congratulations on returning to school! I think you have every reason to be hopeful.

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Well let's just say a specialty that will hopefully put me in a different area of nursing. I am ready for a change. At least in nursing we can reinvent ourselves again and again.

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Specializes in Telemetry, IMCU.

I work a covid exclusive unit. I get $27 base pay with night/ weekend differentials. I'm immunocompromised. Not. Worth. It. I'm jumping into travel nursing because honestly, if I HAVE to care for covid patients I may as well get fair compensation for it.

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Some of you might want to look at Federal government jobs (usajobs.gov) with the VA or as a civilian RN with one of the branches of the military. Pay rates are usually significantly higher than some mentioned here, and you can't beat the benefits. Jobs are competitive, there is a one- or two-year probation period, and it may take months to get through the rather tedious hiring process, but worth it in the long run. It also helps to be a veteran, or the spouse of an active duty service member.

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Specializes in BSN, RN, CVRN-BC.

If you hired on as a new RN and now have 3 years of experience you are likely worth a lot more in your market than you are currently being paid. Apply for a couple of positions in your area and see what they offer. If the offers are better then accept and put in your 2 weeks notice.

After 4 years I went from $13.44/hr to $16.38/hr plus a $1.50 ICU differential. Another facility in the area offered $23 and had an annual retention bonus. After that move my pay bypassed a lot of nurses with more experience who weren't willing to take a chance. That was about 20 years ago.

Lessons to learn: Nurses with a few years experience are worth a lot more than new graduates. Don't be afraid to make a change if you believe that you are not valued in your current position especially early in you career were loss of seniority is not very painful.

If you are not married with kids, you might even consider a contract to travel and work In one of the areas hard hit by COVID. They need help and are offering a lot of money. You might even find that you like that part of the country better and want to stay. You might find that you enjoy traveling nursing.

There is a lot out there. Don't be afraid to take a chance and try something different if you are unhappy.

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Specializes in ICU/ER/Med-Surg/Case Management/Manageme.

I sincerely empathize with you over the loss of your cat. My dog of 14+ years died 3/23/2020 and not a day has gone by that I haven't cried - some days worse than others. I'm old enough to know this too shall pass but it is a painful journey. Most of us, when we lose a pet we loved like a child, have to grieve alone with little understanding from others. I'm so sorry for you.

Now, as far as your job and rate of pay...apparently $23/hour with a $5.00 Covid diff? You said your life isn't worth $23 an hour? So exactly what is your life worth? $30, $45, $65 an hour? Of course not. I really think you are just extremely frightened while working in this environment, feel nobody cares (and in administration that's about 99% true so you must get used to it), your beloved cat just died and nobody seemed to care about that or understand what that huge loss meant to you...lots of things other than rate of pay. I would strongly encourage you to seek counseling. Perhaps the Employee Assistant Program? Some online counseling? I think almost each and every person in the person could stand a bit of counseling right now - healthcare workers or garbage collectors. We're dealing with indescribable stress. All of us.

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Specializes in Community health.

I work Covid testing at my FQHC. Swabbing noses outside. We did not get “hazard pay” or anything like that. However, your wage is super low for an RN. I don’t think we are necessarily entitled to hazard pay (because at this point, everyone is exposed due to community spread, including dental hygienists and CVS employees and optometrists and McDonalds workers). But you just need a raise overall, aside from Covid.

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