Where do you stand on "Nurses don't get paid enough"?

[Convoy2022_TrumpSupporter]

To me I am on the fence about it. When I was a student, we were taught not to complain, if we complained in our clinical about too much work we would get a warning, or be kicked out for not being competent. Now that I am working its much different. I have a union who will stand up for me.  So now workers like me, often complain about workloads, and being overworked asking to come in, working lots of hours etc..

Here in Ontario we have Bill 124 where the Government froze our wages. I saw many Nurses protest this, but of course we cannot go on strike as lives will be on the line which is not good. One nurse said that they don't just change diapers, but they keep patients alive and are closely monitored, while being spat on, and yelled at. 

So this begs the question, are you becoming a Nurse because you like it? Or are you doing it for the money? I don't think Nurses are underpaid, I do think they are worth more than they currently are. 

[Guest1176712]

On 11/16/2021 at 4:32 PM, LibraSunCNM said:

I also think it depends on geographical area.  Many nurses in the union-wary South are making crap wages, but are told that the increased pay found in other states is evened out with increased cost of living.  This is true in some cases, and patently false in others.  There are also vacation and sick policies, quality of health insurance, typical staffing levels, and many other factors to consider.  Many nurses work in facilities where it's just the norm to literally never take a break, not be able to take vacation time or call out sick, etc., which is just insane, but they're conditioned to think that could never change.  But as a whole in the U.S. in general I think RN pay is reasonable.  There are just pockets of deplorable working landscapes where I'd never go.

I think it is relative to the perceived self worth of a nurse. If a nurse has never made over 27/hr, then 35/hr is gonna look pretty good. But to another nurse that's peanuts. Depends on the actual position and job requirements. Nursing is a profession. If I have to know info that the doctor has to know then I need to be closely compensated, esp if Im taking on the physical part and risks. I think RNs should be paid at least 50/hr across the board and that nurse patient ratios bill needs to be passed into law. 

[KalipsoRed21, BSN, RN]

5 hours ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

I am paid very well, I think. I live in Connecticut and work outpatient. I make about twice what I made when I taught elementary school. (And I had a masters’s degree in education, and only a bachelors in nursing). 

My husband is a lawyer working in corporate litigation so he earns a fortune. However, I honestly feel that he is OVER paid, not that I am underpaid. 

Well that’s a bit silly if you ask me. If your husband over paid instead of you being underpaid, then either way we go about it nurses are missing some money. So are most anyone in public service.

[CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN]

19 minutes ago, KalipsoRed21 said:

Well that’s a bit silly if you ask me. If your husband over paid instead of you being underpaid, then either way we go about it nurses are missing some money. So are most anyone in public service.

I hear what you’re saying, but I disagree. Here is my perspective. I earn $40 an hour, which seems about right to me. I feel that my husband deserves more than I do, because he works *much* longer hours (he isn’t paid hourly) and is expected to respond to emails at all hours of the day and night, and on vacation, etc. This amount is based on nothing but my own snap opinion, but let’s say he deserves $75 per hour. In actuality, he earns about $150 an hour (if you divide up his annual salary into hours). So, thus, I think he’s overpaid, but I still don’t think I’m underpaid. 

[ThePrincessBride, MSN, RN, NP]

2 hours ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

I hear what you’re saying, but I disagree. Here is my perspective. I earn $40 an hour, which seems about right to me. I feel that my husband deserves more than I do, because he works *much* longer hours (he isn’t paid hourly) and is expected to respond to emails at all hours of the day and night, and on vacation, etc. This amount is based on nothing but my own snap opinion, but let’s say he deserves $75 per hour. In actuality, he earns about $150 an hour (if you divide up his annual salary into hours). So, thus, I think he’s overpaid, but I still don’t think I’m underpaid. 

Yeah but what happens if you make a mistake versus him making a mistake? Could someone die in his circumstance?

We should pay for not just what we do but what would happen if we didn't do our job.

[hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I]

4 hours ago, ThePrincessBride said:

Yeah but what happens if you make a mistake versus him making a mistake? Could someone die in his circumstance?

We should pay for not just what we do but what would happen if we didn't do our job.

This is why every nurse practicing at the bedside should have malpractice insurance! I got my policy while I was in nursing school and still pay around $100.00 a year for a million in coverage

[PMFB-RN, RN]

Nurses are adequately compensated (at least in certain parts of the US) relative to our educational investment.

    But we are severely underpaid relative to our level of responsibility. 

[PMFB-RN, RN]

8 hours ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

I hear what you’re saying, but I disagree. Here is my perspective. I earn $40 an hour, which seems about right to me.

I wouldn't put my pants on for $40/hour at this stage in my career with my current level of responsibility. 

    I can make $40/h driving truck and be nearly stress free.

[KalipsoRed21, BSN, RN]

8 hours ago, ThePrincessBride said:

10 hours ago, CommunityRNBSN said:

I hear what you’re saying, but I disagree. Here is my perspective. I earn $40 an hour, which seems about right to me. I feel that my husband deserves more than I do, because he works *much* longer hours (he isn’t paid hourly) and is expected to respond to emails at all hours of the day and night, and on vacation, etc. This amount is based on nothing but my own snap opinion, but let’s say he deserves $75 per hour. In actuality, he earns about $150 an hour (if you divide up his annual salary into hours). So, thus, I think he’s overpaid, but I still don’t think I’m underpaid. 

So like maybe you haven’t done much nursing yet beside whatever sector you are in? Case Managers and Home Health RNs pretty much have a phone, are answering emails, and working on vacation for a salary that is $35-40 an hour. 
And really most hospital jobs, have the first 3-4 month honeymoon “orientation period” often require education days, mandatory staff meetings when you are not working (so you have a 13 hour day or come in on your day off…which really sucks if you live an hour from your job.) And in many of the places I’ve worked they often require “committee” participation and mandatory on call days. So for the hypothetical “36 hours a week” it often turns in to more than that by a large amount. 

And then I would say there are meetings and email your husband has to go to at inconvenient times to work towards a deadline. Nurses have tons of hard deadlines a day (medication passes, lab draws, coordination of these things with testing etc.) And we are having to work on upper managements “goals”. The deadlines I feel are more similar to the ones your husband may be working toward. It isn’t like we get to have a leisurely walk outside or a working lunch to regroup and reassess our day and our plan. It is constant triage, reassess, and execute. There is barely time to urinate. My managers are gloating success because we can now have water at the nurses station because “they recognize the need for nurses to have hydration?”. Don’t know, just still seems very skewed. And the fact that after 2-4 years of experience in the field rarely gets one increased pay. It is very stagnant for those with experience, mostly because hospitals are cheap and hoping they can fill the gaps with cheap new grads leaving whole generations of nurses from the benefit of having a very experienced mentor.

[canoehead, BSN, RN]

With inflation I am making less as a thirty year nurse than as a new grad. I definitely have more skills, so I should be paid more IMO. To get equal pay to a new grad they would have to pay me another $11 per hour. I think my skills are worth $10 more per hour, so I need a $20 per hour raise to get there.

[HiddencatBSN, BSN]

Two things: as a profession that’s got a good job outlook and is somewhat accessible (although there are still tons of barriers rt our educational system in the US) it’s definitely (in general) decently paying compared to professions with similar educational requirements. I made more as a first year nurse with a BSN than my mother made at the height of her career as a private school teacher with a Master’s degree.

BUT. Wages in general suck in the US so that’s a really low bar. Wages have been stagnate and dropping compared to inflation and rising healthcare costs for decades. Not to mention the cost of education and the burden student loans place on people. Millennials have a lower standard of living than previous generations. So in this sense, no, nurses are not paid enough for what they do. The working class isn’t paid enough for what they do.

We are absolutely justified in demanding better compensation especially when the top tier of healthcare is profiting so massively off of our labor. And it shouldn’t be a competition against other professions and jobs but part of a larger push for workers’ rights.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

20 hours ago, KalipsoRed21 said:

Well that’s a bit silly if you ask me. If your husband over paid instead of you being underpaid, then either way we go about it nurses are missing some money. So are most anyone in public service.

So...if someone's salary is overinflated then nursing salaries should be too??

[T-Bird78]

On 11/16/2021 at 6:02 PM, ThePrincessBride said:

LOL. No we are not paid well for what we do. 

I have a BSN and have been a nurse for almost 7 years. My pay for both my jobs is 30.XX-32.XX. Base. I am exposed to all kind of diseases, I deal with idiotic management and administration, and rude patients and their families. 

My boyfriend? He has a BS in accounting with his CPA. He has been in his field for 14 years and makes approximately 130k per year ($62/hr) base. A nurse with his amount of experience would make about $36-$38/hr. Sure, he is salaried and doesn't have overtime opportunities, BUT he gets to work from home and not deal with 1/4 of the BS that I make.

And he isn't even "saving lives."

My engineer brother came out of the gate making 87k per year. That is what some NPs make starting out in my area (MSN and years of nursing experience). 

When you compare to other non-healthcare fields it looks bad. My husband is a scheduler of a production mill, no college education as he started in this field young and worked his way up, and he makes $102,000 annually; I make $38,000 annually (yes, we’re in the South where pay and cost of living is lower). I know he’s worked hard for years to reach that milestone but when I’m leaving for work while he’s working from home, salaried with flexible hours, it does bug me some. On the other hand, he’s there to get our son off the bus and can run to the grocery store during the day since I can’t. It works but I am slightly green. LOL.