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.
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
41 minutes ago, CommunityRNBSN said:
I mean, that’s fine, but I’ve only been a nurse since 2019. And I’m glad you don’t think driving a truck is stressful— for me, it certainly would be!!
I've driven truck before and still have my CDL. It's hard work, but nearly stress free. Virtually no critical thinking involved and I was ONLY responsible for myself.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
I guess what surprises me is when someone starts a topic like this they expect everyone to agree and if they don't they are either delusional or misguided. I understand that in many parts of the country nurses are vastly underpaid but when someone says they are honestly happy with their position and pay why do people intentionally throw shade on that?
For example I answered that I like my current position, that I feel fairly compensated and well respected at the facility where I have worked for the last 6 years and off and on prior to that for many years.
I am in California but my specialty does not have mandated ratios and can routinely have 14 to 20 patient's whose safety is my responsibility. Last year I grossed 6 figures with just an ADN. With my husband's income we do alright which means our bills are paid, roof over our head doesn't leak, we can buy food and send our son to college.
I set firm boundaries at work while still being kind and helpful to co-workers and patients, I give respect to physicians and hospital administraitors. (California is an "At Will" employment state which means I can be let go any time for any reason (outside of federal protections) or for no reason at all. When ever I am asked to work over-time I make sure it's mutually beneficial to both my employer and myself. I take bathroom brakes and go to lunch.
Nobody tells you you have to work in a place, and you get to choose what kind of way you feel. Over 20 years of sobriety and recovery have taught me to sit with my feelings each day and look for ways to eliminate anger and resentment from my thinking. One of the founder's of 12 step movement is quoted saying that when you give yourself over to anger and resentment you cut yourself off from the sunlight of the soul.
So if you think you can have better pay, working conditions, respect by driving a truck, being an accountant, engineer etc... go do those things. You just may find that the grass is not greener on the other side of the fence. Been there Done that.
Specializes in Surgical Specialty Clinic - Ambulatory Care.
2 hours ago, Jedrnurse said:
So...if someone's salary is overinflated then nursing salaries should be too??
No, just that stating one profession’s income is over inflated really has no merit to if another profession is adequately compensated.
My personal opinion is that over inflated incomes justify concerns regarding low pay in other fields. I believe our issue in nursing is a lack of transparency regarding pay and organizational income.
I believe our issue in nursing is a lack of transparency regarding pay and organizational income.
That was one of the things I liked about being a public employee, I.e. pay scales from the union contract were a matter of public record. Not so sure about management, but I imagine with a little digging those salaries would have been available...
I have about 7 years RN experience. My base pay at the last job I had when I lived up north for a bit was $28 and some change. When I started that job I had less than 2 years RN experience. At my current job down south when I started, my base pay was $26 and some change. That was with nearly 5 years experience. My base pay did jump up to $30 and some change this year when I was at about 6.5 years of being an RN. Yeah it jumped up 4 bucks (I think they realized they were paying some of us like crap and needed to adjust for the COL) and makes a difference but I really should’ve been paid that base pay all along considering years of experience and cost of living where I’m at, and I doubt a $4 increase is gonna pop up again any time soon. Up north the cost of living was equal or maybe higher, yes but down here they start out your base pay so ridiculously low. I think it’s true that you do have to switch jobs to get significant pay increases. Unfortunately, it seems like the longer you stay somewhere and stay “loyal” to one employer, the slower your pay increase creeps up.
I think in general nurses are paid decently, but it also feels like no matter how many years experience you gain your pay hardly reflects it unless you switch around jobs. And even if our pay is decent in general, I don’t think it always meets the cost of living. Before I got my $4 raise it was a little ridiculous trying to pay rent and bills around here. I can’t even imagine what they are paying the new grads at my hospital or how they get by for the first 5 years of their career….
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
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
54 minutes ago, AtomicNurse said:
oops I mean the employer.
Employers will tell you you don't need malpractice insurance. That they will have your back and that the employer's litigation team will represent you. This is one area where I feel employers really hurt nurse, because they will throw you under the bus so fast your head will spin. The $100.00 a year I spend to protect my assets should a disaster occur is well worth it.
IMHO - Any Nurse doing patient care without malpractice insurance is a fool.
CommunityRNBSN, BSN, RN
928 Posts
I mean, that’s fine, but I’ve only been a nurse since 2019. And I’m glad you don’t think driving a truck is stressful— for me, it certainly would be!!