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.
We are a union shop. The negotiations every 2 years are usually months late getting agreement between the hospital and the nurses' union. We always vote on a strike. Sometimes it happens. Then it takes more months for the hospital to pony up to what they agreed upon.
I have had better 401K matching at other jobs. I have had better health insurance at other jobs. Insurance just seems to get worse and worse every year. Considering we work in health care and have to use our employers facilities, seems like they would make a better bargain with themselves.
I am in California, and I think my wage is fair if the full contract was enforceable. I am getting tired of floating to other units. It is when I feel the most like a resource, and not a person. There is a small amount of additional compensation for the float hours.
Usually, if I am getting floated to the Telemetry unit it means they are so short staffed we won't get rest or meal break coverage. That is when it feels the least safe. Add to that the staffing grid also says we should have NAs. We won't. They will all be sitting on rowdy patients.
The emergency room has been nuts lately. Those nurses cannot possibly be getting paid enough and they don't get breaks either!!
Specializes in burn ICU, SICU, ER, Trauma Rapid Response.
8 hours ago, JePierreB said:
Well, coming from someone who's from here and work here, the taxes taken out is more than what I keep. Plus, I'm full time and no dependents, so alot being taken out. That might also be another factor. I'm a socal nurse, but not in the major cities of LA and SD, so the pay rate is personally smaller than those areas, but personally, the pay isn't bad. But with taxes, it changes the perspective.
My point being you would pay those taxes no matter where you lived as long as you were still working in California.
My manager literally said to us last week “ ignore your pain and take care of patients first. And the nursing is a calling nonsense. This is what keep nurses underpaid and overworked. I quit today.
I believe that most, if not all, nurses do. I have for the past 39 years...
On 11/21/2021 at 12:53 AM, KalipsoRed21 said:
Or broke. No $100 isn’t a lot, but when your budget is so tight that you are downsizing your photo data so you can stop your $9 subscription to your iCloud because that $9 makes the difference in your food and gas budget….who can swing $100 a month! It would be almost freeing if someone took my license.
Nurses are not paid enough considering the danger we are placed in daily. Psychiatric Nurses and long-term care nurses are especially underpaid. Nurses are frequently physically and emotionally abused by their clients and their employers. The system does not have enough safety measures in place. The least that nurses should be able to expect is adequate pay.
To say the least: No. For the amount of work done (compared to other professions), for constant staffing shortages, for ever-worsening working conditions, and for management and administration that just plain don't care about all the aforementioned problems, no. The average floor nurse's salary should be significantly higher than what it is. And on a related note, we DESPERATELY need a national workers' union--perhaps more than any other profession.
Staff nurses are terribly under paid for all the responsibilities that are dumped upon them. I believe hospitals purposely pay low wages because staff will need to pick up extra shifts just to make a decent income. I got tired of peanut staff RN wages and went strictly agency 10 years ago. No mandatory OT, I can take summers and holidays off it I choose plus I am paid very well. I would encourage anyone who feels low balled by their employer to consider agency work, you'll likely be making double or triple your staff wages.
The collective compensation for the highest paid hospital leaders in Massachusetts rose 95% over five years, with 12 of the executives reporting compensation over $2 million in the most recently available year.
In the most recent year for which compensation data are available, the 12 highest-compensated hospital and health system executives in Massachusetts received $35.2 million, a $17.1 million increase from what those same executives earned in 2013.
The average salary for a Physician is $266579 per year in Massachusetts.
MDS are essential diagnosticians to the team – yes .
Nurses died from COVID at much higher rates than any other health care provider. CEOs never risk their health for patient care. MDs have limited contact with patients. Neither group works EO weekend, cleans up what we do or holds hands of the dying.
SunDazed, BSN, RN
189 Posts
We are a union shop. The negotiations every 2 years are usually months late getting agreement between the hospital and the nurses' union. We always vote on a strike. Sometimes it happens. Then it takes more months for the hospital to pony up to what they agreed upon.
I have had better 401K matching at other jobs. I have had better health insurance at other jobs. Insurance just seems to get worse and worse every year. Considering we work in health care and have to use our employers facilities, seems like they would make a better bargain with themselves.
I am in California, and I think my wage is fair if the full contract was enforceable. I am getting tired of floating to other units. It is when I feel the most like a resource, and not a person. There is a small amount of additional compensation for the float hours.
Usually, if I am getting floated to the Telemetry unit it means they are so short staffed we won't get rest or meal break coverage. That is when it feels the least safe. Add to that the staffing grid also says we should have NAs. We won't. They will all be sitting on rowdy patients.
The emergency room has been nuts lately. Those nurses cannot possibly be getting paid enough and they don't get breaks either!!