I just finished 3 consecutive 12-hour shifts and was doing a bit of reflecting this morning. I work on a med-surg floor in San Antonio, TX. The hospital is in an economically deprived area of town, and serves that demographic. It makes for some challenging days. Patients who are more sick, non-funded, uneducated, and may seek hospitalization for refuge. Also, me not speaking Spanish is proving to be an obstacle.
Then there's the typical community hospital politics and staffing issues. Here the maximum patients they can legally give us is 7. However, they utilize team nursing with an LPN and give up to 14. Then you constantly have admin asking you "when are you discharging your patients," only so that they may have that extra bed to fill. This makes for some exhausting days, with multiple discharges and admissions. Most days I'm on my feet for the duration of the shift.
I make $23/ hour, with some differentials for weekends and such. This comes out to about $42k a year before taxes. I understand that salaries vary in different areas based on the cost of living. I know there are nurses making 45-50/ hour in places like LA, NYC or Honolulu. So say on the high end a nurse takes in 80k a year before taxes.
Are nurses really compensated for what they're worth. I think that is a very important question and should be addressed on a higher level. Personally, for what we do and what we're responsible for, I do not think we should make less than 80k a year. A physician makes from 170k to 400k+ a year. I understand they have more invested to be able to make the decisions they do, but when you really look at the numbers, I don't think it quite makes sense.
Specializes in med, surg,trauma, triage, research.
Getting bowl ready too Ladyfree28 and Grntea move along the couch...I think I do deserve as much as a physician actually, why shouldn't I compare my skills with theirs? They are as extensive, as helpful, as painfully acquired but probably not scientificly gained, is that all that stops us ?
I just finished 3 consecutive 12-hour shifts and was doing a bit of reflecting this morning. I work on a med-surg floor in San Antonio TX. The hospital is in an economically deprived area of town, and serves that demographic. It makes for some challenging days. Patients who are more sick, non-funded, uneducated, and may seek hospitalization for refuge. Also, me not speaking Spanish is proving to be an obstacle. Then theres the typical community hospital politics and staffing issues. Here the maximum patients they can legally give us is 7. However, they utilize team nursing with an LPN and give up to 14. Then you constantly have admin asking you when are you discharging your patients, only so that they may have that extra bed to fill. This makes for some exhausting days, with multiple discharges and admissions. Most days Im on my feet for the duration of the shift. I make $23/ hour, with some differentials for weekends and such. This comes out to about $42k a year before taxes. I understand that salaries vary in different areas based on the cost of living. I know there are nurses making 45-50/ hour in places like LA, NYC or Honolulu. So say on the high end a nurse takes in 80k a year before taxes. Are nurses really compensated for what theyre worth. I think that is a very important question and should be addressed on a higher level. Personally, for what we do and what were responsible for, I do not think we should make less than 80k a year. A physician makes from 170k to 400k+ a year. I understand they have more invested to be able to make the decisions they do, but when you really look at the numbers, I dont think it quite makes sense. What do you guys think?[/quote']
"I don't think it quite make sense"
Gentlemen, start your popcorn...
You don't think it quite make sense? You could have summed up your entire argument if you would've stopped at "I don't think". Period. Let's go ahead and break this down point by point:
1. You work on the MedSurg floor. This is by no means an dig against anyone that works MedSurg. Heck, that's where I currently work. But MedSurg requires absolutely no special additional education whatsoever. It tends to be a jumping off point where most nurses start. But let's call a spade a spade. This is the entry-level position in the nursing world.
2. The hospital is in an economically deprived area of town. You working less than three hours off the Mexican border in an admittedly economically depressed part of the city. Your average patient demographic is going to be made up of illegals and homeless. The percentage of uncompensated care must be through the roof. Of course they're going to ride your ass about getting as many patients in and out as possible. Sheer volume is likely the only thing that manages to keep the lights on. Does this sound like the kind of facility that can put together an attractive compensation package to bring in high-caliber talent and pay them top dollar? Of course not. But then again, you knew that when you took the job.
3. $42k per year? Methinks this is not an entirely genuine number you've given us. You admit that you make $23 an hour plus differential. If you only ever worked three days a week at a base of $23 an hour that would bring you right to 42,000 a year. That even takes into account the standard two weeks of vacation per year. So you've never worked a weekend shift? Never work to more than three days in a week? While you may not make significantly more than 42K per year, that number is not honest. And that's three days a week brings me to my next point...
4. You only work three days per week. Three ******* days! Do you fully grasp how cushy that is? In only three days per week you manage to pull in, as an individual, the median household income for your city. Does that honestly sound like unfair compensation?
5. Point number five was going to eviscerate your absurd comparisons to other geographic areas in the country, but even you know how stupid that is. You couldn't get a cardboard box in LA or New York for what the average mortgage payment is in San Antonio.
6. Really? Physician salaries? You're really going to go there? It's not just the amount of money they have invested in their education that makes them worthy of a higher salary. By that logic, anybody who graduated from a for-profit school (i'm looking at you University of Phoenix) should be making 150k. No, it's the very nature of the decisions they have to make. We, as nurses, carry a certain degree of liability for the manner in which we execute the orders were given. But a physician carries a much heavier liability for the decision itself. Do you have to be on call to make those decisions? Do you keep office hours to follow up with those 7-14 patients you see for 12 hours? No, you punch the clock and head home until the next shift.
So let's recap: you work in an entry-level nursing position, in a poor area of town, lacking the language skills to communicate with your primary demographic, working three days per week, going home with no further responsibilities, making significantly more money than the average worker in your area!
A big perk for me has always been the fact that there are nursing positions all over. Every city/county/whatever is going to have a need for nurses. Naturally with the job market becoming increasingly saturated this has tightened up the "go anywhere and get a job" appeal but the fact still stands that there ARE nursing jobs almost everywhere. My husband is a scientist and trust me, we are very lucky that he has a job in our rural area. So I have the freedom that, if he has better job prospects elsewhere, I will probably be able to find something to keep earning and feeding my family. That is a HUGE bonus.
I just took a ~$8/hr pay cut to work in a job that should offer more autonomy and more time with my family, so the "why are nurses not paid more?" argument is stinging a little right now because I do feel I was legitimately low-balled for this job, but if it doesn't work out I can just say screw it and do something else instead. I also have a cluster of other little side jobs that I am able to do on my time, on my schedule, and when it's convenient for me. I can't think of many other fields where I could say the same!
All things considering nurses are paid quite well.
How many degrees can you graduate with a bachelors (or for the lucky few an associates) and make 60-80k a year immediately out of school with no experience, never having worked a real job in your life?
I understand that if youre a nurse in your 50s who has been working for 30 years making only 80 somewhat thousand a year thats not the best deal. But in healthcare they expect you to just keep going back to school , and theres a reason that many hospitals offers to pay for it.
But the money in nursing for someone less than 30 years old means youre easily making more than the majority of your friends with comparable degrees.
Factor in how many patients are in hospitals who cant even pay for their stay, and hospitals are having a tough time making ends meet. Its a tough time for healthcare
Blame the NFL. Look how much football players are paid -- and how much they contribute to society compared to teachers and nurses.
This comparison doesn't work. I know nurses who buy NFL jerseys, tailgate, buy season tickets, or glue themselves to a TV to watch their favorite NFL team every chance they get.
I don't know a single NFL player that does that for nurses.
It isn't a matter of who contributes the most to society, it is how society treats each profession.
BrandonLPN, LPN
3,358 Posts
To quote Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign: "It's the economy, stupid."
(and I hope no one thinks I'm calling them stupid...)