who is worth 842 RN's???

[68RN]

I was reading about slalries of the sport figures in America. it said that the new soccer recruit from England, David Beckman's yearly salary would pay for 842 RN's??? WOW!!!!! What do you think of that? Put them at the bedside and save some lives!!!! This is incredible to me.

I was wondering what you all thought??? Or put teachers in the classrooms, etc,etc. I like sports, but Wow, where have our priorities gone????

68RN

[Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN]

:angryfire obviously NOT nursing

[smk1, LPN]

I understand the OP's sentiment and think we don't always need to pick a vent thread apart and get into the nitty gritty. On the surface salary disparity between a life saving profession and a soccer player (who so far isn't even playing much) DOES seem ridiculous.

[smk1, LPN]

Main reason I don't watch sports or much TV.

I watch the antique Road Show .

Talk about putting high prices on junk. Babe Ruth's signature only goes higher.

I love that show!

[RNontheroad]

We are also forgetting a very important point...David Beckham is really good eye candy!

[RNperdiem, RN]

High level professional sports can generate a lot of money? Whose pockets do you want a lot of that money to go into? The players? The owners?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

Okay - I'm going to throw this out: why do we need professional sports? Do away with the demand and those people would have to get "real" jobs. What about actors/acresses? Don't need them either. They too can get real jobs. And while we are at it, lets get rid of the tabloids - if I see one more picture of Brittany, Lindsay or Nicole at the grocery store, I'm gonna barf!

tee hee hee

[EmmaG, RN]

That was my point. But again, not their value as an athlete, but a value that society places on them. They only 'deserve' such pay because we decide to make it so. This is acheived through people such as you who feel they earn their pay, and those who support such situations by buying goods and attending these events.

I don't necessarily think they earn their pay so much as they are being paid what the market will support. So I think we're on the same page here :)

Ultimately it really is a huge non-issue. If people have a problem with these athletes and their pay then they should avoid sports and sports products...as to not contribute to the "problem." If you don't want to do that, then simply get past it.

The idea that what they make is worth a certain number of other professions is a fallacy at best, anyway. Imagine a situation where David Beckham did not exist. Does anyone actually believe that money would go to hiring nurses? If he took a pay cut would that magically create nurses or something?

Exactly.

Now why are we arguing?

[EmmaG, RN]

We are also forgetting a very important point...David Beckham is really good eye candy!

There's that, too

High level professional sports can generate a lot of money? Whose pockets do you want a lot of that money to go into? The players? The owners?

Me?

[oldiebutgoodie, RN]

As my husband has always said, when you are on the revenue side of the balance sheet, you will make more money.

We nurses are on the expense side of the balance sheet, so we make less money.

Oldiebutgoodie

[bigreddog1934]

while we're on the subject of prioritization, $180,000,000,000 for the newest funding of the wars in iraq and afganistan would pay 300,000 nurses for ten years.

[68RN]

Wow!!! I really started some deep thoughts!! I do realize that these athletes do provide entertaiment and they are professionals and they let people get their minds off their troubles for a few hours. And yes, their careeres sometimes do end early, I, being a moderate, was just looking for comments and it seems like some of you took it I was bashing athletes. I was not. My Oklahoma Sooners and Cowboys are my guys and it seems the older I get, the more I enjoy football. And it probably is comparing apples to oranges, and hospitals do not generate money like sports does but just the sheer number of RNs who could be hired floored me!!!

I do not know what it will take to have nursing services a separate billing item on hospital bills, but that alone would be a start to keeping up with Pts,RTs etc.

oh well, lots of problems we have both as a profession and as a country. Stay well and I really enjoyed all the responses!! 68RN

[TrudyRN]

Supply and demand.

There are plenty of people who can learn to be a teacher. Not many people can play sports at a professional level. Also consider their careers can end abruptly on any given day, and even if they make it through without injury, they "retire" at a much earlier age than us mere mortals.

They can afford to, Manny. I think your argument is very sad. And wrong. Plenty who can learn to teach? And there are also many who can learn to play pro ball. So what? Our society's standards are askew when we value sports and celebrity over teachers, nurses.:angryfire:madface::uhoh3::trout: