You decide. Who is grossly overpaid, and who is underpaid and unappreciated?

[Joe V]

In some of my recent readings, I saw this comment, "our President earns a monthly salary of approximately $33,000.00 and he runs our country, while professional athletes just provide amusement", and, "paying a professional athlete $13.5 million for a single year (and) get millions of dollars worth of sponsors is just overpriced. There are those who save lives every day and do not make anything close to that amount."

It seems that Nurses are paid less than the politician who sits behind a desk all day or someone who plays a game for a living and are very often, underpaid and unappreciated. When considering salaries, we should factor in just how intense the job requirements of a Nurse are. They educate on life-style changes that can add quality years to the life of a human being, perform complex procedures on the very sick and injured, make quick decisions that save lives, and wear out their bodies from years of hard work.

What do you think? Do you feel that you (or nurses in general) are underpaid and unappreciated?

[sirI, MSN, APRN, NP]

I see from several angles on one particular job here ...

When considering the job requirement for the Athlete, he/she usually loves what they do, has trained many years honing their skills, keeps up-to-date with changes in their chosen sport, often wrecks their bodies during the process, must truly be experienced at what they do, and if goes professional, is able to command a huge salary for their efforts.

Now, that sounds like a Nurse, doesn't it? We usually love being a Nurse, we have the education and the job experience that keeps our skills sharp enabling us to hold a human life in our hands and make life-saving decisions at a moments notice, we keep up-to-date with healthcare changes that affect our jobs, patients, etc., we constantly seek out ways to further our education and stay on top of evidenced based practices, we often suffer damage to our bodies from long hours and difficult patient care over the years, and we are Professionals. Nurses have much of the same job requirements as the Professional Athlete … except that huge salary.

Yes, I feel that Nurses on the whole are undervalued and often unappreciated.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I'll play the Devil's advocate!

A common complaint revolves around the astronomical salaries celebrities (actors, professional athletes, singers) are paid. Celebrities' salaries are often compared to those of nurses, police officers, schoolteachers, enlisted military personnel, firefighters, and so forth.

Here's my take. The vast majority of people are not preoccupied with their health or safety, which are the aspects of life addressed by nurses, cops, and soldiers.

Some of these same people gripe and moan about taxes, yet it is tax revenue that pays the salaries of teachers, cops, military, and the nurses in our ranks who are employed by city, county, state, and federal governments.

When you flip the coin, most Americans love to be entertained. In fact, the American public places a higher value on entertainment, an optional facet, than on necessary facets such as public safety, healthcare, and education. This is evidenced by the trillions of private dollars we spend on movie theater visits, cable television, live sporting events, music, live concerts, and other forms of entertainment.

Some folks are so fervent about celebrities that they know their dates of birth, filmography of film actors, discography of singers, and statistics of players on their favorite professional athletic team. They pay good money to join fan clubs, purchase autographed memorabilia, and obtain replica jerseys.

A harsh truth is this: if the majority of the citizenry is fervent about something, that is where the money goes. Will Smith and Johnny Depp are paid millions because people will pay good money to be entertained by them. On the other hand, people will not as readily pay good money to watch a nurse perform an assessment, or a police officer issue a citation, or a schoolteacher prepare a lesson plan.

So, why do celebrities receive higher pay than nurses, cops and teachers? It is because we get what we pay for. It is because the public has proven time and time again that they'd prefer to be entertained than healthy and safe, as evidenced by the trillions of dollars they spend on movies, music, and professional sports.

I apologize for the length of this post, but nobody's going to spend $100 million on tickets, food, beer, parking, and souvenirs to watch nurses or enlisted sailors at Yankee Stadium. They will, however, spend that kind of money to see professional ball players at the game, or Beyonce at the concert hall, or the A-list actor at the movie theater.

[Joe V]

Found this while going through old posts...

What do you think? Do you still feel that you (or nurses in general) are underpaid and unappreciated?