You really think nurses make alot of money? Let me give you something to think about

[diosa78]

So, I am tired of the student nurses that come through our unit saying "Well, nurses make alot of money." I like to gently explain to them that we don't in the following way:

I make $27 an hour. I have 4 or 5 patients with varying acuities (I work in an ER). So, if I have 4 patients, I am making $6.75/hr per patient (with 5 it's $5.40 an hour). I am responsible for assessing, verifying orders, medicating, etc etc. The last time I was in the hospital I asked for an invoice, and if I remember correctly, they charged me around $200/hr for nursing care. (Now this was on a floor, but I am just using it for general comparison).

I have to also take into consideration that hospitals have overhead (housekeeping, techs, etc.), but still that mark-up is huge. In my previous career, I was making considerably more money for less responsibility and less stress and the mark-up on the products was around 13%. I know I am comparing apples to oranges, but it's just something else to think about.

Most students gasp at this when looking at our wages like this, but it's just something I think we should consider. I sometimes think our wages would be better if they were based on acuity and ratios (for hospital nursing). What do you guys think? Am I looking at this all wrong?

[anotherone, BSN, RN]

I do it for the money and I don't think the money is THAT bad. Although yes we work VERY HARD FOR IT and i do sometimes think i should be paid more. most of the time i think the money is pretty good and there are times where i think even $75 an hour wouldn't be enough. lol

[sapphire18]

Carolmaccas- I'm assuming your dollar over there is worth different than our dollar over here.

[Chrissy Lou]

I think you make an extremely great point. Especially when you think of those of us (like myself) who work in LTC and have upwards of 20 patients all to ourselves per shift. And I make LESS than you do. I just did the caluclation, and with your math, I make 0.63/hr for each patient I work with in my unit. Its ridiculous.

Great point and I will remember this if I ever hear students or other people saying this to me.

You bet! We have a wing right now with one nurse to 50 residents - on first shift to boot! NO WAY we make enough. We earn every penny and deserve many more!

[Chrissy Lou]

I agree that some nurses are underpaid. But many are also well-compensated. And I would respectfully note that $6.75 an hour does not include your employer's required payroll taxes, contribution to health insurance, dental insurance, retirement, and disability. Nor does it include payment for any extra education you might be fortunate enough (or required) to receive. It certainly doesn't reflect the $3,500 a year my employer gives me toward grad school nor the $9,000 I received to pay off a BSN loan. And then there's paid time off.

I agree that some nurses are underpaid. But $6.75 an hour per patient is not an accurate reflection of what we earn. I also work ED. I'm paid whether I have four patients or no patients in the dead of night.

You are very lucky- many nurses do not receive any funds towards education, even as far as maintaining certifications that are used at work. (I am the wound nurse- and I pay for all my CEU's etc myself). Our PTO is not a for sure thing- can and has been revoked many an occasion. We don't have retirement, our insurance is outrageous, our days are often cut, and we work understaffed many an occasion. NO- I did not in any way become a nurse for the money. But it would be nice to feel valued once in a while!

[seizetheday]

Not really sure what age has to do with it. I just turned 40 and the most I ever made was $14.00/hr.

I'll gladly take those $40,000+/yr. jobs off your hands :)

You are a nurse working for $14/hr? Relocate!! I have never heard of nursing wages that low.

I make about $45 an hour - decent money. No complaints about the money in nursing here.

[Chrissy Lou]

I am a second careerer too. I made way more money in my last career but was totally trapped - no advancement, not marketable in other cities, etc. Nursing offered me almost as much with the ability to advance/move. I never thought nursing paid a lot hour. However, it does offer a lot of potential. For instance, we are always short. You can pick up any time which means overtime. Couple that with a PRN job, you can easily make 100,000/yr. The money is out there, you just have to work for it. At the end, I work 3 days a week. I might work my tail off those 3 days, but I have 4 days to recover!! We work less days than teachers!!!

Love it and wouldn't trade it!!!

Again, you are a lucky one- we are not allowed overtime. Ever. Heading out myself to hunt a PRN job. Little spare change AND a change of scenery.

[el Jefe]

I'm confused. Who exactly has that high payed job that has little responsibility, cushy atmosphere, and high pay?

Now I know there are some pretty lazy high payed government employees, but those jobs are few and far between. Who wants that job anyways. Sounds boring and lame to me. Maybe you think life would be great as a lawyer. Oh ya. Everybody loves those guys. Maybe an engineer. Sure he/she makes more than a nurse but might have to work 70 hour weeks and be out town for months on end. I bet the kids don't mind daddy/mommy being gone all the time.

The mail delivery guy is making around $27? You gotta be kidding me.

And the plumber. You dang right he deserves more than $27. It takes years and years to even become a master plumber. Same goes for a construction worker. Its not an easy job. I know because I've done it. They deserve high wages for their high skill. I don't think they are less skilled than a nurse, who only has to go to school for two years.

In the U.S., if you have a household income of $56,000 (appx $27 working full time), you are doing better than 60% of households. Now, I know most of you have a husband or wife that works so your household income is most likely closer to $100,000, so that means your doing better than 84% of households.

Now, lets get to the root of the complaint. The bottom 99% are not making as much money as they should. That's because too much of the money in our economy gets sucked up and redistributed to the top 1%. In case you didn't know, overall wages have remained flat in the U.S. since the beginning of "Reaganomics" and "deregulation" almost 30 years ago.

[Freedom42]

You are very lucky- many nurses do not receive any funds towards education, even as far as maintaining certifications that are used at work. (I am the wound nurse- and I pay for all my CEU's etc myself). Our PTO is not a for sure thing- can and has been revoked many an occasion. We don't have retirement, our insurance is outrageous, our days are often cut, and we work understaffed many an occasion. NO- I did not in any way become a nurse for the money. But it would be nice to feel valued once in a while!

I agree: I am very lucky, and I appreciate it. I actually walked in one night last week to find a pot of flowers from my boss as a thank-you for Emergency Nurses' Week. We are well-compensated and appreciated, although I also appreciate that I am not guaranteed of anything since I do not have a union contract. (On the other hand, by compensating nurses well, my employer does a good job of keeping unions out.) But you know, when my boss asks me to pick up an extra shift, I do -- because I know I'm appreciated. That's priceless.

I'm troubled by some of the posts on this thread about why someone has gone into nursing and how money fits into the picture. From where I stand, why you chose your profession is none of my business. Why do we have to judge each other?

If you find nursing personally rewarding -- and I do -- then I'm happy for you. If you are in it for the money, that's your choice. But money and personal satisfaction are not mutually exclusive, and as far as I'm concerned, with two bachelor's degrees, a master's in progress, and frequent (paid) training on my days off, I have earned the right to expect good compensation. Thankfully, my employer values what I have to offer and agrees.

[Jenni811, RN]

I agree, i think we are underpaid...however i do think it works out in other ways.

i get dirt cheap health insurance, especially since i am healthy i get a "discount" i guess you could call it (basically just cheaper insurance). Healthy meaning...i don't smoke, i am in my healthy weight category. My hospital DOES NOT discriminate against those that are overweight. You can get the "discounted" insurance if you are overweight still, you just need to log in exercise hours or join the hospitals free weight management programs.

That is besides the point though. I work part time, i get full time benefits, i get a week off once/month. My health insurance is $75/month. My fiance pays $200/month for just him. He is very healthy, but still pays that. We are actually talking of getting married by a judge within the next month or so just so he can get on my insurance. We will still have our wedding in 2013 (yes! its that far planned out, long story why that far). but it makes sense to us...our family is all for it.

I can take out loans through my employer with interest rates so low nobody has ever been able to match them.

Did i mention i get 1 week off/month?? (technically its 6 days in a row but close enough).

Differential pay!!! 3$/hr extra on weekends. $4/hr extra on nights. and $7/hr extra on weekend nights.

Honestly...my fiance and i will be using my money to go towards all our insurance, loans etc. because its so much cheaper. (hence why we might be doing a judge marriage within the next month or so)

[alby_dangle]

I think it is fallacious to calculate a "per patient wage" and conclude it is terribly low. To compare it to a non-nursing job, think of your patients as different "tasks." So you have 5 to 7 "tasks" among which you divide your time during a work shift. If you have 5 "tasks," each "task" demands roughly 20% of a single hour when you are on duty. So if you want an accurate HOURLY wage for your time spent on a given task (patient), take your "per patient wage" ($6) and divide it by the time spent on the patient out of an hour (0.20 hours) and you'll get your true wage for your actual time spent with that patient: $30/hour. Your low "per patient wage" was arrived at by assuming you are required to work with all of your patients all of the time - simultaneously existing in every patients room. Most other jobs demand employees to alternate between different "tasks" throughout the shift. If you calculated a "per task wage" in these jobs using your method, it would often be in the $1 to 3 per hour range.

I mean no offense in any way, but we were not taught (at least not in my school) to think of our patients as "tasks".

[linsmirn]

Lol this is too funny, Im getting paid $32 because I work nights and its enough for me. If you arent happy or the money isnt what you expected than do something else. None of my friends make more than me, not even my lawyer friend because the economy is bad. Yes I work hard but I love my pay and my benefits, so no complaints here. Oh and I dont live a life I cant afford, with my pay Im able to pay my bills, have fun and save, which I wasnt able to do before.

[linsmirn]

To a new grad who is maybe all of 23 years old, $40,000 a year is a lot of money, "to them". But, when you start to add up all living expenses, loan repayments, and god forbid add a husband and kids into the mix, yep, we make less than plumbers.

Now you know thats not true, I bet the plumbers have familys too, which brings them down way below a nurse salary.