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My Nurses Makes $2/Hr More Than I do, Should I Care?


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17 hours ago, EMEDPA said:

I guess I worked in the wrong dept. I made 70k that year. 🙂

I worked in a rural ER solo pretty much right out of school.  Stupidest thing I have ever done.  Thank goodness it worked out, but I saw the acuity handwriting on the wall and got out after about 8 months. I started at $42/hr but was given several incentive raises the first 6 months to stay and ended up about $55.

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1 hour ago, JDB91 said:

Meanwhile, the (former RN) CEO of my nonprofit children’s hospital makes a cool 6Mil salary. 

This should literally be outlawed!

cap executive salary for those systems receiving federal funds - and for that matter all white collar positions....

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On 1/19/2022 at 4:19 PM, thulegreen1101 said:

 I make $56 an hour. PAs who work at med express in an urban area 2 hrs away make more than I do and I just found out that my nurses at the ER make $58 an hour. But I am also held accountable with higher responsibility and I am ultimately responsible for making decisions for patient care. Should I address this with HR? I live in an area where there are still limited ER positions, this is a job I really enjoy, and I am learning a lot, but I also feel deflated and taken advantage if. 

You'd be sick to find out what I make as a travel RN. Stay out of other people's bag (paycheck).

First, you low balled yourself accepting that rate. Second, what nurses make is no concern of yours. Third, these aren't your nurses the same way you don't belong to the physicians you work with.

That being said, you definitely deserve twice what you're making due to the fact you provide billable services. No provider should make less than bedside nurses...it makes no sense from a financial standpoint. 

Not saying none of this disrespectfully BTW.

Edited by Diggy
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1 hour ago, Diggy said:

You'd be sick to find out what I make as a travel RN. Stay out of other people's bag (paycheck).

First, you low balled yourself accepting that rate. Second, what nurses make is no concern of yours. Third, these aren't your nurses the same way you don't belong to the physicians you work with.

That being said, you definitely deserve twice what you're making due to the fact you provide billable services. No provider should make less than bedside nurses...it makes no sense from a financial standpoint. 

Not saying none of this disrespectfully BTW.

Fair point. Although I do say I am "her PA" and refer to "my doc" and I am "his PA." But I agree no one is owned by anyone, we are not "physician's" assistants. We are all one team, with different roles. Also, it was a nurse who told me her hourly rate without prompting, she somehow knew what I am making.

 

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6 hours ago, JDB91 said:

A few people in this thread mentioned nursing supply/demand, saying there is a shortage. This is actually a huge misconception that has been pushed hard by hospitals.  

I mean...the nurses are leaving hospital "A" to go to hospital "B". There clearly is a shortage of nurses at hospital B which is why there are openings there. And there are not enough nurses to cover hospital "A" so there are supply issues there. Hospital "A" doesn't have enough supply to meet their demand.

This has happened to us. Our admin have been dragging their feet finalizing a contract and a bunch of the amazing nursing staff left us to go travel, now we are short staffed and have trouble making our staffing quotas.

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16 hours ago, MediMike said:

I mean...the nurses are leaving hospital "A" to go to hospital "B". There clearly is a shortage of nurses at hospital B which is why there are openings there. And there are not enough nurses to cover hospital "A" so there are supply issues there. Hospital "A" doesn't have enough supply to meet their demand.

Anyone aware of what has happened with ThedaCare and their Interventional Radiology team?  It's unbelievable.  Obviously I'm sure there's more to the story than what is in the news...but something I've read in other stories was that the employees gave sufficient notice and even offered to negotiate for compensation similar to Ascension and ThedaCare simply refused and also failed to recruit staff to replace those leaving...then at the last minute submitted the lawsuit seeking injunction.  The stupidest part is that the injunction supposedly states that the employees are not allowed to work at either hospital until this is figured out...but I've also read that the injunction isn't enforceable and that the employees will begin their work at Ascenion tomorrow as previously planned.

https://www.wbay.com/2022/01/20/thedacare-seeks-court-order-against-ascension-wisconsin-worker-dispute/

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3 hours ago, thulegreen1101 said:

Has anyone successfully negotiated for a wage increase and if so, how did you go about it?

The EMPAs at my primary job with the CAQ in EM are considered "board certified" by the hospital. We made the case that boarded EM docs make more than FP docs, so CAQ PAs make an extra $5/hr now over those who don't have it. 

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9 hours ago, thulegreen1101 said:

Has anyone successfully negotiated for a wage increase and if so, how did you go about it?

Sat down with our manager and let him know that the hospitalist PAs/NPs we're making more than I was hourly. The hospitalist PAs who call me to come intubate their patients, run their codes etc. Showed the impact our group had on quality measures (Leapfrog scores etc), billing we did for procedures

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13 hours ago, JDB91 said:

There is nothing wrong with scouting what everyone else makes around you. This taboo bullshit of minding your own business about others salary is a joke and makes HR/Admin so happy. It’s a US workforce phenomenon that benefits no one but those who cut the paycheck. You contradict yourself; telling OP not to concern him/herself with nurse salaries at his job but then go on to say he/she should not make less than a bedside nurse…

There is absolutely nothing wrong with scouting what everyone else make IF it's within similar roles. From my understanding the OP is using nursing salary to argue that he should be paid more? Two different roles. That's my point in the "minding your business" statement. He should be paid more because...and I don't know how else to say it...but because he's a provider who provides billable services, not because the nurses he works with make $2 more than he does.

Had the OP said they found out other PAs were making $2 more than him then his argument for a raise and the "unfairness" would be valid. 

That's like me finding out RTs make more than me and running to my supervisor demanding a raise lol. Apples to oranges. 

I share what I make with other nurses and travel nurses alike but why would a physician, PA, RT, medical student care what I make?  

I don't know which nurses you work with but none of my colleagues have an irrational fear of what you propose...it's the reason why we all left because we share that information without hesitation.

But like I said, he deserves more and my stance still stands of stay out of people's bags. 

Edited by Diggy
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  • 1 year later...

Just adding for more of a reference on this discrepancy.

My wife (nurse of 2yrs) and I (new PA) are currently working EM positions in the San Francisco area. Her hourly rate offers were consistently higher than mine, usually by $15-$20. I know she has 2yrs of experience, but still I was surprised by the consistent pay difference. Don't get me wrong, I don't think nurses are overpaid. It just seems like mid-level providers are not being compensated correctly for our larger scope of practice...

Edited by SCA23
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3 hours ago, SCA23 said:

It just seems like mid-level providers are not being compensated correctly for our larger scope of practice...

You're not being compensated for anything of the sort. Labor compensation is based on supply and demand.  Nurses are in high demand and low supply. PAs are in reasonable demand but high supply in most areas.

If you want to gripe about who has the biggest scope of practice and compensation disconnect, go talk to veterinarians...

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14 hours ago, rev ronin said:

You're not being compensated for anything of the sort. Labor compensation is based on supply and demand.  Nurses are in high demand and low supply. PAs are in reasonable demand but high supply in most areas.

If you want to gripe about who has the biggest scope of practice and compensation disconnect, go talk to veterinarians...

I'm not sure I've seen the equivalent in physician labor where there is adequate supply. Have you seen lower doc wages in saturated areas? And in regards to the OP in rural Wisconsin, is it harder to recruit RNs over PAs there? I would assume there is lower supply and higher demand there for both. And thus if no one accepted the wage, I would assume they'd increase their wage offer until they found someone willing to work for that wage. 

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On 1/20/2022 at 6:20 AM, iconic said:

There's a ton of new grad PAs dying to take your position

New grads should never be running codes like that. The PAs doing this are the seasoned ones. There are a handful of them in this forum and I bet they would tell you the same. Just because a new grad can doesn’t mean they should. It’s so irresponsible. 

 

On 1/20/2022 at 6:20 AM, iconic said:

There's a ton of new grad PAs dying to take your position

 

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20 hours ago, JessT said:

New grads should never be running codes like that. The PAs doing this are the seasoned ones. There are a handful of them in this forum and I bet they would tell you the same. Just because a new grad can doesn’t mean they should. It’s so irresponsible. 

 

 

Admin folks don’t get this. 
they see PA-C.  ATLS.  PALS. ACLS and after that they just plug you in. 
 

it is wrong as new grads are not equal to experienced 

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