Does Gender Affect Our Views On Pay?

Quote from TheCommuter“You’re probably one of those lazy nurses who wants top dollar for minimal work.”

At the hospitals I've worked at pay is based on years of experience. So there's no hemming and hawing about asking for more or negotiating, there is only one pay for your years of experience. And then there's your yearly review and cost of living raise which is also standard. So it doesn't matter if you have balls or ovaries, if you walk out of an interview expecting them to increase your starting pay you'd be SOL.

Quote from SionainnRNAt the hospitals I've worked at pay is based on years of experience. So there's no hemming and hawing about asking for more or negotiating, there is only one pay for your years of experience.

Quote from CheesePotatoI commend you for holding your tongue. Seriously. I would have verbally disemboweled this person. And then danced in their tears.

I had a few comments I wanted to make on this article, but CheesePotato said exactly what I was thinking, albeit much more articulately than I probably could have. Also I would like to thank TheCommuter for posting this to begin with. On another thread a poster brought up the fact that males are generally paid more than women for the same work. My response was "Not to sound sexist, but the reason that men are paid more than women is because we aren't afraid to negotiate a higher salary." I went on to say "Believe me, no employer is going to pay anyone, male or female a dime more than they have to." Well, to the other poster that statement was proof I AM a sexist... Go figure lol.Again great article, TheCommuter.

There is no negotiation where I work - all nurses who start out brand new make the same wage. All climb the same steps and get the same raises. No union.It doesn't matter whether you have ovaries (or not depending on hysterectomy) or testes. But yes, men and women are different.

Yep that's how it is where I am. No matter gender, if you've been a nurse for 3 years your salary is the same. It's very nice and makes it so there are no hurt feelings about how much you make.

Quote from TheCommuterDo I want top dollar for the work that I perform? Well, I’d most certainly be lying through my teeth if I said no.

Quote from MN-Nurse"Top dollar"? The CEO of my hospital network makes $2 million dollars a year.THAT is top dollar. Nurse's salaries just aren't it.

Perhaps one of the reasons for the lower starting pay in the job fields mentioned is because they are not revenue adding positions. What I mean is they take funds away rather than doing something that adds monetary value to the company. An engineer that designs a "widget" that makes the company millions of dollars adds to the value of the company. Like it or not there are essentially two kinds of employees, those that make the company money and those that cost the company money. A Dr. that brings patients to a hospital is bringing in money. A nurse is costing the hospital money, just like supplies do. It sucks, but it is what it is.

Quote from HM-8404Like it or not there are essentially two kinds of employees, those that make the company money and those that cost the company money. A Dr. that brings patients to a hospital is bringing in money. A nurse is costing the hospital money, just like supplies do. It sucks, but it is what it is.

Nursing will always be found in the negative side of the balance sheet, because the PTB want it to remain that way. Until nursing starts to bill for their services, our professional services will continue to be rolled in with the room rate, housekeeping, and the complimentary roll of toilet paper. We provide our services to the patients, get not credit for it, while RT continues to bill for drawing an Arterial Blood Gas, while if I draw the same Arterial Blood gas it is part of the room rate in the ICU. Why is that? Again, because the PTB want to keep our services and profile from being seen as money makers for the hospital, and keep our professional services considered worthless. This is stuff that needs to be taught in nursing shool. The economics of health care. Spare me the nonsense that all you want to learn is how to be a nurse. That attitude has kept nursing in the 19th Century. Nurses ARE MONEYMAKERS FOR THE HOSPITAL. We need to quit being the, "martry marys", that we are. We will NEVER GET OUT PIECE OF THE PIE, until we demand that our professional services be recognized. JMHO and my NY $0.02.Lindarn, RN, BSN, CCRNSomewhere in the PACNW