When I was in the job hunt I signed up to get automatic updates from a hospital in my city. Every once in a while I would get an email listing the new RN positions that were available. Fast-forward a half a year, and despite having a good steady job and no longer living in the same city as that hospital, laziness on my part has kept me receiving these updates.
Today, as if I needed it, I got one more reason that I will never work at a nursing home:
Posting Title: Registered Nurse (RN)
Shift: 1 - Day Shift
Department:
SKILLED NURSING CARE
Employment Status: Full-Time
Salary Minimum: 19.82
Salary Maximum: 28.70
External Description:
Long Term Care Nurse (RN) - $3000 Sign-on Bonus!
Yes, you read that correctly, they are hoping to attract "Skilled" Nurses, and to do so have been authorized to delve deep into their pocketbooks to offer a salary that is about 12000 dollars per year less than any other RN job in the state.
But fortunately, if I work long and hard and get years of experience, that rate will keep going up until it is competitive with starting RN positions at every other facility.
Granted, I would not do LTC even if the pay was better than other places - just not my thing - but really, less than 20 bucks an hour? No wonder Nurse K gets patients with unstable vital signs.
NurseExec? Can you help me understand this?
Today, as if I needed it, I got one more reason that I will never work at a nursing home:
Posting Title: Registered Nurse (RN)
Shift: 1 - Day Shift
Department:
SKILLED NURSING CARE
Employment Status: Full-Time
Salary Minimum: 19.82
Salary Maximum: 28.70
External Description:
Long Term Care Nurse (RN) - $3000 Sign-on Bonus!
Yes, you read that correctly, they are hoping to attract "Skilled" Nurses, and to do so have been authorized to delve deep into their pocketbooks to offer a salary that is about 12000 dollars per year less than any other RN job in the state.
But fortunately, if I work long and hard and get years of experience, that rate will keep going up until it is competitive with starting RN positions at every other facility.
Granted, I would not do LTC even if the pay was better than other places - just not my thing - but really, less than 20 bucks an hour? No wonder Nurse K gets patients with unstable vital signs.
NurseExec? Can you help me understand this?
7 comments:
What's the new grad rate in your hospital? It's 25 and change in Phoenix.
We are somewhere in that neighborhood as well... a little shy of 25.
A friend of mine just told me about a job in Cali starting over 35 with a 10,000 dollar signing bonus... where do I sign?
I'll try. Skilled Nursing facilities, long term care facilities, nursing homes, whatever you want to call them, have traditionally had lower pay scales than hospital nursing. In fact, I left an circulating position in the OR for a charge nurse position in a SNF, and took a monster pay cut. For me, it was worth it--I was completely fried on hospital nursing. Interestingly, our LPN pay scales are much more fat than the RN positions, because they are the "workhorses" of our profession (no dis intended).
We are awfully limited by state and federal regulations regarding medicaid and medicare cuts. My state just cut our medicaid payments by 76 million dollars.
Amazingly, we have a great, dedicated staff, with only a couple bad apples, who I weed out or grow, as they warrant. I wish I could pay them all more, but my last salary survey did get approved, and I was able to give some hefty increases to my nursing staff. I have LPNs making over 50,000/yr, which ain't half bad.
Is there an answer? Political action, on the part of patients, families, and staff. A new administration who commits to elder care in the coming "baby boomer" crisis.
Hope that sheds a bit of light.
Thanks for the comment NurseExec. You do bring up two valuable points: LPNs in LTC get loads of money compared to their counterparts, and when I worked in a transitional rehab unit, one thing that I never doubted was the devotion and caring of the staff.
Oh, and Medicare is stupid.
I guess working on the terminally old and ill is better than nothing...if you have a restricted license or something.
I'm in the wrong profession. Us RTs are lucky to get 20 an hour after a couple of years.
Oh that is just terrible...as a Dialysis TECH in California, I am making somewhere in the middle of that pay range...that is just wrong.
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