"Maxprop" wrote in message
k.net...

"Reverend Crantz" wrote in message
. ..


Brilliant insight. A good number of people are going into nursing today
because of the relatively high pay.

That's hardly a brilliant insight.

But it is great sarcasm.

Nurses rank among the most underpaid professionals, and they always have.
In 1906, nurses earned about 1/3 of the income of the average physician.
What is that ratio now? I'm guessing it's closer to 1/6 on average, based
upon family practitioners, not specialists or subspecialists, where it
could be as low as 1/20 or more.

What do doctors (GP's) earn? What does a nurse earn?

I think the most underpaid and overworked professionals are teachers and
accountants.



When there are enough nurses pay will decrease.

There never will be "enough nurses." The shortage is exacerbating and has
been for decades. Adequate staffing for my wife's unit is her chief
administrative problem.

There are always enough nurses at the right price. For decades there has
been an engineer shortage, even during the massive layoffs.



Why is there such a nurse "shortage"? Previously causes were bad working
conditions, lousy pay and long hours. Nurses left the field in droves. Do
you think it will be any different this time around?

Nope. The hours are the worst feature--most nurses work weekends, nights
or evenings, and they are required to work double shifts if called upon to
do so due to weather or sufficient call-offs.

They get paid for that double shift or comp time - right? In aerospace
double shift means unpaid overtime. It's not unheard of 80 hour weeks for
months on end.

The pay is not commensurate with the level of education or the
responsibility assumed.

Yes it is, the people are willing to work for it. Pay (reward) should be
proportional to the risk assumed.


And the burnout rate
is exacerbating. Too many young women enter nursing with unrealistic
expectations, only to leave a few years later for better hours with less
responsibility and stress.

Same reason people quit being lawyers, accountants, doctors (high suicide
rate too), engineers, etc. Guess what - the only ones that can handle the
rat race are the rats.

The health of the general population would be much better if they shed their
high stress jobs. Most illness stem from the workplace and the lifestyle it
induces.



Max