Nurses make the healthcare system work but are still facing chronic obstacles that lead to a shortage of staff and risk patient harm. Although their jobs are hard work, demanding, emotionally exhausting, and a lot of work, nurse salaries are often low, making nursing a less attractive career choice for prospective and existing nurses. This case is about the causes of low pay, burnout, and undervalue in the nursing industry. With this kind of systematic reform, we can make concrete recommendations for more equitable compensation, work-life balance, and long-term healthcare staffing.
This shortage of nurses stems mostly from inadequate compensation, institutional underpay, and the occupational pressures of the work. Even when they are most needed to care for patients, nurses struggle with stagnant wages unfit for their skill sets and the rising cost of living. In the past, nursing was undervalued based on gender discrimination, women owned the profession and “care work”. Long-term understaffing results in a load of work, burnout, and turnover that further squeezes workers. What’s more, budget inefficiencies in hospitals primarily cut spending on infrastructure, rather than on salaries, meaning nurses are underpaid. We must address these systemic issues to reverse the situation.
Nurses, for all the strength of healthcare they provide, don’t make nearly as much as other professionals of similar training and responsibilities. The median annual salary of registered nurses in the US, for example, is about $77,600, while less specialized electricians earn $60,000–$75,000. The same goes for tech workers, who typically begin their careers at around $80,000–$90,000, less physically and emotionally grueling. That gap points to systemic undervalue, fueled by gender biases and “care work” nursing analogies that make it vital to revise how we compensate and recognize the lifesaving role of nurses in the health care delivery system.
Nurses seek higher education for many reasons, such as professional advancement, better salaries, and improving patient care. High-level education—a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN), Master of Science in Nursing (MSN), or Doctor of Nursing Practice (DNP)—will prepare you for specialty roles such as Nurse Practitioners (NPs), Clinical Nurse Specialists (CNSs), and Nurse Educators. This type of job typically pays higher wages and is promoted to leadership roles. A median salary for NPs is $123,780 a year, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, compared with $77,600 for registered nurses (RNs). Plus, graduate education enables nurses to have knowledge and skills based on evidence-based practices that contribute to better patient outcomes. The greater the number of BSN-trained nurses, for example, the lower the mortality rates among patients in hospitals reported in The Lancet.
Going to college also serves the industry’s and employers’ needs. Currently, most medical practices require or prefer BSN-level nurses, and especially Magnet-recognition hospitals, magnet-recognition nurses. The Institute of Medicine’s report The Future of Nursing: Leading Change, Advancing Health recommended that 80 percent of nurses have a BSN in order to cope with a demanding healthcare system. As far as the money is concerned, higher education offers sustainable pay: BSN-prepared nurses earn on average $5,000 more per year than ADN-prepared nurses, and MSN and DNP graduates even more. More than monetary and professional advantages, higher education brings individual empowerment, greater job satisfaction, and practical independence. With healthcare evolving with technological change and the advancing age of society, higher education prepares nurses to face this challenge head-on so that they will continue to be a vital component of patient care and the healthcare system.
Nurses deserve more than a 2% salary increase each year; this slight increase doesn’t catch up with inflation and has an impact on purchasing power over time. Nurses work incredibly hard, are overworked and stressed and have emotionally demanding jobs, but their pay does not always keep up with the demands of the job. Chronic understaffing and excessive work increase burnout and turnover, which compromises the quality of care. Pay increases that are competitive with other providers would not only enhance employee morale but also enhance patient care because research such as that in The Lancet indicates that better-paid nurses provide better care. In addition, systemic undervaluation of nursing, as a function of gender biases, maintains disparities in wages. Two percent is not enough to fix these problems. Nurses should be rewarded with annual raises of 4%-6%, which would reflect their value and industry standards and keep nurses on the job and make healthcare sustainable.
References:
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Kutney-Lee, A., Sloane, D. M., & Aiken, L. H. (2013). An increase in the number of nurses with baccalaureate degrees is linked to lower rates of postsurgery mortality. Health Affairs, 32(3), 579–586. https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2012.0504
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Article Written by:
Juram Gorriceta MPA, Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN, RN), (PMEC), LSSWBC Lean Six Sigma Yellow Belt Healthcare Certified. CHPM
Healthcarebeyond 
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