On the cover of today's Parade magazine: What People Earn--
Brian Koonce, 39, RN, Omaha, Neb $85,000!!!!! Also, under Hot Jobs in 2005--Nurse Starting Salary $30,000-$45,000.
Maybe this is true for some, but to me this is a load of steaming hot horse manure. I'm about to start my 23rd year in nursing, and I don't come close to the $85K mark, even with weekend and shift differentials. I am nauseated just thinking that as I'm wiping someone's hiney they're thinking "Gee, she makes $85,000 a year!" I am a staff nurse--that's all I ever wanted to be, and I love it. It's more than a job; to me it's a calling. And truth to tell, I don't have a lot of resentment or gripes about my salary. HOWEVER, it chaps my butt to think that now everyone (except nurses and hospital corporations) thinks I make the big bucks. No wonder, some patients and families treat us like servants--they figure since they're paying us these enormous amounts of money they are entitled to all sorts of perks, including being able to order us around, and being highly incensed if we don't scuttle around fast enough.