by Lori Anderson

Created on: March 09, 2007   Last Updated: May 03, 2007

It all depends on who makes the decisions about the raises and what is expected of nurses to get the raise. I work in a hospital and yes nurses have alot of responsibilities. But now days as I have observed the nurses have to do less physical labor but more administrative work. We have what is called CNA's or Certified Nursing Assistants they do most of the physical labor and the dirty end of the job. CNA's make half as much or less than a nurse but do all the duties a nurse years ago use to do. What actually brought nursing about is the flight attendants they had to be nurses to have that job. Flight attendants had to have a nursing background to aid in passenger care if they got sick. So the nurses now days are very different than their predecessors were. Yes nurses work long shifts and sometimes are on call but what they don't tell you they do get a stipend while being on call too. Nurses are basically the back bone to patient care and they are the doctors eyes and ears to aid in that job. They have to go to school to become a nurse and that is the profession they choose. They also know the pay isn't the greatest in all areas but the reason most do go into that field is because they want to help someone who is sick and needs care. They want to feel proud and they want to get the satisfaction that they are appreciated. Our hospital has a week long event to honor its nurses they provide them with appreciation breakfasts and lunches and diners. They also have special events throughout the week.

Some parts of the country may not pay them enough where others pay them more. The bigger hospitals can afford to pay more but they also want more from their nurses. Our hospital here is a small community hospital and I am guessing that they top out at about 40 dollars per hour but that is after years of experience the newbies are around 18 to 20 dollars per hour depending on their assignment. The CNA's here start out at about 13 starting. Per diem employee's make more due to the fact they are scheduled where needed and have no benefits.

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