Well, just got some bad news... Advance for Nurses just arrived and the lead article is a New England Salary Survey for nurses. The good news? Nurse earnings range from an average of $22.50 per hour in Vermont to $39.88 per hour in Massachusetts. Connecticut nurses are doing pretty well at $34.18/hr. The problem is this: the hourly rate by specialty area for New England nurses ranges from $30.05/hr to $43.00/hr and guess which specialty is at the rock bottom? Psychiatric Nurses.
Why would this be? Is it mostly new nurses bringing down that average? New nurses (< 5 yrs at work) earn considerably less, $27.92/hr, while rates increase to $32.20 at 6-15yrs, and $40.30/hr with 16-25yrs experience. (Interesting that those with 26+ years experience have lower hourly rates on average ($39.42/hr)- that does not sit well with me either.) Mary Jane Krebs, APRN-BC VP of clinical and nursing services at Spring Harbor Hospital in Maine identifies the average age of psychiatric nurses is 47years. I don't think that supports the lack of experience argument.
Perhaps it is location of employment. I don't know the numbers, but I am sure many psych nurses work for state or federal (VA) facilities which have the lowest annual salaries ($66,823 vs. nonprofits of $71,061). That might be part of the reason. I don't think it is a good reason, but perhaps benefits packages are better? I suspect the work is very difficult in government facilities...
My worst fear would be that the stigma of working in psychiatry is alive and well. I can't tell you how many times I have heard that people who work in psych are crazy... I'm tired of that. As a group we need to actively thwart those who perpetuate this myth.
As a group we should be paid on par with all other specialties. We have extremely difficult jobs, and deserve to be paid well for our services.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
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