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Q: Do nurses deserve a high salary for what they do?

The work of nurses has as much value as that of any other group of highly skilled, autonomous professionals who hold lives in their hands, and nurses should be paid accordingly. However, too few people realize that, even in health care, and the status of the profession is far below where it should be. The Truth About Nursing's work has the ultimate goal of increasing the value society places on nursing. This will bring more investment to nursing education, practice, research and residencies. And it will expand the quantity of nurses across the globe, so all people have access to the nursing they need. As the world now has only about one-fifth the number of nurses it needs, increasing understanding of nursing should be a global health priority. The ultimate result will be better health for all.

Below is some reading on the value of nursing:

 

"Do they deserve this six-figure salary for what they do?"

October 26, 2006 -- Today The Boston Globe posted a poll on its web site in the wake of a successful nurses' strike at the University of Massachusetts Memorial Medical Center in Worcester. The poll appeared in the site's business section. The introductory text said that the strike was about a plan to reduce what were, according to the hospital, "excessively generous" contracts under which the "average nurse...working a 40-hour week makes $107,000 a year." The site then asked if the nurses were "right to strike," and whether "they deserve this six-figure salary for what they do." The Massachusetts Nurses Association (MNA) said that these descriptions of the strike issues and the average nurse pay were inaccurate. The union urged nurses to respond to the "insulting" poll by explaining that they were indeed worth that kind of money for their important work. We think the poll's most basic flaws are that it wrongly assumes that everyone knows "what [these nurses] do," and that it clearly suggests that it's nothing very important or difficult. We doubt the paper would have run such a poll about a "six-figure salary" for a given employer's lawyers, accountants, ad executives, or newspaper editors. But the idea that a nurse would make such a salary evidently suggests to the Globe that our society has its priorities all wrong. more...

 
Read more of our FAQs on the value of nursing

Just how undervalued and underfunded is nursing? answer...

What happens to patients when nurses are short-staffed? The value of good nurse-to-patient ratios. answer...

Are nurses cost-effective? answer...

Do physicians deliver better care than Advanced Practice Nurses? answer...

Landmark JAMA study finds nurses to be autonomous, skilled; nation reels. read more...

Learn about the value of school nurses. more...

Who are the professionals most likely to catch and prevent a medical error? answer...

What are some specific things nurses do that show the value of nursing? answer...

Can I see someone speak on the value of nursing? yes ... speech at Johns Hopkins' commencement


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