Re: Nursing Shortage - trust me, the pay is real!

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My wife is a registered nurse (RN) as well as an Advanced Practice Registered
Nurse (APRN) specializing in neonatal care. She has RN friends who make
close to 90K a year. Of course, they work a ton of overtime and have shifts
that are'nt the most desireable (weekends, nights, and holidays). But, if
you are willing to work hard and enjoy taking care of people (I don't, I
can't stand blood, bodily fluids, and seeing kid and elderly in pain) than
you can make really good money and go home knowing you made a real differance
in this world. My wife has since obtained her masters degree and is employed
as the clinical educator for a network of hospitals; she makes about 95k
working 30 hours a week. As for the shortage, she says the hospitals around
here (New England) are dying for nurses; they have resorted to hiring nurses
from abroad despite the cultural obstacles and the language barriers. And
yes, 50k a year plus sign-on bonuses are the norm around here.

~Zephyr

On 3/09/06, Mr. Blue wrote:
> On 3/08/06, Carol wrote:
>
>> Or I should say in the area I live in there's nothing "alleged", it's
>> real.
>
> I like to use the word "alleged" because the shortage could be solved by
> encouraging people to enter (and to stay in) the market by offering
> increased pay, better benefits, and better working conditions.
>
> Employers always perceive a shortage when they want to pay wages below the
> market's price point. Thus, we have a "shortage" of scientists, engineers,
> and computer programmers at third world wages, etc.
>
> Maybe I'm wrong. Perhaps they really are offering $50,000/year with good
> benefits and good working conditions, but I'm highly skeptical. My fiance
> is hoping to become a nurse, so it would be good if that were the case.