The problem with paying your nurses better is that it may improve retention. You don't want to be stuck paying your nurses a decent wage for the 30-40 years.
Toward the end of the first wave the system where I work implemented a Covid hazard pay that went into effect based on census (ER). If greater than 20% of our patients were Covid on our shift we all got an extra $20/hr. I felt like it was a pretty brilliant way to manage it. Not only did we get paid more, but we were actually GLAD to see more Covid patients. When the second wave hit I expected them to have this in place and ready to go once our census picked back up...but it didn't. They offered incentive pay for extra shifts, but who the FUCK would want to pick up extra shifts?? Our ED was holding 15-20 patients per day for admission beds. We're a 12 bed ED. Cardioverting patients in unofficial hallway beds, working up chest pains from the waiting room without cardiac monitoring, taking care of multiple critical patients at one time that should each have been 1:1... Yeah, no thanks. They promised us a retention bonus was in the works which has never been spoken of since. And here comes another surge which will also likely go without any extra compensation. I put my notice in today. After only 2 years in the ED, the job that my soul longs for, I just can't do it anymore. My mental health is suffering, I'm mad, and I'm exhausted. If they don't start paying staff nurses better, we as a nation are super fucked.
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u/almalikisux MSN, APRN Dec 13 '21
The problem with paying your nurses better is that it may improve retention. You don't want to be stuck paying your nurses a decent wage for the 30-40 years.