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Old 03-04-2014, 11:03 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
3,887 posts, read 5,517,350 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ferraris View Post
Nursing Assistants do a lot of the work, too. Salaries for them are like $11-$14/hour. They move patients, do catheters and IVs, empty bed pans, and clean the patients. There's usually fewer assistants per floor than nurses, so a staff cut of even one person per shift can be a huge change (8 patients vs 16 patients for example).
Yes, Nursing Assistants do a LOT of work, and I think a base starting rate of $14 an hour would be appropriate for them. It isn't an "unskilled job". For NA's, the workload also varies a lot from unit to unit. I have worked in units where the NA's are worked to death, and units where they sit on the computer and don't contribute much at all (mostly in ICUs). There are also many stresses that NA's don't feel that are unique to nurses. A NA isn't responsible for recognizing EKG changes in a post arrest patient who is on cooling protocol, a balloon pump, has an LVAD and is on ECMO. The nurse is responsible for this, plus many of the duties of the NA (making sure patients are clean, etc.). This is obviously why a nurse is usually (nowadays) required to have a Bachelor's degree and a NA isn't. But this all goes back to my point earlier. This is a difficult topic because you then have to decide what job's "deserve" a wage increase and what jobs don't. In the GRAND scheme of things, UPMC pays their employees a lower wage than many other bigger health systems out there. Kaiser, for example, is known for being an excellent hospital system to work for when it comes to wages, benefits, etc. They often pay their nurses 70k per year (and not just in expensive parts of CA), have "turning teams" in their facilities that take physical burden off of the nurses and NA's, offer free parking for employees, etc. I was paying $75 a month for my spot in Presby.

The whole topic is far from black and white. Maybe a cafeteria worker at Shadyside doesn't deserve $15 an hour when a new grad nurse is only making $5 more an hour, but that isn't to say the cafeteria worker doesn't deserve a "livable" wage. It's a tough subject.
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:07 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,004,288 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by eschaton View Post
If employers pay poverty wages, we all pay for it through social programs like SNAP and the Earned Income Tax Credit. So the actual social cost of poverty drops considerably, as it's born by the employer rather than the federal government.
Exactly. It should be born by the employer instead of the federal government. These people are working for a company that needs a job done. They're not sitting at home on welfare. They deserve to earn enough money to put food on their table without food stamps. Taxpayers/government/society should not be subsidizing corporate profits via welfare.
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:09 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
3,887 posts, read 5,517,350 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UKyank View Post
You also have to take into account that going to nursing school at one if their schools & then working at one of their hospitals forgives your tuition which is a big bonus not directly reflected by the raw salary numbers.
This is the exception, not the norm. I went to Pitt's nursing school for my Bachelor's degree, and I am thousands and thousands of dollars in debt. I got a job at Presby and certainly wasn't awarded any "tuition reimbursement". I have a bachelor's degree worth of debt, and for the vast majority of people that also have a bachelor's degree are in the same boat as I am. There are more nursing programs outside of UPMC's own hospital based Associates programs. Also, UPMC's programs usually only grant you an Associates degree, which won't cut it for nurses in a few years. Many who have been nurses a long time with only an associates are being forced to go back and get their Bachelor's degree (not paid for by UPMC). Soon, it will be a requirement in most places to get a Bachelor's degree to become a nurse (which I agree with). Very few of the "hospital based programs" that I know of offer a BSN.
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:13 AM
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UKyank View Post
You also have to take into account that going to nursing school at one if their schools & then working at one of their hospitals forgives your tuition which is a big bonus not directly reflected by the raw salary numbers.
Not all of the nurses went to nursing school at one of their schools.
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:18 AM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,879,034 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ForYourLungsOnly View Post
This is the exception, not the norm.
What are the stipulations then? My basis for saying so was that my cousin attended UPMC Mercy nursing school & didn't have any tuition payments apart from books, uniforms, etc. so long as she worked for UPMC 2 years after graduating.
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:24 AM
 
288 posts, read 511,191 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes View Post
Supporting the living wage will only make things better for you in the long run. Expecting an immediate increase is unrealistic. If you'd rather work for McDonalds if it paid better, you must not like your career much. The living wage will help you get out of that awful job you hate and into McDonalds were you think life would be better if it only paid a living wage.
I like my job and am not trying to get out of it. My point is right now my free time to me is worth more than minimum wage. Is my free time worth more than $15 an hour? Not sure, but I guarantee lots of people who currently only work one job will likely take a second if it pays $15 an hour. That ends up hurting the people who wanted that raise in the first place.
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:39 AM
 
43,011 posts, read 108,004,288 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UKyank View Post
What are the stipulations then? My basis for saying so was that my cousin attended UPMC Mercy nursing school & didn't have any tuition payments apart from books, uniforms, etc. so long as she worked for UPMC 2 years after graduating.
You're acting like it skews the average salary, but not every UPMC nurse went through one of their programs. RN at CCAC is very affordable without having a two year commitment to an employer.
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:51 AM
 
5,894 posts, read 6,879,034 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hopes View Post
You're acting like it skews the average salary, but not every UPMC nurse went through one of their programs. RN at CCAC is very affordable without having a two year commitment to an employer.
I'm not saying it skews anything but rather pointing out that they have a large pool of potential employees (students if their nursing schools) that in addition to their starting salaries won't have any tuition debt.

$43K/yr after 2 years of post High School education & possibly no debt would seem great to me if I was 20; somewhat less so if I was older & had a family when I chose to go to school but that's all about life choices.
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Old 03-04-2014, 11:55 AM
 
Location: Pittsburgh (via Chicago, via Pittsburgh)
3,887 posts, read 5,517,350 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by UKyank View Post
What are the stipulations then? My basis for saying so was that my cousin attended UPMC Mercy nursing school & didn't have any tuition payments apart from books, uniforms, etc. so long as she worked for UPMC 2 years after graduating.
Generally, if you go to a UPMC based, in-hospital program, you will receive a Diploma Degree and will receive tuition reimbursement if you work for UPMC two years after graduating. The thing is, most nurses don't go to these programs. Some do of course, but increasingly it is required to have a Bachelor's degree in nursing to acquire a job. This degree is not offered by hospital based programs or community colleges. You must go to Pitt, Duquesne, etc. A University based nursing program. These Bachelor's degrees are like any other Bachelor's degree, and you will not get tuition reimbursement for working at UPMC for 2 years after getting a degree. When I was working in the ICU at Presby, most nurses went to a University (Pitt, Duq, etc.) and had a Bachelor's, or went to Community College for an Associates Degree and were in the process of going for their Bachelor's Degree while working at the same time. The way of hospital based Diploma programs are disappearing.
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Old 03-04-2014, 12:00 PM
 
Location: ɥbɹnqsʇʇıd
4,599 posts, read 6,716,012 times
Reputation: 3521
What's a bit goofy are all of the other threads in this forum that say that wages in Pittsburgh are amazing. Yet here we are in this thread talking about $11 and $15 dollar an hour salaries both at a skilled and unskilled level and how people should shut up and take them.

I don't even think 1000 people on the streets protesting will convince the forum that Pittsburgh has a problem with low wages.
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