Should men who work as nurses speak out in favor of pay equity?

[Boojatta]

[MADem]

1. Why should gender make a difference? If you work in a sector and are getting the shaft

and you want recompense, you pipe up.

[JerseygirlCT]

27. Makes sense to me. nt

[Recursion]

2. Is there a specific pay inequality for male nurses? (I don't know; I could imagine it)

If so, certainly. If not, I don't see how they're any different from underpaid female nurses in needing and deserving to speak out.

[aikoaiko]

3. ? Are men being paid less or are you suggeting they speak up for their sisters?

Perhaps a little more explanation in your OP.

[Boojatta]

7. The question is whether they should speak up for their occupation.

I presume that by "sisters" you mean "co-workers who are women."

[aikoaiko]

16. Of course they should speak up for their occupation

I sense that is a lot of subtext about your question that I don't know. Have people said otherwise?

[gollygee]

4. Male nurses make more than female nurses

But yes, the inequity should end.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3689/is_200204/ai_n9050945

Men still earn more

Overall, male respondents earn significantly more than women: $48,300 on average for men, compared with $45,100 for women. Forty-four percent of male nurses reported salaries above $50,000, compared with 34% of female nurses. (See 2001 Average Salary by Position and Sex.) About 7% of survey respondents were male.

[Boojatta]

6. Do men who work as nurses earn the right amount,

(the amount that women who work as nurses should earn), do they earn too much, or do they earn too little?

[Truthiness Inspector]

8. If there is no disparity, then what is this question about?

Your OP doesn't make sense.

[Boojatta]

9. I don't understand why my OP doesn't make sense.

Isn't it possible that if most people who work in a particular occupation are women, then the occupation might be underpaid not only for women who work in that occupation, but also for men who work in that occupation?

[midlife_mo_Jo]

21. There's a reason men make more

"Some of these salary differences may reflect factors other than sex, however. For example, compared with female nurses, a higher percentage of male respondents work in hospitals, are certified, and hold management positions. Men are also more likely to work in large facilities (more than 300 beds), where salaries are higher. Based on this survey's findings, all those factors increase earning potential."

Also, smaller towns generally have lower salaries than urban areas. When my uncle was in the hospital in a "small southern town," we spent a couple of weeks in the hospital. I don't remember seeing one male nurse there. At my local urban hospitals, it's not that unusual to see male nurses (where they make more.)

And do the salaries reflect only full-time positions? I would imagine that many more women nurses work parttime than male nurses. My neighbor worked only two twelve hour shifts a week in a local NICU in order to be home with her kids. How many men work parttime compared to women?

The management issue is troubling, but I would have to know more about the differences in educational levels to determine whether the inequity is due to sexism. Mostly, the difference in pay just isn't troubling when you consider that men tend to work in facilities that pay more.

[gollygee]

24. Hiring practices, which give male nurses the better jobs

is part of the inequity

[midlife_mo_Jo]

26. How so?

[jeff30997]

5. All I have to say is:

Same job,same experience then same fucking pay.I can't believe that they're still women that are underpaid because of their gender.That is sick.

[otherlander]

18. Should all nurses be paid

what male nurses are currently paid?
Or should all nurses be paid more than that?

[lumberjack_jeff]

10. If men are paid more than women, why would anyone hire a man? n/t

[Boojatta]

12. Anticipation of kickbacks?

[Breeze54]

11. Yes, of course they should speak out about pay equality!

But you knew that! :P

[Boojatta]

14. No, in my case appearing to know nothing is no act.

[Breeze54]

15. I'll hold you to that!

:P

[Boojatta]

20. Wouldn't it enable me to ask questions?

When people ask me questions and repeatedly demand answers, wouldn't it be grounds for mercy?

Maybe it wouldn't enable me to pontificate, but would it be easy to defend any kind of claim of infallability? Hold me to not pontificating and we will see. I suspect that I will thank you.

[pinto]

13. iirc, nursing pay scales are gender neutral, negotiated in many instances by a union,

or standard for the nursing classification, not the gender.

There may be no *there* there to this, imo.

[otherlander]

17. Do you mean

that they should demand that female nurses be paid the same amount as male nurses?

Or that all nurses should be paid more?

Either way I would say that nurses of either gender would be justified in doing so.

[saltpoint]

19. Cheated workers should unionize and speak out.

Are you saying that male nurses are underpaid because they're nurses or because they're male?

I'd need a link to have a clue about what you're getting at.

[K Gardner]

22. This is bunk... sorry people

It'd almost be nice to think that if I were male I'd make more doing what I do, but this simply is not true. First of all, you need to look at the fact that this article was a voluntarily submitted "survey" of "respondents", back in 2001. But aside from that, the writer did not take into account why nursing salaries fluctuate so widely. And it has nothing to do with sex.

I have been an RN for over 22 years. I've worked Level One ER/critical care and hold multiple advanced certifications; have worked staff in major trauma centers and small rural areas, done travel nursing and worked per diem through agencies. While following my chosen career, I have also followed the money. In my field of expertise I work with many male nurses. There is no pay disparity based on gender. There is pay disparity based on region, years of experience, type of job (FT, PT, Per Diem, Travel, Contract) - but most of all there is disparity because of NUMBER OF HOURS WORKED PER WEEK :-)

Unless an RN holds a management position, we are paid by the hour, period. For example, in the South nurses are typically paid very low staff wages, even for large hospitals. $21/hr is ridiculous, but common. The same nurse working at the same hospital, but working via a travel agency will make $35/hr plus housing, much of that tax-free. In the northeast, an RN who works staff will make $30-40/hr or more; the agency nurse around $40/hr. In California, the mothership of the nursing industry, RNs are actually being paid what they are worth because they have had the guts to unionize and do so strongly. These RNs make easily six-figure incomes, again, depending on how much they work and where. Again, the guys make the same as the girls - this study did not take into account where the work was done; how many hrs/wk were worked and what type of nursing was being done.

This is truly an oversimplification, but for the sake of brevity, let me assure everyone that male nurses and female nurses are paid by the same scale. This scale has to do with just about everything BUT gender :-) And in most of the United States, it is entirely too low for the back-breaking, gut-wrenching and exhausting work we do under generally overcrowded and understaffed conditions.

Edited to add: In reviewing the OP, I think the question might have been more of pay disparity based on occupation rather than pay disparity based on gender. On that point, I would definitely agree that BECAUSE nursing has typically been a female-dominated profession, the pay has been lower than it would have been had MEN been in the majority all along. Things are evening out now, with more men coming into nursing, but in most parts of the country is still woefully inadequate. Unless and until nursing is unionized nationally, this will not change.

[Breeze54]

23. I appreciate & thank nurses! Nurses rock!

:yourock: Great post!

Thanks for the clarifications. My sister is an RN and has been for the last 30 years.

to DU! :hi:

[Boojatta]

25. According to this thread and MyDU, you replied to the Original Post.

First of all, you need to look at the fact that this article was a voluntarily submitted "survey" of "respondents", back in 2001. But aside from that, the writer did not take into account why nursing salaries fluctuate so widely.

If you had not yet posted your message, then would you choose to reply to the Original Post, to reply to post #4 entitled "Male nurses make more than female nurses" that was posted by DU Member gollygee, or to some other post in this thread?