'Nurses are well paid for the job'

[Letsallscreamatthesistene]

An MP said this today, in responce to the debate surrounding the 1% pay rise. Im a nurse, and I know what I think (that the pay is ok, not terrible but not fantastic), im really interested to know what others think?

Depends - my brother is a band 6 mental health nurse and he's on about £35k, might look ok but it's not a lot for London and he does have to deal with a lot tbh

I think the pay scale is comparable with the teachers’ pay scale, and while both jobs are beyond price, and hugely socially important careers, they are the two graduate professions that are needed in really massive numbers. So in realistic economic terms, I think nurses do okay.

"Who's buying houses with a £24k salary confused"

The people I know in Wales, including in Cardiff. I didn't say London. Teachers starting salary is about the same isn't it and most teachers I know are home owners.

Thanks. That's useful to know. So most will be on 24-30k? Yes in hospitals on the wards most are band 5.

Also, I think both NHS and Teachers’ pensions schemes help make up the package to something quite a bit better than private sector comparators.

For those that say a nurse deals with a lot, they knew this would be the case when they decided to be a nurse.

I think their salaries are low, personally, for the level of stress, emotional pressure and responsibility.

I think the pay is reasonable. Not amazing but not underpaid.

Covid aside I also think that nurses generally have a good deal career wise, they’re able to go into so many different areas. Eg. Work at many different departments in a hospital, gp, in schools, private sector.

What would a nurse with 20 years experience be on? Average?

@ChameleonClara

I think their salaries are low, personally, for the level of stress, emotional pressure and responsibility.

Yes, I'd probably agree with this, but I don't think they're low compared to the cost of living outside London and other expensive areas and compared to what other people earn. I'd like them to be paid as well as we can afford and I think the pay rise should have been more as well, especially considering the hard year they've had, though I suppose that depends on the exact type of work a nurse is doing.

There will be some nurses around without a degree, but they wouldnt be the band 5 nurses you get on a ward.

Top nurse pay, I guess, would be about 90k. However, here we're talking about the chief nurse in a hospital. Very rare, only the very few would reach this level.

@PinkPlantCase

I think the pay is reasonable. Not amazing but not underpaid.

Covid aside I also think that nurses generally have a good deal career wise, they’re able to go into so many different areas. Eg. Work at many different departments in a hospital, gp, in schools, private sector.

They can go abroad too, the skills are always in demand.

I don't think that they are paid enough for the amount of stress and overtime they do. Also I still can't understand why they have to pay to park at work.

There is no way a nurse can survive on that salary in London if they want to rent more than a room and have a family. It's not helping that they often do 12 hour shifts. How are they supposed to pay childcare for that if they don't have family that can help nearby.

I think the working conditions, high level of responsibility and stress levels mean the pay is not that great in my opinion.

The diploma only stopped about 10 years ago so there would still be nurses without degrees. I didn't think that those who qualified with a diploma needed to 'top up' to a degree

@Grenlei

I think the pay is reasonable, we have paralegals working for us who have law degrees on 16-17k a year.

As has been said, you get the advantage of public sector pensions (my employer contributes 3% and we've had no pay rise for the last 2 years...) plus opportunities for overtime, bank work etc.

Why are they only earning that? Is it a starting salary? Or are they still training? Did they take another option than a traditional degree at good uni? I know there are a lot more law graduates now but everyone I know who did law went on to become a barrister/ solicitor/ judge earning a decent wage after training/ getting experience. Or they changed direction and got a decent job elsewhere. Are people really going to university and then working in jobs earning 16k a year for years on end? This seems to suggest way higher even for trainee solicitors www.thelawyerportal.com/free-guides/what-is-a-solicitor/solicitor-salaries/

That is part of the issue many complete the training then go work abroad for a better salary and standard of living or work in private sector for same reason.

No they dont need to 'top up'. I think it was encouraged but with no real reward attached to it so people didnt bother.

I guess an average nurse with 20 years experience may be on 40-50k, but that totally dependant on their career specialist choice so its quite difficult to say.

I work in financial admin in a role that really doesn’t require a degree, for £27k a year full time.
Also FT is only 35 hours a week and we get all kinda flexible time/ home working and massive perks. My bestie is a nurse, we are the same age and I earn more than her. The lifestyles are incomparable.

Nursing is a shit job. I mean the stuff she does makes me cringe. They should be paid more but then my understanding is that the hospital is a massive hierarchy and every sector/band weigh themselves up against each other. If nurses were suddenly paid more then doctors/radiographers/midwives (everyone whose training, education and responsibilities are equal to or greater than nurses) would also expect a pay rise to reflect their own skills.

I think it’s ok. DH and I are both Band 5 nurses...we own a 4 bed house, 2 cars, fly long haul on holiday, don’t have to really scrimp and save. For the job I do i think it’s fine. The nurses using food banks, sorry but I don’t know what they’re spending their money on!

Yes the band 5s on the wards could be nurses without degrees! I know a few nurses that haven't topped up.
I was a diploma nurse who qualified 10 years ago and topped up to my degree.
People who are asking about people with 20 years experience and their pay. If they have remained staff nurses throughout their career of 20 years or more they would get £30,615 which would be the same as a nurse who qualified 6-7 years ago!

My friend is a nurse and she'll definitely be buying the buns when we retire.

For the responsibility and the years of study /continuing profession development, it is atrocious . You couldn't get aa mortgage for a house on a nurse's wage except maybe for a
one bedroomed flat in the more disadvantaged areas of Scotland or North England . They should be given an immediate quality payrise .

Band 6 £31-39k
Band 7 £39-46k

Not terrible?

Yeah - so if they stayed a band 5 nurse for 20 years the salary would still be 30k. If they'd taken career choices and progressed through bandings, what I said (40k-50k) would be roughly accurate.