To ask band 5 nurses (at lower end of pay scale) how much you earn?

[Llbarls81]

I've just done a calculation as I'm due to qualify in September and I'm shocked at how little the pay is!! I've just worked out that a band 5 entry level nurse takes home around £1400 a month?? Surely this isn't right?

OK. Compare to social workers

Professional membership fees
cpd Expected
Antisocial hours
Responsible for life and death situations
Often work over and above in terms of hours, fetching for clients etc
Abused and assaulted
Same start salary as a nurse

TBH I consider that a decent starting wage. It's the same as my salary was when I retired from Civil Service 5 years ago after 34 years and two promotions.

So social workers are underpaid for their responsibilities. I know for a fact not many where I work last very long. But is this a race to the bottom?
And are nurses allowed or even encouraged to take part in industrial action about their pay and conditions like all other professions that have been mentioned? Over a barrell every way

DGH???

Nurses went on strike recently. Last year j thibk.

Yes unison nurses went on strike... the main nursing union RCN never go in strike because Imo they have a bit of a martyr complex.
I personally.don't think nurses striking is supported by the public though... we're already painted as greedy non caring people demanding public money and more.

daisychain01if you haven't already your local pals would love to hear about that

dghGeneral hospital

Oh and the recent strike was a 4 hour walkout that I wasn't able to take part in because despite informing my manager of my plans to strike he still failed to get appropriate cover so I couldn't leave the ward. completely off topic though so I'll shut up now.

No its not a race to the bottom but there is only a finite amount of public money. £21.5k starting salary is, Imo, a very good one for a graduate Often without life or work experience.

Enough people want the jobs to take them and year on year people start a course of study to join the professions. Don't like it, let one of tthem take your job

What is shocking is that band 5 nurses, FY1s etc earn almost exactly the same take home pay than they did when I qualified 15 years ago. That is a scandal.

But a huge proportion of newly qualified nurses have significant life experience, many have worked in the nhs as care assistants, many have had career changes from different sectors. It's not the case that most graduates are fresh faced 21 year olds like in teaching and law

Ooh nurses on soapboxes... feels like being at work haha....

Interesting point. My partner is a hca at the top of band 2. He regularly comes out with a higher monthly wage than me as he has no student loan payments, lower union subs, no professional registration and he does the same sort of hours as me Without any Bank shifts. Makes me sick sometimes.

OK similar professions I'd align to nursing

Social work
Police
Paramedic
Occupational therapy
Physiotherapy
Podiatry
Legal executive/paralegal
Teachers

I think nurses are underpaid for what they do.
A good nurse is worth so much more than she/ he is paid.

Social work police and paramedics are the only ones who are in a similar life or death profession

Legal profession is high stress long hours and crap pay at the start. Can be life affecting decisions.

It's high stress but nobody is going to die

Drayton there are actually people queuing up. Our local graduate degree program has 220 places. This year there were over 900 applicants.

At 40 I want more than a basic getting by sort of life

I agree nurses aren't paid well enough for the job they do, but really this kind of attitude doesn't make sense. Wether you are 40, or 24, you are just qualifying. Age shouldn't come into it and many people at the start of their career do just get by. Why did you wait to train/ retrain at 40 if you were expecting more than to be on the bottom end of a pay scale for a few years?

Have you ever worked in family law? They make life and death decisions about removing high risk adults and children from life threatening situations, often with little to no notice.