By Christina Orlovsky, senior staff writer
They say that every cloud has a silver lining-even, it appears, the cloud of the nursing shortage.
Results from Nursing2004's annual salary survey, published earlier this month, show an increase in average nursing salaries, likely due to a growing need to fill nursing vacancies.
"The overall factor that has led to the salary increase is the industry shortage," said Cheryl L. Mee, RN, MSN, editor-in-chief of Nursing2004. "Any time demand goes up, competition rises, which means hospitals are competing with salaries. This is the good news that comes from the bad."
Good news, that is, for the more than 2.3 million registered nurses currently in the workforce. Better news-for both new and veteran nurses-may be the fact that the nursing shortage has not only prompted an increase in salary, it has also led hospitals to offer other benefits, including hiring bonuses, retention bonuses and increased overtime pay. Although 2004 did see a decline in hiring bonuses, most of those hospitals that still offer them pay up to $2,000, according to the survey.
More than 1,700 participants responded to this year's salary survey, which includes information from all positions-from nursing school faculty to LPN/LVN-and all regions of the United States.
Since 2001, when the nursing journal performed its first reader survey, the average annual salary of respondents has increased $10,000 to the current mean of $54,574-more than $4,900 greater than last year's average.
More than 25 percent of 2004 survey respondents earn at least $65,000 per year (a 15 percent increase from 2003) and a larger percentage of women reported earning $75,000 or more in 2004 (11 percent up from 5 percent).
The average starting hourly base salary for RNs increased from $18.49 in 2003 to $19.33 in 2004.
Nursing2004's results are just about on track with those of the U.S. Department of Labor's Bureau of Labor Statistics.
In 2003, the latest year for which health care statistics are available, the government reported an average annual salary of $51,230 for registered nurses. Other nursing professionals were not included in the bureau's statistics. Taking into consideration advanced practice nurses, the category that earned the greatest salary ($72,400) in Nursing2004's survey, results from both surveys are comparable.
p>Asked to define the major factors that contributed to the salary increase, Mee pointed out two trends that have a great influence on nursing earnings: education and certification.
"The one thing that we emphasize is that education makes a difference," she said. "In the big picture, a BSN degree earns more than an associate degree (AD) simply because BSNs are able to move into higher positions. The same holds true with the BSN and MSN."
The proof is in the numbers.
The average income reported by BSNs in the survey was $56,900, as compared to $51,100 for AD respondents, while the average MSN salary was $68,200, or $11,300 more than the average BSN salary. All of these numbers show a significant increase from the previous year.
With regard to certification, Mee advises not to simply look at the nurse standing next to you, but look at the specialty as a whole.
"Many nurses will say, 'Why should I get certified? She's certified and we're making the same salary,'" Mee said. "The thing to recognize is that overall, you'll see a monetary difference if you are certified in your specialty."
In fact, survey statistics showed that those nurses with certification had an average full-time annual income that was almost $10,000 higher than those who weren't certified.
The specialty areas that earned the highest salaries were perianesthesia units ($59,400) and obstetrics/gynecology/nursery ($59,200). Nurses in outpatient/clinic settings reported the biggest gains in 2004, from an annual income of $44,100 to $57,700-an increase of 31 percent.
Perhaps the most significant issue on the survey addressed salary differences between male and female nurses.
"Although only 10 percent of our respondents were men, we saw a higher salary for males in the nursing profession," Mee said.
The average annual salary for women was $53,900, whereas men reported pulling in $59,000, a difference that is likely due to their higher-ranking staff positions.
"We found that men had completed higher levels of education and held superior titles, such as nurse manager, supervisor or administrator," she said. "Additionally, more men had doctoral degrees-20 percent as compared to 16 percent of women. This is just further proof that education and position really do make a difference in salary."
In offering this information to its readers, Nursing2004 aims at providing nurses with the knowledge they need to see where they fall among their peers and to take steps to increase their standing if they feel they're not being properly compensated.
Comparing Average Full-time Annual Income and Base Hourly Rates by Geographic Location
|
2004 |
Increase from 2003 |
RN |
LPN/LVN |
UAP* |
| New England |
$57,000 |
8% |
$20.78 |
$16.42 |
$11.14 |
| Mid-Atlantic |
$53,300 |
0% |
$20.95 |
$14.45 |
$9.65 |
| East North Central |
$53,600 |
11% |
$19.16 |
$13.62 |
$9.42 |
| West North Central |
$49,300 |
9% |
$17.31 |
$12.25 |
$9.27 |
| South Atlantic |
$54,900 |
11% |
$18.31 |
$13.04 |
$8.52 |
| East South Central |
$52,100 |
17% |
$16.93 |
$11.87 |
$7.66 |
| West South Central |
$56,000 |
15% |
$18.58 |
$12.76 |
$8.32 |
| Mountain |
$56,700 |
17% |
$19.72 |
$14.07 |
$9.65 |
| Pacific |
$64,800 |
11% |
$23.58 |
$16.09 |
$10.61 |
*Unlicensed Assistive Personnel SOURCE:
Nursing2004, Volume 34, Number 10
In analyzing where you fall in the salary spectrum, it's important to compare yourself to nurses who work in the same unit and similar setting within your region, Mee explained.
"Call around, get a feel for competitive salaries, taking into account your specific qualifications and area of expertise," she added. "Then you can be active in bringing the issue to the table if you don't want to leave your facility."
Overall, Mee believes that the trend of increasing salaries is going to continue for as long as it takes to resolve the nursing shortage.
"The shortage exists because fewer people are entering the nursing profession. Nursing has received a bad rap and there are a lot of deterrents for people to consider a nursing career," she said. "Increasing salaries is one way to fix this problem. We have a long way to go, but at least we're moving that way."
For more information, visit the Nursing2004 Web site.
© 2004. AMN Healthcare, Inc. All Rights Reserved.