Nursing Wages Essay Example

secret not to pay nurses more than a certain amount.

Nurses had no option but to accept low wages from hospitals they worked for due to their refusal to compete with each other. The shortage of nurses did not change this behavior. The heart of the issue lies in nurse loyalty, as the longer nurses work in a hospital, the less likely they are to look for better wages elsewhere. This undermines market forces. Lovell (2006) compiled a list of best and worst cities based on nursing wages, but the recommendations from this research report remain applicable regardless of state.

The nursing shortage can be solved by increasing wages, and the government may need to intervene to achieve this. A report titled "Active and Inactive Workers on the North Carolina Nurse Aide I Registry: A Wage and Employment Profile" reveals that North Carolina is taking various measures to address the nursing shortage. To significantly improve the job quality and career opportunities of workers in this field, national, state, and local workforce initiatives are needed. Notably, the Real Choice Systems Change Grant Initiative (2001-2005), Better Jobs, Better Care Demonstration Grant Initiative, and WIN A STEP UP program (Workforce Improvement for Nursing Assistants: Supporting Training, Education, and Payment for Upgrading Performance) are examples of such efforts that may directly impact the North Carolina direct care workforce at both the individual LTC organization level and the state infrastructure level.

North Carolina created a statewide association for direct care workers and established the new Medication Aide job category through the Real Choice Systems Change Grant from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The Geriatric Aide Specialist job category

is still in development. The state also developed the North Carolina New Organizational Vision Award (NC NOVA) through a Better Jobs, Better Care demonstration grant from The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and The Atlantic Philanthropies. This voluntary special licensure program is designed for home care agencies, nursing facilities, and adult care homes to create and sustain a supportive workplace environment.

The WIN A STEP UP program, aimed at improving job quality, stability, and performance of nursing assistants, was made available to skilled nursing facilities statewide in January 2007 through a collaborative effort between the NC Department of Health and Human Services and the UNC Institute on Aging. Training, education, and rewards are provided through this workforce improvement program. According to Konrad, Morgan, and Ribas (2007), it is beneficial to ensure nursing assistants are paid reasonably well to prevent nursing shortages from impacting patient care.

The Institute for Women's Policy Research published a report titled "Solving the Nursing Shortage through Higher Wages" in 2006, authored by Lovell, V. The report can be accessed at http://www.iwpr. As of August 23, 2008.

Link to Cohen, Milstein, Hausfeld, and Toll's report on Nurse Wages (2008) in PDF format can be accessed at http://www.cmht.org/pdf/C363.pdf. The report was retrieved on August 23, 2008.

On the webpage com/cases_nursewages.php there is an article titled "Active and Inactive Workers on the North Carolina Nurse Aide I Registry: A Wage and Employment Profile" written by Konrad, T., Morgan, J., and Ribas, V. The article was published in April 2007 and is available on the website.

On August 23, 2008, the information was obtained from http://www.dhhs.state.

The contents at nc.us/olts/what/DOLREPORT_042607fnl.pdf are located within the of a paragraph element.