‘This is insane’: Aussies shocked at what our nurses are being paid
A Brisbane nurse has revealed her yearly salary, leaving viewers shocked and highlighting an “insane” reality that is considered normal in Australia.
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A young Brisbane nurse has revealed her hourly rate, and Australians can’t believe how little she and her fellow nurses get paid. .
Two nurses were stopped on the street in Brisbane by someone who works at Getahead, an app that matches job seekers with employers. The worker asked what the nurses did for work and how much they earned.
“We are both pediatric nurses, and it is end-of-life care for children. We make anywhere between $34 to $75 an hour but that is on Sunday nights,” she said.
To put that sum in perspective, if a nurse earned a base rate of $34 an hour, didn’t pick up any weekend or overtime shifts, and worked 38 hours a week for a whole year, they’d earn less than $65,000.
The nurse, who was still wearing her scrubs, then explained exactly what her job entails and how she helps young children when they need it most.
“We work with children at the end of their lives, and we also work with them after death. We have a temperature-controlled room where we are able to care for a child after they’ve died,” she said.
“It gives the family a little bit more closure. We rely on donations and we get very little government funding.”
She admitted that you do have “hard days” when working in such an emotional job but that she has a great community around her.
“We are very lucky. We have a family support team and there’s always support available,” she explained.
The nurse added that it was a “privilege” to care for children at the end of their lives and that she felt “honoured” to help families through this process.
The clip amassed over four million views and people online were quick to comment that the nurses deserved much higher hourly rates.
“End of life care for children must be such a calling and so insanely hard! They deserve every penny and more,” one wrote.
“Not paid enough,” another said.
“$34 an hour! You deserve way more,” someone else wrote.
“$34 an hour for this is insane. I get the same as a dental receptionist. Thank you for all that you do, beautiful nurses are held in these families’ hearts,” one commented.
“They deserve so much more,” another argued.
One commenter added that there wasn’t “enough money in the world” for the work these women do, with another commending them for working such an “intense” job.
Australian nurses being underpaid has long been a talking point, especially with inflation and the rising cost of living.
Hayli Hooper previously told news.com.au that nurses are “disgustingly” underpaid, and the low salaries in the healthcare industry had forced her to seek ways to diversify her income so she didn’t end up drowning in bills.
The 38-year-old is based in Perth and has established three income streams to help her cope with the cost of living.
She works as a registered nurse and an adult entertainer, and she also has an OnlyFans account that she set up to help fund her usually large tax bills.
Her passion is helping people, but she grew up poor and wanted to get ahead financially to help her parents out.
“Nursing is disgustingly underpaid. I had no idea that I was going to have to work for free for three months of the year while racking up $40,000 HECS debt and come out and work in a hospital for anywhere between $35-$50 per hour,” she told news.com.au.
“Yet I can ask a cleaner to come over to my house and they want $60 per hour. Nurses save lives, how is that fair?”
The latest Australian Bureau of Statics data shows that the average salary for a registered nurse in Queensland ranges from $79,058 to $106,144.
Meanwhile, the average salary for a nurse in NSW ranges from $69,810 to $98,014. Victorian nurses have capped salaries at just below $130,000, making them the highest paid in the country.
In June this year, the Victorian Branch of the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation secured members a 28.4 per cent (compounded) pay increase for Victorian public sector nurses and midwives in a four-year agreement with the Victorian Government.
The proposed agreement is currently with the Fair Work Commission for review and a final approval.
In September, NSW Nurses and Midwives Association members went on strike, demanding a 15 per cent pay rise.
The union has long campaigned for a pay raise for its nurses, who it says are among the lowest paid in Australia.
Rates of pay in QLD are significantly higher than in NSW, and nurses are fighting to achieve pay parity with QLD and VIC.
In NSW a starting salary for a registered nurse is $70,000 in Queensland it is over $80,000.
In NSW the top classification for a registered nurse caps out at just under 100,000 in Queensland it peaks at $106,144.
Originally published as ‘This is insane’: Aussies shocked at what our nurses are being paid
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