‘It’s a joke’: Australians left gobsmacked after young nurse reveals her hourly wage

Australians have been left stunned after a young woman revealed how much she really gets paid working as a nurse in Queensland.

Social media users have been left gobsmacked after a young woman revealed how much she gets paid working as a nurse in Brisbane.

She revealed that she has been working in a private hospital in the Queensland city for about a year and makes around $33 an hour.

“I also work in a kitchen at the same hospital,” she added.

The worker revealed her salary in a street interview with jobs app, Getahead, which was then shared online, sparking multiple stunned responses.

“$33?? for a nurse,” one person questioned.

Another claimed there was “no way” Australia was “paying their nurses this low”

“It’s a joke here,” another said, with one adding: “I make more as a barista, what?”

However, one commenter claimed there may be a reason for the woman’s seemingly low pay, claiming it is unlikely she is a registered nurse.

“She’s either an enrolled nurse or an assistant nurse which are only tafe diplomas not a degree, hence the pay,” the person explained.

Despite this, another commenter claiming to be a registered nurse jumped in to say the $33 per hour wage wasn’t far off what she had previously earned and many other registered nurses are still paid.

“I’m an RN and was paid $34.17 per hour before Victorian nurses got a pay rise. NSW still pays this low for RN’s,” she said.

Even though there was shock online around the woman’s earnings, she claimed the “pay” was one of the parts she loved most when it came to the job, along with “going home to sleep”.

Despite her joking response, the young worker said nurse was something she could see herself doing “forever” and said more nurses are “definitely needed” in Australia.

This is far from the first time people have been stunned to hear just how poorly some of our nurses are paid.

Earlier in the year another getahead interview with two pediatric nurses caused a stir, after it was revealed they sometimes earned just $34 an hour.

“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,” one of the women revealed.

The nurses revealed their hourly rates. Picture: getahead.app/TikTok

Aussies were horrified to learn how much they were paid. Picture: getahead.app/TikTok

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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.”

The clip amassed millions of 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.

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 NSW the top classification for a registered nurse caps out at just under 100,000 in Queensland it peaks at $106,144

NSW nurses and midwives march to State parliament as part of their 24 hour strike to demand better pay and for the NSW government. Picture: NewsWire / John Appleyard

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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.

In NSW, there have been a series of recent strikes regarding pay disputes, with more than 50,000 nurses and midwives walking off the job for 24 hours in November.

The NSW Nurses and Midwaives Association is calling for a 15 per cent wage increase and safer working conditions to address the gender pay gap within hospitals.

The Minns government has instead offered a three per cent pay rise.

This was the latest industrial action from the NSWNMA, with members also walking off the job in September, resulting in resulting in elective surgeries being postponed and affecting emergency wait times.

The union has long campaigned for a pay raise for its nurses, who it says are among the lowest paid in Australia.