With the population aging and new medical advances to assure that people live longer, it's easy to see why hospitals are struggling to employ enough nurses. Existing nursing staff often have to deal with longer hours and more patients per employ than would be desired due to the shortage.
When a profession is in high demand, employees have their pick of places to work for. As a result, nurses often gravitate toward private practices that can afford to pay more instead of working for the local government funded medical centers.
The city of San Francisco understands this and has a solution to area's nursing shortage, focusing on those searching
San Francisco jobs. On June 19th the San Francisco Board of Supervisors gave their OK to a labor contract that aims at increasing local nurses' salaries by 19 percent over the course of the next three years.
Though approving this contract they aim to increasing the total number of registered nurses at San Francisco public hospitals, meet patient demands and provide a better level of service. At this time, an entry level nurse in San Francisco has an average starting salary of $98,410. Once the contract is put into action this number will increase to $100,255 within the first year.
The city hopes to entice nurses from surrounding counties with these pay raises. Competition for nurses is high and therefore larger salaries are required. These pay raises will add approximately $39 million to the city's budget.
Still working in the public sector of health care has it's disadvantages. According to the
SFGate.com, individuals who seek medical attention from the areas two major public hospitals, San Francisco General and Laguna Honda Hospital, “tend to be sicker and can be more challenging to care for than those arriving at private medical facilities.”
Never the less, the city of San Francisco believes the pay raises will make up for the more difficult work. Individuals with nursing degrees in the surrounding area should compare their current salaries to the Bay Area's and decide for themselves. Aside from salaries, one should also consider the available benefits of both locations so that they might be able to make the best decision possible.
There are several other labor contracts currently trying to be passed in San Francisco, including one aimed at raising the salaries of both police and firemen.
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