about a nurse

Thoughts from a Filipino nurse on coming to the ED to practice: about a nurse.

reason #1. back home, the pay for RNs is unimaginably low. not ridiculously low, but painfully low. let me elaborate on that. in 2001, i worked in a four bed general ICU of a 280 bed private hospital. i was paid 300 pesos (that’s about 6 US$!) for an 8 hour shift. no night/weekend differential. overtime is almost always free, no matter how long. since i worked 40 hours a week, i averaged 6,000 pesos (gross!) a month…which is more or less 120 US$! i didn’t really complain, because this income is enough to live a slightly decent life if one is single. it would pay for a bedspace (a room i share with 4-5 other RNs and student nurses), three meals a day, and other basic needs like soap and shampoo. now, when you are not single, and if you intend to have kids…there is no way you can decently survive with that income, even if you both work two full time jobs.

Interesting insight.  I had no idea.

Update: of course, I mead ‘coming to the US’, not the ED.  My mistake.