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Life / Work

Nurses undervalued because they are mostly women: study

Lamp Editorial Team
|
January 12, 2021

Nursing as a profession has been undervalued in both status and pay due to its highly feminised workforce, a recent study by researchers at the Oxford Brookes University has found.

The study, commissioned by the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) has found that the “old fashioned view that caring for others is a feminine characteristic” has contributed to the suppression of nurses’ wages and working conditions.

Dr Anne Laure Humbert, one of the report’s authors, said that, “despite the growing complexity and technical nature of the work, as well as the difficult emotional labour it entails… [the profession continues to be] deskilled and devalued”.

She provides the example of the fact that nurses “routinely take on tasks that have previously been the preserve of doctors,” yet continue to earn less than a third of that of doctors and dentists.

The study also provides a breakdown of the gender pay gap. It shows that, on average, women earn 17% less than men in similar positions. Further, nurses from an ethnic minority background tend to earn 10% less than their white colleagues, taking into account other factors.

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Comments

  1. Trish Rochford says

    January 14, 2021 at 12:09 pm

    I have been a nurse for 50 years ,I never felt undervalued by the people I looked after who were the only ones whose opinion mattered to me.I have had a wonderful career ,it is all about your own mindset.
    Trish Rochford RN

    Reply
  2. Judy Timms says

    January 14, 2021 at 1:47 pm

    I couldn’t agree more. I was an EEN and my son was earning more per hour after he completed his tiling apprenticeship. It’s just so disheartening, to work so hard and encounter so much distress in a work place, most men would run a mile. Also to be made to feel your work has to be perfect and to be on top of every situation, day in and day out, is anxiety producing.

    Reply
  3. Diane Cohen says

    January 14, 2021 at 5:49 pm

    There are a large number of male nurses. However they gravitate toward management and education where wages and conditions are more favourable.
    More male nurses “on the ground” would certainly improve wages and conditions across the industry.
    We are seeing a similar trend in medicine where wages and conditions have been eroded for first year hospital interns -a cohort predominantly female.

    Reply
  4. Andre van Dyk says

    January 14, 2021 at 8:23 pm

    Re: Trish Rochford. As a nurse who has 50 years experience you have no doubt advocated many times for your to people in your care. Your mindset is to be commended. I think we need to look elsewhere for someone to advocate for justice in the nursing profession. Work as a general rule is compensated for the responsibility of the task undertaken with an appropriate wage. This is how it works in nearly every other industry but not in nursing. I feel very unhappy about this. Every study, report, investigation and Royal Commission into nursing has concluded that Nurses are underpaid for the responsibility of the work performed. Furthermore increases in workload and responsibility without increased staff number further exacerbates the undervaluing and underpayment of nurses so that the profession cannot attract or retain good professional staff putting further stress on the profession. Inertia in this industry is a very strong force to the detriment of the care of patients and our elderly citizens. This is as unjust for them as the staff. We need more people to advocate for the nurses and the people they care for until there is the much needed improvement in value and pay. Will you advocate for such an outcome?

    Reply
    • Sandra says

      January 17, 2021 at 11:28 am

      Nurses need to think smarter, when caring and advocating for patients, and when negotiating wage increases. Why not consider increasing our conditions. We are the ones caring for the patients, BUT WHO CARES FOR THE NURSES. Nurses need to also remember the union is us. We need to support each other to obtain justice in the nursing profession and value.

      Reply
  5. L.Jamie Loutides says

    January 17, 2021 at 12:38 pm

    I also have been in nursing for 50 years, mental health nursing. I agree with Andre Van Dyk’s assessment of nursing and the devaluing over the decades of our profession, our work ethic and the fact that without competent nurses where exactly would society BE??
    The government, both sides, have fallen down in respect to improving work and pay conditions for nursing staff whilst exponentially increasing the tasks we are required to perform.
    They seem happy to provide more funding to the private sector looking to promote an American style (failed) health system whilst the public sector health staff, who have always provided safe and effective care for Australians, have seen wages and conditions eroded and staff numbers remaining at a pre turn of the century numbers despite huge increase in population requiring service. Yes it is predominantly women who keep this system up and running. The rewards for the work we do are certainly the outcomes we know we have had a part in effecting. However the huge turnover of staff along with nurses leaving the profession should have been a heads up to government a long time ago that staff cannot survive on kudos alone. Our wages have decreased in real terms whilst every bill we have to pay from rent, utilities, insurances, professional fees, every cost of living outstrips any pay rise we have EVER received and now NO pay rises or the offer of an annual increase offered for 2020 that would not have even paid for one pair of special shoes I buy each year for work???
    I love my job but agree that staff pay, staff numbers are in need of an overhaul especially in these COVID-19 times. JAMIE CNC COMMUNITY MENTAL HEALTH

    Reply

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