The Industry and Geographic Area
One of the most profitable and rapidly growing sectors of the United States’ economy is the healthcare industry, which provides a wide range of services in preventative, critical, curative, and other types of medical care. Despite that, it is apparent that the industry faces a number of challenges, one of which is the inability of major healthcare organizations to compensate their staff appropriately (Du et al., 2018). Thus, a particular issue is associated with a relatively recent phenomenon of hospitals adopting a business model of operations. Therefore, a variety of medical institutions started to prioritize organizational needs and put them on the same level or above patient experience. Unfortunately, the needs of workers are often neglected in such an equation, which leads to inadequate salaries, employee burnout, and surprisingly high turnover rates. The Scripture emphasizes the importance of fair pay for the work completed as Jeremiah 22:13 proclaims, “Woe to him who builds his house by unrighteousness, and his upper rooms by injustice, who makes his neighbor serve him for nothing and does not give him his wages.”
As for the geographic area chosen for this wage survey, it is apparent that the report focuses on the United States. However, to be even more specific and gain an in-depth understanding of a smaller area, the State of California was selected. Data USA (2021) reports that as of 2018, California “had a population of 39.6M people with a median age of 36.7 and a median household income of $75,277” (para. 1). It is evident that California is one of the states with the biggest salaries, yet taxes are fairly high as well.
Occupational Groups
The occupational groups selected for this wage survey include nurses. In particular, three professions were chosen: a Registered Nurse (RN), a Vocational Nurse, and a Nursing Assistant. These are the roles found almost in every hospital, no matter the size or affiliation with a healthcare conglomerate.
Questionnaire
As for the questionnaire, it is designed specifically to assess the most common factors influencing salaries, some of which are described by Gerhart and Newman (2019) in Compensation. Thus, the questions are as follows: What is your gender? What is your marital status? What position do you hold? How long have you been working at this particular hospital? What is the year you have graduated, and what degree you have? What is your position? Please, specify the title. Do you have any credentials or licenses you would like to mention? What are your primary duties? How about additional duties? Do you often have responsibilities as a supervisor?
Salaries: Mean and Median
Summary of the Findings
Hospital Narratives
Based on the findings, it is apparent that the average salary for a nursing professional in the State of California is much higher than the average salary in the United States. In addition, compared to the median household income of $75,277 in California, the median salaries of nurses in almost all occupations are much higher. Evidently, wages depend upon a number of factors, including the particular hospital one works at. The findings show that the bigger the hospital, the higher the salaries, although it might not always be the case. Out of the occupational groups examined, Registered Nurses make the most, and Vocational Nurses make the least.
Cedars-Sinai
The Medical Center of Cedars-Sinai is not only a non-profit Hospital, which can accommodate 886 patients but an academic site as well. The overall number of employees working for the Center is 10,000, including 2,000 medical practitioners. In addition, around 2,000 volunteers support the Center from time to time. As of 2020, Cedars-Sinai is one of the top 10 hospitals in the nation. As for the wages, based on the three occupations assessed, the average annual salary of a nurse working for the Center is $83,653.
Stanford Health Care
Stanford Health Care is an organization with a number of operations within the Bay Area, including outpatient clinics, an academic center, and a Stanford South Bay Cancer Center. It specializes in innovative medical solutions and the application of cutting-edge technologies. Stanford Health Care and Stanford University are partners and collaborators, although they are in no way one legal entity. The average nurse salary at Stanford Health Care is $106,478.
Keck Hospital of USC
Keck Hospital of USC is a 401-bed acute care center, which is associated with the University of Southern California. The hospital often implements innovative procedures and equipment as it is supported by research conducted at Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California. In regards to wages, the mean annual salary of a nurse at Keck Hospital is $70,091.
Torrance Memorial Medical Center
Torrance Memorial Medical Center is one of the best hospitals on the West coast. Jared Sidney and Helena Childs Torrance founded the Center in 1925. Interestingly enough, the Hospital has received Magnet recognition for the quality of its nursing care. As for the compensation, the average nursing salary at Torrance Memorial Medical Center is $71,378.
References
Du, J. Y., Rascoe, A. S., & Marcus, R. E. (2018). The growing executive-physician wage gap in major US nonprofit hospitals and burden of nonclinical workers on the US healthcare system. Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, 476(10), 1910–1919.
Data USA. (2021). California state. Web.
Gerhart, B., & Newman, J. M. (2019). Compensation (13th ed.). McGraw Hill Education.