I fought tooth and nail last summer for a raise at my hospital and they finally did it mostly because they realized they’d mis-credentialed me (RN) and were underpaying me to begin with. Since that time I’ve been trying to move to other jobs within the company with no success (critical short staffing and I’m good at my job so I am on a transfer freeze) and they don’t want to talk about raises. When I learned they’re paying new grads $1 more than they pay me, a 7 year vet, I started applying to outside companies and immediately got hits because everyone needs nurses. By the time I was done negotiating with the competing hospitals, I’m up a full $9/hr and within 10 minutes of my house which saves me 56 miles of commuting every day. They also offer bonuses for shifts picked up in addition to the normal 3x12s, $400-$800 per shift depending on their lack of staff/desperation level. So now I’m going on to make a minimum of $18k more per year all because my current job didn’t wanna part with an extra $4/hr.
The lesson: the only way to get a raise is to bump to a new job every year or two 🤷️