South Carolina Nursing Home Blog : South Carolina Nursing Home Lawyer & Attorney : Poliakoff & Associates Law Firm : Elderly Care, Senior Care

I have seen two lists that discuss the highest paid jobs.  One list is based on the Bureau of Labor Statistics and the other is from Forbes Magazine.  Both are dominated by health care professionals and show that there is clearly no need for tort reform.

1. Anesthesiologists: $197,340. (And anesthesiologists make more money in the state of Washington than in any other U.S. state)

2. Surgeons: $206,150. (Highest-paying state: Wyoming.)

3. Obstetricians and gynecologists: $192,040. (Highest-paying state: New Hampshire.)

4. Orthodontists: $194,900. (Highest-paying state: Wisconsin).

5. Oral Surgeons: $190,760. (Again, the highest-paying state is Wisconsin.)

6. Internists: $176,860. (Highest-paying state: Louisiana.)

7. Prosthodontists: $169,940. (Highest-paying state: Virginia)

8. Psychiatrists: $154,990. (Highest-paying state: Idaho.)

9. General Practitioners: $161,850. (Highest-paying state: Kansas.)

10. Chief Executive Officers: $144,600. (Highest-paying state: New Jersey.)

11. Dentists: $154,950. (Highest-paying state: Maine)

12. Physicians/Surgeons: $169,220. (Highest-paying state: Utah.)

13. General Pediatricians: $153,440. (Highest-paying state: Louisiana.)

14. Pilots/Co-pilots/Flight Engineers: $140,380. (Highest-paying state: Illinois.)

15. Podiatrists: $125,500. (Highest-paying state: Oregon.)

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McKnight's had an article about salary increases in Administrator and Director of Nursing positions.  CNA pay appears to be static.  Nursing home management salaries rose at a healthy rate this year, despite the recessionary environment, according to the recently released “2009-2010 Nursing Home Salary & Benefits Report” from Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service. The publication is created in association with the American Association of Homes and Services for the Aging, and the American Health Care Association, the nation's largest nursing home associations.  National median salaries for both nursing home administrators and assistant administrators rose by 4.8% in 2009, according to the HCS survey. Administrators' salaries climbed to $89,606, up from from $85,464 last year.   Nurse management who typically do not provide direct care enjoyed an overall pay bump. Directors of Nursing matched last year's pay increase of 3.9%, putting the national median at $77,921. The assistant DON median rose by a bigger margin–4%–putting it at $62,400 per annum.

The article points out that the economic stability of the long term care industry is doing well despite the cuts in Mediciad and the economic recession.    Although resident numbers are down and, particularly in the not-for-profit sector, fund-raising efforts are down as well. Still, administrators at not-for-profit facilities averaged an almost 7% pay rise over last year. (The 4.8% average is for administrators from the both for-profit and not-for-profit sectors.)

The unsustainable trajectory of current healthcare spending is one of the big reasons healthcare reform is necessary, although it remains to be seen what will happen under a new plan.   The Employee Free Choice Act contains three major provisions that would help make it easier for unions to organize: a card-check provision, allowing a union to form if a majority of workers (50% plus one) sign a card in support of organizing; a mandatory arbitration clause that would impose a working contract on both the new union and management if those parties cannot agree with each other within 90 days; and a provision that would alter the rules governing union elections, reducing the amount of influence management can exert on union voters.   Conventional wisdom says that if EFCA passes, organizing in healthcare will go up, and with it, employee wages.  

The healthcare discussion has perked up the ears of many long-term care accountants and various executives, who are struggling to prepare for possible Medicare reimbursement cuts and market basket eliminations. When you consider that even small changes in a facility's payroll, especially in larger metropolitan facilities that employ thousands of workers, can add up to millions of dollars.

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Mcknight's had an article discussing the annual report by Hospital & Healthcare compensation Service which surveys the compensation and raises of various healthcare providers.   Even though most nursing home Administrators are not healthcare providers, Administrators ar epart of the survey.   Nursing home administrators' salaries rose this year at their highest rate in four years despite an economic recession and slower compensation gains for nurses and nurse managers who actually provide health care to residents, and despite the nursing home industry complaining that they need tort reform to make a profit.

Administrator salaries jumped by an average of 4.8%, according to the 2009-2010 Nursing Home Salary & Benefits.   This is the largest one-year increase since the 2006-2007 survey found a 4.6% pay rise that put administrators over the $80,000 mark.   Last year, the national average salary for facilities of all bed sizes, both for-profit and nonprofit, was $85,464. This year, it is $89,606.

Maybe the for profit corporation should hire more staff to take care of the needs of the residents instead of raising the salaries of bean counters.

The annual HCS report samples information from tens of thousands of nursing home employees at thousands of facilities across the country to determine the industry standards for compensation and benefits.

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Results of First National Nursing Assistant Survey were recently published sponsored by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The survey was designed to provide information needed to recruit, retain and expand the direct care workforce. Some of the characteristics the survey examined include demographics, career decisions, work experience and training, pay and benefits, work environment, home environment, injuries and vaccinations.

According to the findings almost half of all CNAs are members of a minority group; their median hourly wage was $10.04; almost two-thirds lived on an annual family income of less than $30,000; 16 percent had no health insurance and more than half were injured on the job at least once during the previous year.

The survey represents the data available about CNAs in nursing homes and provides a resource for evidence-based policy, practice, and applied research initiatives to address the CNA workforce shortage and to improve recruitment and retention efforts.   National Nursing Assistant Survey can be found here.

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