Health

Male RNs Make Thousands More in Salary Than Female Counterparts

Published

9 years ago

April 16, 2015

Male registered nurses (RNs) make more than $5,000 per year than their female counterparts across most settings, specialty areas and positions, according to a UCSF-led study, and this earnings gap has not improved over the last three decades.

The analysis was published as a “Research Letter” in the March 24/31 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

“The roles of RNs are expanding with implementation of the Affordable Care Act and emphasis on team-based care delivery,” said lead author Ulrike Muench, Ph.D., assistant professor of social and behavioral sciences in the School of Nursing at UCSF. “These results may motivate nurse employers, including physicians, to examine their pay structures and act to eliminate inequities.”

From the research letter background, while the male-female salary gap has narrowed in many occupations since the Equal Pay Act of 1963, it persists in fields such as medicine and nursing. Predominately female, nursing is the largest health care occupation, with salary differences by gender affecting about 2.5 million women, according to the researchers.

To better understand the current pay discrepancy between male and female nurses, researchers led by Muench used data from the last six quadrennial National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN) for 1988-2008. This mail, electronic and web survey selected a state-based probability sample of currently licensed RNs from data provided by state boards of nursing with a sample size of more than 30,000 RNs per year and response rate of approximately 60 percent.

The NSSRN is ideally suited for analyzing gender differences in the RN workplace because of the large amount of employment information available in this survey compared to other surveys that are typically used by social scientists to study pay differences by gender.

The American Community Survey, a household survey with a 90 percent response rate, also was used to extend the time trends to 2013 and establish that unadjusted salary differences by gender were not limited to the national sample survey.

Both surveys showed that unadjusted male salaries were higher than female salaries every year by an average of approximately $10,000. Male adjusted salaries were, on average, higher by $5,148.

Muench notes that the salary gap is affecting most specialty areas and positions and not improved since 1988, the earliest survey year used by the researchers. Specifically, the gap was $7,678 for ambulatory care and $3,873 for hospital settings. It occurred in all specialties except orthopedics, ranging from $3,792 for chronic care to $6,034 for cardiology. Salary differences also existed by position, ranging from $3,956 for middle management to $17,290 for nurse anesthetists.

Muench said over the course of a 30-year career, female RNs will have earned about $155,000 less than male RNs using the adjusted earnings gap, $300,000 less using the unadjusted gap.

“Given the large numbers of women employed in nursing, gender pay differences affect a sizable part of the population and their families,” Muench said. “We hope that our results will bring awareness to this important topic, which we believe might best be addressed through both private and public efforts.”

The researchers suggest that nurse employers can take important steps towards eliminating pay inequality by increasing transparency in compensation and determining if gender differences in pay exist in their organizations.

“If that is the case, employers should examine whether there are legitimate reasons for paying these men more than women and take action to correct existing inequities,” Muench said. “By increasing transparency of gender differences in compensation, the hiring climate may become more conducive for female nurses to negotiate with their employer for wage parity, which also may help in the closing of the gap.”

Read more at www.ucsf.edu/news/2015/03/124266/male-registered-nurses-make-thousands-more-salary-female-counterparts

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Calif. Dept. of Public Health: Got Milk Allergies? Don’t Eat Dave’s Bakery Cornbread

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning on Jan. 26, instructing consumers with milk allergies or “severe sensitivity to milk” in the state to not eat Dave’s Bakery Corn Bread due to “risk of illness.” The CDPH warns that consumption of the corn bread manufactured by a Gardena-based company — with expiration dates up to June 18, 2024 — may lead to “life threatening” reactions.

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Dave's Bakery Corn Bread, 9 pack/net wt. 21 oz (595g) (Courtesy of CDPH)

By California Black Media

The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) issued a warning on Jan. 26, instructing consumers with milk allergies or “severe sensitivity to milk” in the state to not eat Dave’s Bakery Corn Bread due to “risk of illness.”

The CDPH warns that consumption of the corn bread manufactured by a Gardena-based company — with expiration dates up to June 18, 2024 — may lead to “life threatening” reactions.

“This warning applies only to the Corn Bread produced by Bake R Us, DBA Dave’s Baking Company and distributed to schools, retail facilities and in vending machines primarily in southern California,” the DCPH statement reads.

“This product should not be confused with other similarly named companies with national distribution,” it continues.

According to the CDPH, although the corn bread product contains whey, which is a milk allergen, there is no allergy warning label on the packaging, though it is required by state law.

So far, authorities say, no illnesses have been reported in the state, but if anyone finds the products on sale anywhere in the state, they should call the CDPH complaint hotline at (800) 495-3232 or file a report online at CDPH.ca.gov

The CDPH is also recommending that people who have eaten the product and are experiencing any reaction or ill effects should consult their health care provider.

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Bay Area

East Bay Regional Park District Issues Rattlesnake Advisory

The East Bay Regional Park District released an advisory today on rattlesnakes, which emerge from winter hibernation in early spring and become more active. Warm weather can bring more potential for rattlesnake encounters with humans and dogs, particularly along trails and roads.

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

The Northern Pacific rattlesnake is the species found in East Bay Regional Parks. Courtesy photo.

The Richmond Standard

The East Bay Regional Park District released an advisory today on rattlesnakes, which emerge from winter hibernation in early spring and become more active.

Warm weather can bring more potential for rattlesnake encounters with humans and dogs, particularly along trails and roads.

Visitors are encouraged to avoid hiking alone in case of an emergency, to scan the ground ahead as they walk, jog or ride, stay on trails avoiding tall grass, and to look carefully around and under logs and rocks before sitting down. Keep your dog on your leash to be extra safe, park officials said.

If you encounter a rattlesnake, leave it alone – it is unlawful to capture or harm one. Move carefully and slowly away or around it and give it plenty of space, park officials said.

Those who are bitten by a rattlesnake are instructed to stay calm by lying down with the affected limb lower than the heart, then having someone call 911.

Getting medical attention is critical.

Those bitten should not use tourniquets, “sucking,” or snake bite kits. If you are by yourself, walk calmly to the nearest source of help to dial 911, do not run.

If bitten by any other type of snake, wash the wound with soap and water or an antiseptic and seek medical attention.

Not sure what bit you? Check the bite for two puncture marks (in rare cases one) associated with intense, burning pain, which is typical of a rattlesnake bite. Other snakebites can leave marks without associated burning pain.

The Northern Pacific rattlesnake is the species found in East Bay Regional Parks. Snakes are important to the natural environment, helping to control rodents and other reptile populations. But enjoy them from afar.

For more information, download the Park District’s Common Snakes brochure or watch our Gopher Snake or Rattlesnake video to learn how to tell the difference between rattlesnakes and gopher snakes. Additional information is available at ebparks.org/safety/wildlife-encounters.

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Alameda County

A Safe Place, Bay Area Domestic Violence Community Organization, Opens New Service Center in Oakland

Oakland-Bay Area non-profit, A Safe Place, announces the grand opening of its newly purchased building in Oakland that will be a service center for families that have suffered from domestic violence. The new, two-story building has over six new service rooms for counseling, mental health support groups, legal services, children’s treatment, safe space for community engagement, and partnership activities.

Published

2 days ago

May 4, 2024

Oakland Post

Façade of the new community center for A Safe Place opening on May 10 in Oakland. Courtesy photo.

By Courtney Slocum Riley

Special to The Post

Oakland-Bay Area non-profit, A Safe Place, announces the grand opening of its newly purchased building in Oakland that will be a service center for families that have suffered from domestic violence.

The new, two-story building has over six new service rooms for counseling, mental health support groups, legal services, children’s treatment, safe space for community engagement, and partnership activities.

Domestic violence occurrences and offenses account for a considerable amount of all violent crimes in Alameda County. A Safe Place is attempting to provide a safe place for families to heal. A Safe Place is the only comprehensive domestic violence assistance program including a safehouse, in Oakland.

The grand opening celebration will also serve as a fundraiser to build out healing, therapeutic spaces for children and adult victims and survivors and survivors of domestic violence (male and female).

The new service center will expand the work of the organization, founded in 1976 when a group of women working in San Francisco came together to address the urgent need for a shelter in the East Bay. A year later, they founded A Safe Place (ASP) in Oakland. Run solely by volunteers, they set up a crisis line to offer crisis counseling and information to battered women and their children.

The organization serves over 500 adults and children annually through a host of services including crisis counseling via 24-hour crisis line, emergency motel and safehouse sheltering, mental health services (counseling and support groups).

Under the leadership of Executive Director, Carolyn Russell, the organization has grown from a single program into the comprehensive domestic violence and assistance program. ASP strives to meet the growing and diverse needs of our growing community.

The organization hopes to complete all the upgrades and therapeutic room improvements by August 2024. The public is invited to donate to the effort by using the website at www.asafeplace.org/donate. The organization also accepts in-kind gifts as well as items from the organization’s Amazon Wishlist.