Pay Our Nurses and Teachers More Money!

Nurses and teachers should be paid more. Full stop. They are absolutely critical to the success and health of our nation and we have to do better by them.

There is no shortage of memes shared about how much we love our nurses and teachers. That’s great. Truly it is. We should be vocal about how wonderful they are. Those memes, while well-meaning and thoughtful, don’t put food on the table. No matter your job, if you had a choice between a viral meme about how great your profession is and a raise, which are you going to choose?

Nurses and Teachers Are Our Better Angels

I say let’s treat them like we know it. Let’s pay them what they’re worth, respect that their work hours are not meant to be endless, and that we simply cannot have a life well-lived without them.

To be blunt, a world with no teachers is a world full of dummies who don’t know why the sky is blue and the grass isn’t.

And a world without nurses? It’s a bleak place in which we miss out on the boundless compassion only a good nurse can offer.

Teachers should be paid more like professional athletes.

Not kidding. Say what you will, but for heaven’s sake, the NFL wouldn’t be the NFL had there not been teachers in the lives of players, managers, owners and on and on. They may have been born with undeniable talent, but they wouldn’t know how to sign their names on those big checks were it not for a long list of teachers who got them where they are.

That having been said, we all know that teaching is about way, way, WAY more than books and lesson plans. Teachers bring out the special little bits of ourselves we didn’t know existed. They have some manner of magic in their eyes which allows them to see our talents and strengths, all rough around the edges and unseen by the rest of the world, and then they help us see them, too.

If it weren’t for a teacher in 1st grade who told me that my story about becoming a tiny ant was great, I might not be typing this now. Tap dancing would probably have been my profession, based on how well I liked the sound of my Sunday shoes on my Mother’s pristine wood floors.

Not to oversell it, but Mrs. Bradley was right. That ant story would make you weep tears of joy. All 2 paragraphs of it.

Oh, and one more thing. All you homeschool teachers? God bless. Your sacrificial love for your kids is so admirable. Your children are sure blessed to have you and I hope they know it.

Nurses should be paid more like doctors.

Thank the Lord there are both doctors AND nurses. It’s great to have a doctor breeze in and tell you what’s going on with your body. It’s even better when the nurse comes in and tells you what the heck the doctor said.

Nurses are beside us in the happiest and saddest moments of our lives. They hold our hands as we bring a new life into the world. They hold our hands when the light of life dims and we say good-bye to someone we are certain we can’t live without.

There is no doubt whatsoever that when next we reach out our hand in need, a nurse will be there to hold it. Nurses aren’t paid a little more when they treat us with love. They do it because it’s who they are, not because they hope we’ll tip them.

Well, here’s my tip. Pay them what they’re worth and show them the same financial respect as doctors.

Nurses and teachers are so wonderful to us.

If you are a nurse or teacher, thank you. It’s not enough, I know. You deserve so much more than what you get back. Your job looks like some sort of magic to those of us you care for.

How can we be good to you? What do you want the world to know about your profession? Why did you choose the path you’re on? It’ll be exciting to read your comments.