Advice regarding salary

Hi Karyndee,

You have to way up the pros and cons I'm afraid. If it's convenient for you with your son etc it might not be worth moving as a better wage may only be minimal and you may not like a different place.

I think we just have to make the best of what we've got, it may get better with the minimum wage due to go up in 2015. I think all any of us can do is ask, if they say no we are no worse off.

Hi all I took a paydrop to come to my present practice and an hour increase as did not like the corporate company that had taken over my old practice but am still oly on £7.85 and am unappreciated even with all my extra duties!
am really thinking about moving on but not sure if worth it as this is close to sons school?

advice greatly appreciated

Hi,
From my point of view dental nurse minimum pay should be £10 per hour not less then that, and i think we deserved that.So i will adcise you to ask for more more pay if not look for another job.

Allison wrote: Hi MLW87,

sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean to. Its good that you are happy where you are even if you don't get thanked all the time. I think the older I get the more cynical I become.

Hi Allison,
You didn't offend me at all I was trying to find a way to type it without it coming across the way it did haha!

c8Ch: I'm glad to hear you were well paid and appreciated!

Hi there

This is a topic that is always relevant to many a dental nurse, I must admit I'm incredibly lucky working in an NHS hospital as a seniors wage I get £26556 a year and the top of my pay band is around £28000 I'm with a pension and paid holidays and sick pay so you'd think we would have no room to moan! I think sometimes its also about being appreciated not only by clinicians but also the patients we have a hard job and when some things not right it does often land on our heads, working late and losing lunch is also another issue we have. But I must admit I never go back to practice for one I'd not be quick enough! You ladies would hate working with me now I'm used to much longer appts and I've not sterilised an instruments for over 6 years!!
I have worked in practice during my training and you don't get the credit you deserve the amount of work you do to keep up pace! The clinicians forget that a good nurse should be appreciated and treated well they'd not last 5 minutes if you all weren't there!

Hi MLW87
I would like to tell you that in my previous job that I had for over 10 years I was appreciated and well paid! I know its easy to complain all the time (and I do sometimes!) but there are some good practices out there. I hope that a some nurses with good experiences get in touch on here too. Having said that, since I have been job hunting on and off the last months it has been a real eye opener as to the salaries for dental nurses. I think its scandalous the rates they offer considering what we do and how much responsibility we have now. I've been lucky recently to have found other jobs with good hourly rates and the teams seem ok so far. That's why it makes me so mad hearing from these other nurses being so unhappy and disillusioned and being treated like this by their dentists! We are a vital part of patient care and I think its a real shame when its not recognised.

Hi MLW87,

sorry if I offended you, I didn't mean to. Its good that you are happy where you are even if you don't get thanked all the time. I think the older I get the more cynical I become.

I've been at my present practice for 7 going on 8 years now. It's not so convenient as it's a 20 mile trip to and from work for me. I think the dentists are really good and would recommend them to anyone. However they treat all their nursing staff as second class citizens.
You may have read in my other topics we don't have staff meetings even though we have asked for them. We even have separate staff rooms as it is 'them and us' as far as the dentists are concerned.

Why do I stay? As you have said it is easier said than done to get another job, a good practice will keep their staff so it is difficult to find somewhere that looks after their staff with any vacancies up for grabs.

Another reason I stay (and the most relevant) is that the nursing/reception staff are brilliant. We ARE a team in spite of the dentists, we look out for one another and help each other like a good team should. We all get on so well in and out of work. The only problem with us is that they are all afraid of the dentists and won't speak up. This means I'm the mouthpiece and get frowned upon by the bosses or no-one says anything and we all get s**t on. I'm a mother figure being the oldest, longest serving.

I wish I could be the Emily Pankhurst of the dental nursing profession but I don't think I'd get the following lol!

Hi Allison

I don't. I work for a husband and wife team who own the practice!

A lot of the time myself and my colleagues don't feel appreciated and I think it's awful we aren't. I wouldn't move practices though as it's well paid and convenient....which is sad...!

I agree with you, it's sad to see that employers lose good staff over things like this. They must feel like: "It's ok, you're easily replaceable" but do they really realise what they're letting go of??

I'd LOVE to own my own practice and have it full of hard working, well paid staff where everyone feels that the entire practice is a team! I do hear some good stories of practices that people have previously worked in where they all chipped in and helped each other and felt like a team. I even wonder whether it is actually the wages that nurses are so bothered about, but actually feeling appreciated and part of a team in their practices?

I do hope one day I log on to find more and more nurses saying how they feel appreciated and part of a team etc etc....maybe one day?

hi MLW87,
You must work for one of these big companies. The practice I work at is run/managed by the 2 principle dentists who co own the place. I work with one of the principles, he has 2 mercs with personalized numberplates, goes ski-ing at least 3 times a year as well as his summer hols. So he/they own the place (the other principle has a good crack at time off) and still they treat their staff like poop. We just aren't good enough, or so they keep telling us but we are a big staff and not everyone will sing from the same hymn sheet. There is always someone who thinks if they stick by the boss they will get better thought of. That is what the bosses depend upon. Then the nurses get hurt when they get pooped on. I keep seeing it year on year as staff come and go, the next always think they are going to be the one. I'm looking for another job ( easier said than done ) but it makes me wince that the dentists won't keep good staff which is better all round for patients and team work (what the heck is that!?) I am so aggrieved that dentists don't see that the good nursing staff care and I mean REALLY CARE and want to do/give their all for the patients and the surgery where they work. Lots of us get deeply emotional about our positions and want to do our best. Its not just the job but the type of person the job attracts!!!!

Hi,
It makes me so mad this wages subject
I always say "Dentist's couldn't work without us, so why on earth do they pay us so terribly?!" but of course it's the practice owners who pay us, not the actual dentist's we work with, but still....Dentist's couldn't work without us so why ARE we paid so terribly?!?
I'm quite lucky with my wage, I've moved practices in the last 2 years and have had a significant pay rise from the last practice I worked at but that was just total luck! I think it also depends on what services the practice offers as to how much they want to pay you, but I do not agree that is fair at all.
I know that dentists study longer and know a lot more than us nurses do but in the surgery you are supposed to be a team, and like I've said a thousand times: they cannot do their jobs without us!!!
It's so much easier said than done to "find a job elsewhere" if you aren't happy with your current wage but I would recommend it. Unfortunately, until every single nurse follows suit and tells the practice the reason for leaving, the position you left will always get filled by someone else who is content with that wage because it's easier to stay put or it's convenient for them, and that way the practice owners don't see a problem with the wages they pay
I hope you either manage to get yourself a pay rise or manage to find another position where you are able to get a better wage because you along with the rest of us completely deserve it! Good luck!

I have been a dental nurse for 34 years, got my NEBDN cert in 1988 and have just passed my OHE. I have loads of extra duties and have still not reached £10 an hour.
I think we all have to start and really think what we believe we are worth and then ask for it. Yes we have to be reasonable but if we sit around (like I have done!) and wait to be shown our worth......... it ain't gonna happen!
Personally I think we all are worth a lot more than we get paid. Trainee nurses should be on more than minimum wage as they are working towards a qualification to lead them into a career with the possibility of more training. Qualified nurses should be shown the regard and respect they deserve and have a salary that reflects this.
I think everyone should read the post and watch the video on the news tab about high staff turnover if you haven't done so yet.
It's given me food for thought to say the least

I personally think that is not enough either. Around the £9-£10 an hour mark is where we should be at especially during private sessions and weekends/late nights. Sadly though from my research that is quite a rarity especially nowadays. We have so many more duties to perform now compared to 10 years ago as well as increased responsibilities and audits. It doesn't seem worth gaining extra qualifications for very little if any financial gain

Hi there
I think what you are getting paid is an insult to qualified and registered nurses everywhere. Especially with your extra qualification! We are worth more and i think you should ask for a rise or look elsewhere. These dentists are a mean lot sometimes!
Good luck

Hi Everyone,

I'm new to the forum and would like some advice about hourly rates- I thought i'd start my own thread as I know different places/areas of the UK pay differently etc etc so here's a bit about me:

I'm currently working as a Dental Nurse in Northumberland, I have been qualified for 5 years and working in my current practice (predominantly NHS with some private work) for 5 years. I also have the Radiology Qualification. At the minute I earn £7.95 per hour, which unfortunately for me is not enough to afford to do the things I want to do in my life. Do you guys think this is a decent wage, or should I be asking for more/finding work elsewhere? I understand all dentists pay differently, however I do feel that this wage isn't great (could be worse, so I know I shouldn't really complain!)

Thanks

Rei xx