The healthcare system in the United States is at the mercy of nurses, i.e. one in every four healthcare workers is a nurse (Lovell, 2006). To maintain an effective and efficient healthcare system in the country, it is vital to have adequate workforce to cater to the growing demands of the people.
Wages for nursing staff in the State of Kansas are regulated by the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) which is the federal law that establishes the minimum wage, overtime pay, and recordkeeping for full-time and part-time workers in the public and private sector (Bowlby, 2001). Hospitals, nursing homes, and residential care facilities are covered by the FLSA. The registered nurses either fall in the exempt or non-exempt status which is dependent on two factors, namely, the type of compensation and the duties performed. Exempt status is usually granted to those who are managers or administrators and are not entitled to overtime even if they work beyond their normal stated hours. They are paid on guaranteed salary basis which is fixed and not subject to minimum wage rules. On the other hand non-exempt status is for those nurses who are entitled to overtime payments if they work beyond their scheduled hours. For Kansas the federal and state minimum wage for covered non-exempt nurses is $5.85 an hour and overtime is an extra one-half of the stated rate (Department of Labor, 2007). In addition to that, salary is structured as per the supply-demand function taking into consideration the education and experience credentials of the registered nurses.
The global shortage of registered nurses has become a widespread phenomenon. In fact, nursing profession has historically experienced shortages. The main reason attributed to this issue is poor ...