I did not expect this much of a response, whoa.
Thanks for the encouragement and advice, all. I've always been terrified of standing up for myself, especially to superiors, so it's super hard for me to summon the courage to ask for a raise. I've been here for nearly a year.
My boss and HR weren't in since it's a holiday weekend (they'll be around on Wednesday when I next work, though), so I mentioned something both to my charge nurse and the house supervisor. It was... kind of hard not to? Ha. I sat and cried at my desk for a good hour or so because this felt like a kick to the gut and yet another way in which I just am not worth anything to anyone, but they came by and asked what was wrong. I was candid with them and they were shocked to hear about how little I make given the importance of the work. A good number of nurses backed me up and many of them said I was the best telemetry/monitor tech on staff (probably an exaggeration just meant to make me feel better, but you know.... it's something...) and that my pay is BS. So. I don't know. I'm glad that I told a few people and I'm hoping that word spreads to those who can actually do something about it. I'd imagine that my boss will likely be in contact with me soon, anyway, as I've emailed her about multiple potential patient safety concerns I have about some of our processes.
Here's the thing. As I've mentioned, I've been looking to make a career change but I 1) am scared ****less of commitment to anything after vet school because of how badly that turned out and 2) really do love the people I work with and the general environment. I love my work, though it certainly takes a certain type of person to not go crazy with all of the constant alarming and visual stimulation for twelve hours at a time.
@PrincessButterCup, you are absolutely right that we are crazy understaffed. There are only four of us: two day techs and two night techs, and the other day tech only works 2-3 days per week, leaving me to cover the rest through overtime. We've been trying to hire more, but they either ghost for the interview or leave in the middle of training. There's also apparently been a massive issue with turnover in the past more generally. I am
hoping to use this as leverage for a possible raise; honestly, if they would simply bump my pay up by $4-$7/hr, then I would have zero qualms with staying long-term. I could actually probably afford a place to live on that. That's all I want. I am so sick and tired of feeling like I'm constantly burdening my parents. I hate that I had to move back in, and it's embarrassing to have to admit that I'm still living with them at 27. I explain everything that happened to me but since they don't generally know anything about vet school and how difficult and emotionally crushing it can be and how much it costs, people don't really get it. You know.
Anyway. Yeah, I've brought it up to a few people who seem to be willing to go to bat for me. Which is awesome. Just makes me want to stick around here even more, but I need to also be paid a wage sufficient for... you know... living. And it just feels grossly unfair that I'm being paid significantly (at least in relation to my current pay) less than the other techs.
