Editor’s Page: Do You Get Paid Enough for ‘This Sh##?’

Over the holidays, I spent a week in Tulum, Mexico, gawking at Mayan ruins, snorkeling with sea turtles, swimming through otherworldly cenotes and serving as a temporary landing pad for well-trained monkeys.

The best part? I got to enjoy this magical environment with extended family I rarely see because they’re scattered throughout the country — with most of the clan stationed on the opposite coast from me. But my Aunt Maria — the same aunt who offered copious details on her heart stent procedure in March — was hellbent on getting the entire family together for a destination trip. In fact, my aunt and uncle not only planned and booked the entire affair with nothing but snarky jokes and questionable GIFs on the family text chain from the rest of us, but they also footed the bill for the entire trip. Since Aunt Maria loved her cameo in a previous Editor’s Page so much, the least I could do is shout-out her insane generosity and throw in a group shot, right?

But stay with me, readers, I’m working my way up to a point here. In Tulum, it wasn’t all adventures and excursions. I spent the bulk of my time at the resort, and even though my wife convinced me to leave my laptop at home, I couldn’t completely put work out of my mind — especially as I watched how hard the staff worked to keep the resort running like a well-oiled machine. The efficiency reminded me a lot of a successful, high-volume surgery center. Surgical leaders and their teams may make it look easy, but that’s only because their consummate professionals. Behind the scenes, things are seldom as breezy as they seem. One morning, while I strolled through the lobby to get myself a coffee, I happened to catch a manager putting out a fire. The woman — whom I dubbed Tulum Connie because of her uncanny resemblance to an administrator I’ve worked with on numerous occasions (Hi C!) — handled the situation with aplomb. When it was over, she quietly muttered to herself, “I don’t get paid enough for this [word that rhymes with Spit].”

I know many of you can relate. In fact, in our annual Salary Survey — a survey that has been conducted, analyzed and written by Senior Editor and “Datahead” Joe Paone for the past five years — many of you told us, in your own way, the exact same thing as Tulum Connie. For instance, when asked about whether you were compensated fairly for the role, one survey respondent followed up a big fat “No” with this illuminating detail: When you are the only person responsible for all management of the facility — HR, IC, Security, Safety, Education, Policies/Procedures, Risk Management, etc., I feel you should be compensated for it.

As you read this year’s Salary Survey, see how you stack up with your peers and look to see if their challenges mirror your own. Regardless of where you land on the range of responses we received on pay, job satisfaction and stress, it’s probably a safe bet that you’re working your respective tails off for your center and your patients. My guess is many of you will need a break at some point to recharge. My suggestion: Find yourself an Aunt Maria and head down to Mexico. OSM