The onslaught of RN's pursuing Advanced Practitioner master degrees (encouraged by Obamacare) is allowing potential employers to demand doctoral degrees and to suppress wages.
In 2013, I was given my performance review - one year into a new position - at the company where I had worked for 13 years. I was giving a glowing review, told I had learned the new position well, and how valued I was. Then, I was told that I would not be getting a raise, because I made too much to get one. “You received a bump in pay when you took this position” It’s 2014 - I’m not with that company today. I effectively received a loss every year working there, due to rising healthcare costs.
At old company - no correlation between hard work and compensation - it was who you know for the most part. I was in several positions where people performed less effectively than I did (I had reporting that proved this) but yet got the same raise. I’m very thankful I was able to find a better job.