snip <What makes any of us think that most hospitals wouldn't hire a
nonprofessional in
our place if they had to pay us what we are actually worth?>snip

Not to start this all up again, but one major difference between nursing
staff and library staff is that there aren't many librarians in one
institution.  Therefore a salary difference of even $10,000 for one or two
people is not a large amount of money in a hospital budget.  I think it all
comes down to whether or not we accept the salaries offered  -- and
continuously proving our worth once we get a fair salary.