Obviously higher pay would increase their abuse tolerance, but I think it is only part of the problem and a short term solution since no amount of pay will offset stress problems.
County level nurses seem to have much better work conditions than hospital nurses.
Nurses are generally payed very well. This is a supply problem driven by increasing restrictions on nursing degrees and insurance.
Not enough nurses and high cost leaves hospitals understaffed and nurses overworked, leading to a feedback cycle.
But, before COVID there was already a supply problem. The supply problem has been slowly getting worse for years and then COVID accelerated it. If every nurse came back to working as a nurse who wanted to work there would still be a supply problem.
Supply has not been growing to meet the demand growth for years.
I suppose you could just pay people more money to make it worth it but the long hours take a toll in other ways as well and contribute to burnout no matter how much you get paid.
The demand for nurses is increasing as people are leaving and there are more from the boomer generation hitting an age where they need more care.
The supply has stayed the same. Schools local to me have not increased output for various reasons (lack of instructors, lack of space in local hospitals where nurses train, etc). The supply is too low.
So, we have a supply and demand problem. Travel nurses get paid a lot more because of this.
The solution is to produce more nurses. Something few are talking about.
One of the local schools, to me, turned away half of applicants because the program isn't increasing capacity.