"If supply-demand is in the Nurse's favor, then don't they get more leverage on what QOL and wages they can demand?" I have a family member who works in public

"If supply-demand is in the Nurse's favor, then don't they get more leverage on what QOL and wages they can demand?" I have a family member who works in public health and is trying to staff nursing positions. She has something like a $400k budget to hire 4 nurses at $100k each (let's say). She is unable to fill the positions because cost of living in her area has gone up so much. She'd rather have 2 nurses at $200k each instead of zero nurses, but she's simply not allowed to do that. She's trying to change policy but it's a massive uphill battle. Power's concentrated very high up in health care, and it's exercised through the use of rigid policies. It certainly seems like nurses should command higher wages, but the bureaucracy has become very effective at preventing basically anything from changing quickly.