Help! I can't stop looking at new RN openings and wanting to jump ship

[Googlenurse]

Hello. I don't know what is wrong with me, but it seems I am always looking on Glassdoor, Linked In, and Indeed and seeing jobs that have better wages and benefits  than the one I am currently at. Then I apply and get the jobs, only to see another  job with even better benefits and pay. So I jump ship and work for a few months or so until an even better one comes along.

This has been happening since 2021 for me, where every job I apply to and work has better benefits and pay than the last one.

I have 19 years experience and stayed at one job for 13 years (and still counting as I work there per diem). The current job I have now I just started in February, but the one I start in two weeks has better benefits and pay and a $10,000 sign on bonus. Prior to starting that job I worked at a facility for 7 months but left for the current job.

Me being me, I saw an  ad yesterday on Indeed offering a $20,000 sign on bonus with even better pay and benefits than the one I start in two weeks. I am so itching to apply and I know for a fact I will get the job. Hence why I am writing this. 

How do you all keep from jumping to job to job?

(I live in NJ but have RN licenses for NY,PA,NJ, and now Delaware. So I am not particularly worried about any of them finding out me doing this, as I live in a major metro area of over 10 million people)

[AlwaysTiredNP, MSN, APRN, NP]

1 minute ago, DrNurseCNS said:

I'm just pointing out that if organizations are constantly spending money to hire new employees it doesn't leave as much available to improve the staffing and the pay.

Organizationally, I think these hospitals need to start looking at why nurses are leaving though instead of trying to throw money (a bandaid) at the problem. This has always been an issue, and the pandemic just exacerbated it, because with all this bonus money they are throwing around they could be putting into retention and raises for current nurses... and don't even get me started on CEO salaries. Google yours. You'll barf!

[No Stars In My Eyes]

I worked for an agency for years, so if I wanted a different private case to work, it wasn't too much of a problem, unless census was very low. I also worked in hospitals, through an agency, as a float in my earlier years, to avoid getting bored or irritated with always working on the same floor/unit. That was my 'jumping around", if I needed to do so; but since it was most always within the same agency, it wasn't seen as being an unstable (fickle?) employee. 

I seldom got raises, but I was used to living on a shoestring anyway. I was more concerned with my mental status, how I felt at my work, than raking in the dough. I can't imagine getting a sign-on bonus of $20,000! I agree that there should be retention bonuses, especially if the raises are slow in coming. I mean, I worked about 2/3's of my career through the same agency, and I think they were mighty stingy. However, it seemed like there was always something at whatever place of employment was chosen, and I chose to stay with "the evil that I knew" rather than starting over somewhere else. 

[AlwaysTiredNP, MSN, APRN, NP]

Just now, No Stars In My Eyes said:

I was more concerned with my mental status, how I felt at my work, than raking in the dough.

THIS!! all of it! this is me so much. TO ME, my wellbeing and satisfaction and life OUTSIDE of work is so much more important to me than how much I am making. I have *enough*, I am happy, healthy, etc... there will always be jobs that pay more money. ALWAYS! Nursing was a bad choice if I wanted to chase money anyway. No Starts In My Eyes hit the nail on the head. Find a job where your mental health is good, and you are satisfied with your work. Work is NOT your whole life, that's my opinion. 

[brissygal, BSN, RN]

Hi there Googlenurse, ASN, BSN, RN,

You sound like you have itchy feet - can't stand still long enough LOL.  You sound like me! 

Your a seasoned nurse with many years under your belt. Don't be lured about the $$$ -and jumping ship trying to find the pot of gold. Find a job that suits you and be content.

But I do think you might be better suited to traveling nursing for now - to go after the big bucks if that is what you want and looking around to the type of nursing speciality you are looking for while not committing yourself long term. 

Happy Days

Brissygal.

[speedynurse, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

Sign on bonuses are never a good sign. 
 

Job hopping may or may not catch up with someone. In all honesty, since Covid, I feel like there is a ton of forgiveness in terms of job hopping out of desperation for finding experienced nurses and not just all new grads. I personally don’t look at other jobs unless I have some level of dissatisfaction in my current job (not boredom) but the need for a better work-life balance, better pay, better insurance, or a better team/management, etc. In addition, as terrible as this sounds, staying at one job for 10 plus years is not always beneficial either. Some employers want to see diversity and different work experience.

[Vee D, ADN]

Better wages come with more responsibility, later nights, and stress. I would much rather have a job that doesn't pay as much yet I have down time, peace, flexible scheduling, benefits, one patient, no risk for losing my license, no hospital politics, and an opportunity to pick up overtime. I see you're in home health I'd Stay there personally cause the grass isn't always greener on the other side

[southernseeker]

Travel nursing might be a good option for you if you’re in a situation where you can move frequently.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

It is annoying that employer's rarely if ever give their current employees any kind of a decent raise to keep them but then are all about bumping starting wages higher and higher and then offering higher and higher hiring bonuses to get new nurses in the door. 

Hard to blame a nurse for jumping ship when they see the new hires making darn near what they are making after years of service plus the new hire is getting a big bonus.

In today's hot job market where wages are getting better in just about all sector's of employment except health care, a big jump in pay for job hopping becomes very tempting especially when coupled with a big hiring bonus. It's getting harder for those experienced nurses that you would think an employer might want to keep to sit quietly and accept that lousy 1% or 2% annual raise when you know you can get much better money by just switching jobs.

Now OP's situation is slightly different as the new job hasn't even been started  before another opportunity with even better pay and a bigger bonus is on the table. In that case instead of just quitting before you start try to negotiate better terms, tell them what the new offer is and if they can't or won't match it then you can decline the position giving them a valid reason why you decided not to accept  their offer. 

[Merasyph1]

How do you all come up with with figure of $40k to bring on a new nurse? My orientation was 2 weeks long at the hospital I'm currently at, and 12 weeks when I first started nursing. I've never taken medical benefits as my husband's have always been better. 

[Lust4life, BSN]

Do it! But really consider all the pros and cons and don't do it only for the money. You own your license...take care of it and yourself. You don't owe prospective employees anything. Tell them that you have an option to make more money and see if they will match it. There are so many avenues for employment and money, that even if you don't land the job...another one us right behind it. Thus is just my opinion though, obviously do what is best for you. Good luck!!

[RiseAndGrind]

On 5/6/2022 at 3:21 PM, DrNurseCNS said:

 AlwaysTired, I'm not trying to guilt anyone into anything. The OP never said her job was crappy and I never said anyone should stay in an unhappy or toxic situation. I'm just pointing out that if organizations are constantly spending money to hire new employees it doesn't leave as much available to improve the staffing and the pay. It's a bit of a circle jerk, know what I mean? Also OP was talking about the advantages of another job she was going to apply for before she even started her most "next" recent job in 2 weeks.  By all mean, if the work place is unsafe, toxic , or unsatisfactory in other ways, move on.

As I said, "You definitely need to look out for yourself and make your best deal, but be ethical about it."

bahaha, circle jerk, epic.

[DrNurseCNS]

7 hours ago, Merasyph1 said:

How do you all come up with with figure of $40k to bring on a new nurse? My orientation was 2 weeks long at the hospital I'm currently at, and 12 weeks when I first started nursing. I've never taken medical benefits as my husband's have always been better. 

"Cost of turnover for a bedside RN ranges from $38,300 to $61,100 per
nurse—an average of $44,400—which can result in the average hospital los-
ing $4.4 million–$7 million annually,according to the 2018 Press Ganey Nursing Special Report, Optimizing the Nursing Workforce: Key Drivers of
Intent to Stay for Newly Licensed and Experienced Nurses. That includes vacancy costs, such as overtime, paying for agency nurses, closed beds, advertising and recruitment, orientation and training, and de-
creased productivity." 

 Davis, C. (2021).  New nurse turnover is common. Use this 1 item to engage them: Regular 1:1 meetings with new nurses foster engagement and solve problems before they arise. Health Leaders Magazine 24(4), 38-39.