Incentives to orient new hires?

Sour Lemon · Jul 31, 2016

We get a few extra dollars, but what I really love is seeing a return on my training investment. A new employee is a lot of work for the first few days, but makes life much easier once they start learning and contributing to our shared patients' care. It's even better when they get to the final few days and I don't have to do anything!! Well, almost...

What I don't like is getting someone for the first few "hard" days and then losing them. And occasionally, I'll get someone who's totally clueless and shouldn't have been hired to start out with. There's no reward that makes training someone like that worth while.

ArtClassRN, ADN, RN · Jul 31, 2016

How about the internal incentive (or human decency) that acknowledges that you were a new RN at one time and needed preceptors?

I once had a coworker (20+ year RN) who really needed a day off (some family event) and wanted to switch with me. I said, "Sure, but I am precepting that day you want to trade so if you could work with my student it's fine with me."

She said, "Oh, I DON'T precept!"

She would rather miss her function than precept for a single shift. What a horrible person.

NurseQT · Jul 31, 2016

My facility had talked about designating specific nurses to become trainers (I was one of the nurses that they asked), sending us to a "train your trainers" workshop to become certified trainers, and then offering a training differential for the shifts that we were orientating/training newly hired nurses. Unfortunately nothing ever came of it. Now there is little incentive to orientate and our new hires end up getting crappy orientation..

Rexie · Aug 1, 2016

I thin our facility offers an extra $1.50 to precept. I feel like precepting helps keep my knowledge current and I enjoy it mostly. It is more work a lot of the time and can be exhausting but I love helping the new nurses develop their skills.

dirtyhippiegirl, BSN, RN · Aug 1, 2016

I think we get an extra $2.00 or something.

I didn't mind doing it but I worked on an extremely high turnover unit so it felt like you were always precepting. It was especially soul sucking to get done orienting them and have them immediately transfer to another unit.

Here.I.Stand, BSN, RN · Aug 1, 2016

We get a small differential. I do also feel an internal reward, though -- and I know this isn't true on every unit -- because they don't allow just anyone to precept. I just started precepting in the past few months (been on the unit part time for 3 yrs), and was very honored when my manager told me they were going to have me start. It's also an important investment in our staff.

I'm not opposed to differentials, but look at it from a slightly different angle.

That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B · Aug 1, 2016

One of the places I worked you received $1000 every 6 months they stayed there for 18 months plus $2/hr to train them

AnthonyD · Aug 1, 2016

No monetary incentives here, but I'm happy to do it anyway.

mmc51264, BSN, MSN, RN · Aug 1, 2016

we get $2/hour. I like it. I just started recently. It really isn't that much extra work. I had a GREAT preceptor and I like to pay it forward

Lola Lou, BSN · Aug 1, 2016

Thanks for all of your input!

Libby1987 · Aug 1, 2016

We would receive an additional 2 hrs of hourly pay (for this of us who were paid per visit) so it was significant. Which would either give us more wages at the end of the day or compensate for a reduced work load.

Compensation or not, it takes a lot of energy to do a good job and not everyone has the ability or desire making it a waste to use them as preceptors and thus places the responsibility on those who could and were willing.