Just wondering -- what is the "cost" of hiring new grads?

CNL2B · Jun 12, 2010

I think the bulk of the "cost" has to do with essentially being paid to train. A nurse that is in training, either in a classroom or precepting with another nurse, does not carry a patient load and therefore "costs" the hospital money.

The figures I have heard tossed around for hiring in my ICU are in the $40-50K range. That accounts for about 15-20 days of classes (formal consortium education and hospital nursing education department) and then a minimum of 12 weeks precepting on the unit. As well if they are a new hospital hire (instead of a transfer from another unit), the new employee orientation at my facility is two solid weeks. So you are looking at a minimum of 4 months or so "non-productive" time for that employee -- and it's not just that the hospital is paying them, they are also covering the costs of the classes they send them to, costs generated by the education department, etc.

So yes, it is very, very expensive.

Bobbkat · Jun 12, 2010

I always ponder this too. When I first starting job hunting and discovered how hard it was going to be to get hired, I was amazed.

I guess I think of it this way. My mother is a nurse, on midnights (read: shift differential), with about 20 years of experience. She is at the top of her pay scale. She is also in a very popular unit with low turnover, so many of her colleagues are also at the top of the payscale. When her unit is bustling and full she works over time and time and a half. Up until the past year the unit used to hire new grads, but has since switched to only hiring them very occasionally. My Mother asked the unit manager why this was, and she was told that they were too expensive to train. I don't know how much she makes per hour after adding in shift diff and all that, but I am absolutely astonished if it is cheaper to continue to pay very experienced (read: expensive) nurses time and a half rather than hire and train a new grad.

I mean, yeah, I get it that it costs a lot of money to train us, but I'm just amazed that it is SO expensive that a unit feels it is better off paying overtime indefinately. Good for my Mom though I guess, because she rakes in the overtime.

elkpark · Jun 12, 2010

I did a lit search on this question a while back for another thread (about why employers were becoming so reluctant to hire new grads) and found a figures ranging from $40,000 to $100,000 for the first-year cost of hiring and orienting a new grad -- for all the things missbecky noted, and, I'm sure, more things that we don't think about.

sistasoul · Jun 12, 2010

Plus the cost of getting them up to speed with more experienced nurses. New nurses when carrying a patient load take longer to do everything which could also cost overtime. Sometimes they have to pull an experienced nurse aside to help them or ask questions of which also brings down the productivity of the floor/unit.

elkpark · Jun 12, 2010

Plus the cost of getting them up to speed with more experienced nurses. New nurses when carrying a patient load take longer to do everything which could also cost overtime. Sometimes they have to pull an experienced nurse aside to help them or ask questions of which also brings down the productivity of the floor/unit.

Yes -- even after a new grad is done with formal orientation, it's a long time before s/he is as productive as an experienced nurse.

RNTwin · Jun 12, 2010

at the teaching hospital that i use to work at they would say 20K per new grad...

Jolie, BSN · Jun 12, 2010

Another "hidden" cost of a new hire (not just a new grad) is the cost of benefits paid during the time that the employee is not yet "productive." Many health insurance plans begin on day 1 of employment, and with a prolonged orientation of 3-6 months, some new employees qualify to use vacation, sick, holiday time even before they are working on their own.

morphed · Jun 12, 2010

I wonder if the hospitals also have to pay a higher insurance premium for new grads?

LuvScrubs2, BSN, RN · Jun 12, 2010

Wow.... This is good to know... I am currently in a Nurse Residency Program and didn't realize it costs so much to train us.... :nurse: Wow... The company that i work for just recently sent us to get our IV cert. And I am guessing that it must cost alot of money....

allnurses Guide · Jun 12, 2010

It is important to make a special effort to welcome and include new grads and other newly hired nurses.

Of course we have a staff nurse planned preceptorship. This includes time on day shift and then a couple weeks on the shift they will be working.

Plus the right for the preceptor, charge nurses, manager, and new nurse to extend orientation if needed.

Retention is a major priority.

llg, PhD, RN · Jun 12, 2010

In addition to the costs of actually orienting the new grad ... and paying their salary and benefits for all that time before they take their own assignment without a preceptor ...

... you also have to add in the turnover costs of those new grads who discover that the particular unit is not a "good fit" for them and they quit after only a couple of months ... or they don't pass boards and have to give up their RN positions ... or they never planned on staying there very long as they only ever intended to stay "a year or so" to get the experience they need to qualify for the job they really want. A lot of hospitals have been hurt by spending a lot of money on new grad orientations only to see those nurses leave for greener pastures once they have gotten the training they needed.

Those high new grad turnover rates hurt the hospitals, too. So, hospitals are getting "pickier" about who they choose to invest in. And I think some of that pickiness will remain even after the economy improves and more positions open up. Hospitals have learned that it doesn't always pay to hire and train "just any nurse." They will be looking for evidence that this particular nurse is committed to staying and giving the hospital a decent return on their investment.