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

[SoundofMusic]

I mean -- what exactly does a hospital have to pay to hire a new grad? How do they account for this?

is it having to pay the salary of a master preceptor? I see how our MP coordinates the new grads, but the new grads are generally precepted alongside staff nurses already working and already budgeted for. I have never once received extra pay for precepting.

Is is having to employ them, yet not figuring them in on staffing?

I'm just trying to understand the "costs" behind hiring a new grad rn.

Thanks if anyone would have any true insight to this.

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

Also, the new grads who transfer after a few months to another unit lets say NICU from med-surg and having to start all over in orientation.

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

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.

On top of the didactic and non-didactic training, don't forget the liabilities that a new nurse brings, PLUS their personal benefits..i.e. insurances, etc.,.

It's closer to $80,000.00

And then...there are the non-economic "costs" (can't think of a better word) of the new grad--perceptions of the new grad on the staff, perception of the preceptor on the new grad...etc.,

[PostOpPrincess, BSN, RN]

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.

They are tired of the ones who want to work the ICU only a year to get to their CRNA or NP.

[llg, PhD, RN]

They are tired of the ones who want to work the ICU only a year to get to their CRNA or NP.

Exactly. Our PICU started being very suspicious of adult ICU nurses who wanted to switch to PICU after only 1-2 years. Most of them didn't really want peds ... they just needed some peds experience to get into a CRNA program.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Also, the new grads who transfer after a few months to another unit lets say NICU from med-surg and having to start all over in orientation.

Yep. I've looked at the employment records of some nurses who have had 3 or 4 jobs in their first 2 years of practice. They've spent very little time actually providing nursing coverage for their employers. They have spent most of it consuming their employers' resources as an orientee -- over and over and over again. After the 2nd or 3rd job, we're not interested in hiring them any more. Anyone can make a mistake once, but at some point you have to show employers that you are worth the investment by working for them and "filling holes in the schedule."

[cjcsoon2bnp, MSN, RN, NP]

I don't know about other units but I was told by the Educator CNS of the Level III NICU in my area that it costs approximately 50K to provide orientation for a new grad. nurse to this NICU. Sooo yeah its mucho bucks to orient a new grad.

!Chris

[HeartsOpenWide, RN]

It is the cost of having two nurses for the same amount of patients as one. Your preceptor probably is not paid much extra but typically new grads do not take on a full load all on their own.