can't you see. they will do absolutly anything but what you really want. what? you got a raise was it 5 cents or 3 dollars. either way is not a raise at all. they do this on purpose unless your raise surpasses the cost of living index ITS NOT A RAISE.
It is my deepest hope and desire nurses that you continue to look elsewhere. broaden you horizons, change venues. you are too smart for this. do you want to spend the rest of your days slaving away and give all the credit to the doctor and worse the MBA sitting behind the desk trying to figure out how he can rape the community of more money next year.
I hope everyday that some new grad doens't fall victim to one of those contract signing deals. please relize you can work anywhere you want to. don't let them tell you "well you could work in the ER if you sign a two year contract" that is simply not true.
I mean this as a warning and a becon to all. please know that if there are any detractors from this statemet they are probably the very ones whos jobs depend on tricking you into staying down. and you are too good for that.
I, for one, don't want to go back to school to get an MBA, and I don't see that or a clinical ladder (I work in a hospital that has one) as a solution to the problem.
We have 7-3, 3-11, 11-7, 11A-11P, 3A-3P, 7P-7A, and 4 hour chunks up for grabs in the "needs" column on the new schedules, paid at overtime + bonus rates.
As a member of this board for, wow, the past couple years and a new nursing student I will add that this website has brought a lot of these issues to light for me. I do not feel naive in the ploys that hospitals and other facilities use.
Because of what I have learned here on the board I will not sign up with a hospital just because they have a big sign on bonus, I decided not to go to a hospital that would train me in lieu of a work commitment, and I ran, not walked, away from an LTC facility with a career ladder program that would have taken me 4 years plus work commitment to complete an ASN.
I already have a B.S. in Psychology but am planning on enrolling next fall for my A. A. S. in Nursing. Nashville must be the health care capitol of the world with all the hospitals here, and most of them do offer to pay for my training as long as I work at one of their facilities for the same length of time as my training (which would be 2 years). Am I understanding that you would not recommend that I take advantage of their offers? What are the pros and cons that you can see from your more experienced points of view?
Not all Diploma (Hospital) Programs (whereby they pay your tuition and train you in lieu of a work committment from you) are bad but it is really up to the individual.
In my searching and interviewing at such schools I found that the tuition was really expensive ($17,000.00-20,000.00 total) and that most required a committment of 2 years.
That's fine but what if you end up not liking where you work? You can either pay back that 17,000.00-20,000.00 or stick it out for 2 years.
In my situation it was better for me to take out loans/pay out of pocket the $5-6,000.00 it will cost me through a local CC and have the freedom of working wherever I want when I graduate.
My mother always taught me to "never be beholden to anyone."
I just prefer to not having that hang over my head.
Not all Diploma (Hospital) Programs (whereby they pay your tuition and train you in lieu of a work committment from you) are bad but it is really up to the individual.
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Thanks, Colleen10. What I was referring to would require me to go to a CC instead of the diploma program. But you make a good point about not being beholden to anyone. Compared to a B.S. $6,000 is nothing and would take no time to pay off in return for having the freedom to work where I want.
I chose to pay my own way through all my schools. I'm now part way through an MSN program, am the only income in a household of 4, and I am not beholden to anyone. If I choose to leave this hospital for another, I can do so without worrying about paying any of the money back. BY the way, this same institution offers a sign-on bonus that is really only a retention bonus (1/6th after 90 days, and the remainder is paid out at the end of the 1st and 2nd yrs.
A Baylor shift is a weekend only option, whereby you work every Saturday and Sunday (some hospitals offer Friday/Saturday or Friday/Sunday) also and are paid for 36-40 hours per week depending on the hospital. Also, the base rate for Baylor shifts is usually higher than the base rate for a regular full-time position.
I dont believe the starting salaries are bad when compared to graduates of similiar education.
that being said... all the bonuses, and tricks dont seem to help the retention issues at hand.
The vacancy rate is still high in most institutions. The nurses that elect to stay in our organizations are resentful at the bonus structure that favors newly hired staff. I have also noted that there are nurses that could be working fulltime but instead choose to work 2 part time or per diem jobs.
There is also a hot market out there in non traditional areas (business, sales, research.....and so many other areas) that are eager to hire nurses.
cannoli
615 Posts
I, for one, don't want to go back to school to get an MBA, and I don't see that or a clinical ladder (I work in a hospital that has one) as a solution to the problem.
Bring on the National Nursing Union!