Nurse retention

[mombuxx]

I'm curious as to what keeps you at the hospital you are currently employed at.....are there specific incentives or bonuses? Does your employer offer perks for picking up hours when staffing is short? Do you get paid sick days and paid vacation and how is it awarded (PTO or set number of days)? Does management take an assignment to help with staffing? Also, what would make you leave your current employer to go elsewhere? Thanks for the input!!

[dudette10, MSN, RN]

I've been working at my current hospital for 3 months and I have seen so many people quit already. We are always short staffed. But they do offer some incentives.

$150 to $200 if you come in when they call you on your day off.

Bonuses ($1000) for not calling off on the busy season (December to May I believe) and they give others bonuses too. It doesn't seem to work to well though.

It doesn't seem to work well because it's only money. The "soft" parts of a job--work environment, work relationships, management style--aren't icing on the cake; they are the cake. People take pay CUTS for better work environments.

If management is offering that kind of money in the situations you describe, they are woefully out of touch, and I can see why you're always short-staffed.

[xsnurse]

It doesn't seem to work well because it's only money. The "soft" parts of a job--work environment, work relationships, management style--aren't icing on the cake; they are the cake. People take pay CUTS for better work environments.

If management is offering that kind of money in the situations you describe, they are woefully out of touch, and I can see why you're always short-staffed.

Yes. This is my first hospital job and I agree that management doesn't known or doesn't want to make it better. They are offering $10,000 sign on bonuses for experienced RNs. A slap in the face for all the seasoned nurses that love nursing (and have been with the hospital for a while) but increasingly frustrated with the situation.