what about these sign on bonuses???

ChinUp · Aug 1, 2008

I got a job at a hospital with NO sign on bonuses. BUT, its a GREAT hospital with a less than 2% turnover rate.

I asked the nurse recruiter once, why they don't offer sign on bonuses. Her answer: We would rather invest on our nurse's education and foster great nurses for the future (they give out tons of scholarships and tuition reimbursement for nurses continuing their education) rather than solve our nursing shortage by risking hiring nurses that are just in it for the $

Granted, I would have been soo stoked for having a sign on bonus, but their policy of giving scholarships for continuing education actually makes me want to continue mine.

Bortaz, MSN, RN · Aug 1, 2008

I agree. I've seen sign-on bonuses as high as $50,000 in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas, which shares a border with Mexico. In general, this region cannot retain good nurses due to high patient loads of 9 to 13 patients on a typical med/surg unit, undesirable climate, challenging language barriers, the high lawsuit risk, and extreme lateral harassment from coworkers.

One problem with the RGV is that it's made up of small towns, but for 4-6 months of every year, the population doubles or triples when the old yankees invade, to avoid winters up north. We pack in 200-300k new people every winter, and the facilities to care for this large influx of patients don't exist, as of now. Although, they're growing.