Sign On Bonuses, Tuition Assistance, Hospital Benefits

[Joe V]

Some of us remember the huge sign on bonuses of years gone by. It wasn't unusual for hospitals to offer $5-10K for a new grad. However, those days have seemingly ended. Now, its rarer to even get some amount of tuition reimbursement. However, there are some facilities offering special benefits. What does your hospital offer as an incentive to keep you or get you in the first place?

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

Those days are actually coming back in my area. $5,000-$15,000 sign on bonuses are making a reappearance, but tuition assistance up to $5,200 has always been the policy, and annual bonus if we meet our goals was started a couple of years ago.

[NRSKarenRN, BSN, RN]

Tuition assistance part of most Philadelphia area hospitals benefits --range from $3,000-$5,000 on average. Some university hospitals  offer employees free tuition for BSN/MSN  completion programs.  Home Health taking a hit due to COVID, seeing $10,000 sign on bonuses for experienced HH RN's in my prior health system.

Trinity Health System is in 22 states has 3,200 nursing positions posted. They along with most Philadelphia Health Systems requiring COVID immunization as condition of employment.   

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

18 hours ago, Rose_Queen said:

Those days are actually coming back in my area. $5,000-$15,000 sign on bonuses are making a reappearance, but tuition assistance up to $5,200 has always been the policy, and annual bonus if we meet our goals was started a couple of years ago.

Same, we are seeing a huge rise in sign-on bonuses in my area at just about every single hospital.

[JKL33]

The big player monopolizing my region is offering sign-on bonuses for non-professional office staff. As for professional positions system-wide, not only are there not sign-on bonuses, they give no clue of what a wage/salary range might be for the positions. Also, for some of them it's difficult to figure out what the job will consist of because their descriptions are canned bullet points that relate to the organization, not the job.

One could surmise they might not be hurting for help too much.

[OUxPhys, BSN, RN]

As far as I know only one of the hospitals is offering a sign on bonus in my area and that's the county hospital. The other 2 could afford it but will cry poor while paying administrators their inflated salaries and bonuses. 

[BlueShoes12, BSN, RN]

My hospital is offering a $10,000 sign-on bonus for newly hired nurses as of a few months ago. The hospital offers $2500 annually in tuition reimbursement for a BSN (which it requires) and $5000 for an MSN. The tuition reimbursement existed prior to COVID. There has been very little if anything done to encourage retention, however. 

[Peachpit]

Home Health agencies in my area are offering 10-15K sign on bonuses and one hospital system  is offer 30K sign on bonus (yes 30 thousand).

Hospices as well as private home health companies around here are also offering anywhere from 1000K to 10K in bonuses.

Some home health/hospices are also offering cell phone bill reimbursement up to $100/month and company vehicles.  

[NurseSiren]

The hospital I want to work on has up to $20,000 sign on bonuses. But most of the sign on bonuses aren’t in the areas they hire new grads into. 

[oncpalnurse, BSN]

Rush in Chicago offers nurses 100% prepaid tuition for internal degrees through Rush University. (MSN, DNP, & PhD programs available). 6 month work commitment upon graduation, that’s it.

[9kidsmomRN]

We had a $25,000 sign on bonus had to stay 2 years to get it all. I think 20 people signed on (capped at 20 hires?) Funny how that program popped up again 2 yes later when almost all of those 20 people left… hmmm

no bonuses for staff nurses in my facility, but mgmt gets $$$. still have some sign on bonuses. $1000/yr tuition reimbursement and certification reimbursement. In a 2 yr process of wage equity so that staff that have passed their 9th year will be getting paid what someone with 30 years gets— regardless of involvement in councils, charge, unit process improvement etc… no regard for longevity at this facility! ?

[NurseBradJ]

I (semi)retired 2 1/2 years ago and have decided to go back to work. While I am primarily looking for leadership positions, I have seen some huge sign on bonuses for staff positions that have me reconsidering. I’ve seen bonuses for $40,000 for a hospital in South Dakota, $55,000 in Indiana and $75,000 in Eastern Pennsylvania. I suppose it’s cheaper than hiring travelers with the current high rates they’re getting.