What crosses your mind when you see elaborate help wanted ads for RNs in news...

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

So yesterday morning, I was looking thru the newspaper and here is this large, full color ad from a hospital in a town about 3 hours away advertising for OB RN's. $5k sign on bonus. Will even train "the right" new grad.

Granted, before I became a nurse these ads made me feel so good about myself that I was entering such an "in demand" profession.

Having been a RN for 9 years now, I immediately thought "they appear desperate. I wonder how bad the working conditions are. Maybe there was a mass exodus of staff."

It must have cost hundreds of dollars to run that ad and seriously, do RN's even look for jobs in newspapers any more?

And this is a small town located near a mine and oil field. They have a large child bearing population, meaning you are going to be worked to death if they are already so short staffed that they have to run such ads in local newspapers in neighboring towns.

And last but not least, this area is known for having a serious housing shortage - especially rentals. Many people are living in camp trailers. Which I wouldn't mind but this little town has extreme weather and high wind velocity.

Just had to laugh to myself. Good luck to this facility on finding themselves some OB nurses.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Thousands not hundreds. I am sure the housing crunch is the issue with finding nurses that drives that kind of spending.

[xoemmylouox, ASN, RN]

Hey if you are desperate for a job (like a new grad) and willing to live in a shack for awhile this might be a decent oppourtunity and you should be making decent $$$. I would give it a chance if I was desperate.

[ArtClassRN, ADN, RN]

Not to mention the societal conditions in general are horrible for women in that area. I assume you are speaking of the North Dakota oil fields.

[Nola009]

They're desperate and so am I. Where was this again?

[hope3456, ASN, RN]

I pm'd you Nola. Not in ND but similar "energy boom" area.

[KeepItRealRN, BSN, RN]

I would never work OB, however if there were any other specialty to work in if I happened to be a new grad with a lot of student loan debt I would consider being one of these mercenaries for a couple of years. A nurse could probably make enough with all the OT to pay off those loans, have a nice nest egg, and have some experience to take somewhere better. But in this day and age of entitlement I'm willing to bet few will grasp the opportunity.

[applewhitern, BSN, RN]

I still see ads in newspapers for nursing jobs. Just today, an LPN job for a county jail, experienced RN jobs for ICU, and ER and cath lab at 2 different hospitals. I always see nursing home jobs listed in the newspapers. But you are right~ it is very expensive to place a newspaper ad. If I were younger, and had student loan debt to pay off, I would most definitely live in a tent if I had to!

[KeepItRealRN, BSN, RN]

If I were younger, and had student loan debt to pay off, I would most definitely live in a tent if I had to!

Exactly. A lot of folks in this category would rather sit and whine than access an opportunity and do what they have to do. And seriously one would not have to live in a tent. My guess is if the hospital is hard up enough and housing is the issue, they may be in a position to make that part of it easier.

[SweetSouthernLove, ASN, BSN]

Sounds like there may be a lengthy contract for that exchange of the 5k. And if you survive whatever length that is, hopefully you will not be running out the door because of staffing issues, location, or not-so-hot working conditions. If you can remember the other reasons you chose to go to school for nursing as a profession besides the compassion to help people I think it may put things into perspective for you. You want to be respected as a professional, not worked like a slave (even though I have seen this happen to so many nurses even when they finally land that job they always wanted). You also wanted to be paid accordingly for actually GOING to nursing school and learning what it takes to provide care for patients. You didn't go to school to have to bargain is what I am saying, and disparity will only last as long as it takes for that nurse manager to call you back. From there its no looking back. Debt or no debt I would get the darn job I want.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

In this job climate? I wonder what is wrong there that they have to pay someone off to be there.

[KeepItRealRN, BSN, RN]

You didn't go to school to have to bargain is what I am saying, and disparity will only last as long as it takes for that nurse manager to call you back. From there its no looking back. Debt or no debt I would get the darn job I want.

Not being able to bargain our salaries is exactly why they suck in many parts of the country. There is no other profession where you are put on a grid for pay and there is no room for negotiation. In other professions part of the interview after being offered the job is negotiating compensation.

As far as waiting for the "job you want", loans come due, groceries need to be bought, rent needs to be paid, and utilities need to be paid. Most people don't have the luxury of not having an income or an inadequate income waiting for their dream job. Very few get their dream job right out of school. Usually the process requires that you compromise and take the necessary steps to achieve your goal.

And so the hell what if the work is hard? It might be great preparation for the next thing down the road. Like I said before, a couple years in a place like that could result in having some experience that would help with the dream job, plus having loans paid off and having the start of a nice nest egg.

Just because a place offers a sign on bonus does not mean the working conditions are "slave like". I can tell you from personal experience that back in the 90's my hospital offered a 10k sign on bonus for experienced CVICU nurses. At the time it was a nice place to work. The hospital decided that offering the 10 grand to recruit experienced nurses who could hit the ground running in a few weeks was more economical than training newbies who may or may not work out.

Had one nurse come and scoop up the bonus and being a good negotiator was also able to negotiate a salary near the top of the scale.