Where have all the sign on bonuses gone?

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Lately, it appears as if sign on bonuses may be a thing of the past. I am well aware that they have not proved to improve nurse retention, but they are a nice perk. To all of the new grads, or anyone else, did you get a sign on bonus, and if I may be so bold, how much? Or has the hospital increased salaries or benifits (eg: loan repayment) instead of offering these bonuses?

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Well, in the job i just accepted, I was offered a $750 sign on.

At the previous job I interviewed for, I was offered $5000.

A job in Texas offered me $10,000 for working in certain specialties.

A job in New Mexico was offering $4000 after taxes.

One in Colorado offered nothing, one offered $2000.

I guess it just depends on where you are looking to go and what specialty you want to work in (med surg is a specialty)

Edited because my smilies aren't working.

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Specializes in OB.

I was offered a $3000 bonus at one hospital, and nothing at another. I guess it depends on how "desperate" for nurses they are.

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Originally posted by rpbear

I was offered a $3000 bonus at one hospital, and nothing at another. I guess it depends on how "desperate" for nurses they are.

When a hospital is really desperate for nurses, it may be because their working conditions are so bad, that nurses who know better won't touch the place with a ten-foot pole.

Same thing goes for hospitals who pay student tuition for an obligation to work for them.

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I was offered $9,500 (relocation, bonus) for a Santa Barbara, CA hospital, 3,500 for Glendale, CA. With my job search only CA seems open to bonus + relocation. WA and HI so far no bonus offered.

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In Wisconsin they are offering sign on bonuses up to $15,000, but there overall pay scale was slightly lower. I accepted a job in MN that payed for moving expenses with $1000 for other relocation assistance. They had told me they don't pay sign on bonuses because they pay a higher wage to everyone. Personally I would want to make 3-4 dollars more per hour versus getting one lump sum with strings attached.

Another thing, at a hospital that i wad worked at, a lot of the previously highered nurses had been complaining because new grads would be getting all of the perks to work there but there was no "graditute" for those who had stayed on at that hospital.

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I know that many staff nurses have expressed disgust with offering sign on bonuses to new grads because they aren't being offered the same incentive to stay.

THe hospital in Texas that offered a $10,000 sign on also offered a $10,000 comprehensive relocation package.

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Specializes in OB.
When a hospital is really desperate for nurses, it may be because their working conditions are so bad, that nurses who know better won't touch the place with a ten-foot pole.

Same thing goes for hospitals who pay student tuition for an obligation to work for them.

I totally agree!:eek:

Thats why I looked at hospitals with a good reputaion and good employee retention, not at how much money they dangled in front of me.;)

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Specializes in Behavioral Health.

Mine was not a sign-on bonus...They called it tuition forgiveness (even though I didn't have any student loans). For a 3-yr contract it was $15,000. Was offered $20,000 at another SE Wisconsin hospital. And as someone else said, the seasoned staff nurses were not to happy about not receiving any type of retention bonus, etc.

Ended up not liking the job and I gave them their $$$$ back!!!

Where I am at now has no sign on bonus, but if you are full-time they will pay for you to go through a $16,000 ADN-to-BSN program....

Good luck!

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Specializes in tele, stepdown/PCU, med/surg.

Hey,

I'm in the Seattle area and none of the local hospitals offer a sign on bonus. I guess it's because the vacancy rate here for nurses is not that high yet and we have many schools that pump out nurses several times a year.

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I got a $4000 "tuition reimbursement" bonus... available only to new grads. No traditional sign on bonus

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Long Term Care.

our hospital's offering $15,000 sign-on bonus. i don't know the details-- which units, shifts, etc. just happened to see it in one of my weekly nursing magazines... :rolleyes:

so much for the retention committee i was a part of for 4 months. i'm not surprised we haven't had a meeting since early december 2003; nothing ever became of our discussions and suggestions, so guess the hospital's putting all their $$$ into recruitment. :angryfire

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