Where have all the sign on bonuses gone?

caseyspen · Feb 11, 2004

I accepted a job at a hospital offering an "educational loan" to new grads. They will not call it a sign on bonus! It is $5000 for one year committment, $10,000 for 18 months and $12,500 for a two year committment. You get the first lump sum when you sign your contract and then another lump sum on your first day of work and then the final amount at the end of the contract. If you decide not to work there, you can always just quit and pay the money back. You also have the option of course, of accepting the job but not getting one of the "educational loans".

Casey

Maltese2000 · Mar 1, 2004

i live in alabama and i would love to get a sign on relocation from somewhere. where are these places located will you get me some information

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...
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

275Main · Mar 1, 2004

I am jumping on my own post...sign on bonuses/relocation funding etc., has anyone encountered any of the above in the Bay area of Cali?

KimRN03 · Mar 1, 2004

I did get a sign on bonus of $1000. I got $500 when I passed NCLEX and $500 after working for six months. I have noticed in the area that many of the hospitals offer sign on bonuses, but only for experienced RN's. There are only a couple hospitals in my area who give sign on bonuses for new grads.

nekhismom · Mar 3, 2004

wow!! A sign on bonus for an experienced RN? Now there's an idea that MIGHT just bring talent and experience to short staffed hospitals.

Now, if we could just get a nice chunk of RETENTION bonuses, all would be well. I mean, if they can pay you xx amount of $$ for the first 2 years, why can't they pay you that much again for another 2 year commitment??

MEL101 · Mar 3, 2004

wow!! A sign on bonus for an experienced RN? Now there's an idea that MIGHT just bring talent and experience to short staffed hospitals.
Now, if we could just get a nice chunk of RETENTION bonuses, all would be well. I mean, if they can pay you xx amount of $$ for the first 2 years, why can't they pay you that much again for another 2 year commitment??

:) :angryfire Because "they" realize that experienced nurses know the real poop and who better to take advantage of than NEW GRADUATES! Why pay those of us that know the way the system works and can really prove thats theres "no shortage" of nurses ...h#lls bells theres a ton of nurses out there that choose not to be subjected to the same BS thats been going on for years...THIS CRAP HAS BEEN GOING ON FOR OVER 30 YEARS! and guess what...nurses still don't know how to bargain for themselves the way they should! Hate to say it but I would love to see nurses unionize...we can't seem to do it by ourselves so lets get somebody in there that can produce for us!...15K for 2 yrs of licking their boots?? I don't think sooo....just my thoughts folks...I hope the next generation of nurses wise up big time and make the system lick their boots!! I really need to win the lottery.....thx for listening....

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 3, 2004

Now, if we could just get a nice chunk of RETENTION bonuses, all would be well. I mean, if they can pay you xx amount of $$ for the first 2 years, why can't they pay you that much again for another 2 year commitment??

I work for a hospital that pays retention bonuses, but no sign-on bonuses. I also worked for a hospital years ago that did the same thing. At my hospital, the retention bonus grows the longer the RN stays. At the end of the 1st year, it is $500. Every 2 or 3 years thereafter, there is a slightly higher bonus. I forget the exact numbers, but I know at 5 years, the bonus is $1200. By 27 years, it is $10,000.

At the hospital where I used to work, they paid their retention bonus quarterly, based on the number of hours worked that quarter regardless of the person's seniority.

llg

nekhismom · Mar 4, 2004

I work for a hospital that pays retention bonuses, but no sign-on bonuses. I also worked for a hospital years ago that did the same thing. At my hospital, the retention bonus grows the longer the RN stays. At the end of the 1st year, it is $500. Every 2 or 3 years thereafter, there is a slightly higher bonus. I forget the exact numbers, but I know at 5 years, the bonus is $1200. By 27 years, it is $10,000.
At the hospital where I used to work, they paid their retention bonus quarterly, based on the number of hours worked that quarter regardless of the person's seniority.
llg

That sounds wonderful! Did they LOSE a lot of nurses with a retention bonus like that?

Now don't get me wrong, I am accepting a sign-on bonus, but I think it would be better spent in retention. The hospital I will work for DOES offer retention bonuses, but they are not nearly as large as the sign-on. But at least it's something.

llg, PhD, RN · Mar 4, 2004

That sounds wonderful! Did they LOSE a lot of nurses with a retention bonus like that?
.

Perhaps a few people go elsewhere because we don't offer a sign-on bonus, but we felt we had to make a clear stand on the issue. There seem to be a couple of new grads who "turn off" when they hear we don't have a sign-on bonus -- but we feel that we probably wouldn't want them as an employee if they are not willing to associate the "rewards" with committment and service.

I work for a charity children's hospital and more interested in attracting (and RETAINING) nurses who share a committment to children's health and who want to make a career out of that -- rather than hop from job to job every couple of years in search of some extra cash. The nurses who have worked here for years really appreciate the fact that we appreciate them and demonstrate it with cash on their anniversary date. Yes, some RN's still leave because of husband's job transfers, etc. -- but we have few who leave for a sign-on bonus across town.

llg

tntrn, ASN, RN · Mar 4, 2004

We just ratified a new 3-year contract and like last time, sign on bonuses vs retention measures were a huge issue. We KNEW administration hands out signon bonuses, not just to new grads, but also to many experienced new hires, but they wanted to turn a deaf ear to our demand that we (the loyal employees of more than 10 years) get full equity adjustments for years of experience.

There were many nurses with 15, 20 or 25 years at that hospital who were were making less than a nurse with the same number of years experience (amassed at other facilities) who was a relative new hire. How they could not see the injustice of this was mind-boggling.

I I think they knew they would have to make the adjustment, and they agreed---in the end. During the negotiations, their "concern" was how much such equity adjustments would cost them, but when asked point blank how much money they had spent giving signon bonuses for new hires (and let's face it: until someone works with you for a period of time, you don't really know if they are worth their salt or not) the shuffling began.

Many of the bonused new hires will move on when their 2-year committment is over. And we might see them back 2 years after that, with their hand out for another sign-on bonus. Whoever said that the bonuses aren't solving the problem is exactly right on--it's like a bandaid for a gaping, gushing wound.

Nothing fair about it, IMHO.

Sheri257 · Mar 4, 2004

That sounds wonderful! Did they LOSE a lot of nurses with a retention bonus like that?

There's a hospital in my area that does that, and it seems to work well. I hear the nurses are mostly happy and stay there.