A study by the company of Martin, Fletcher showed that hospitals were really rolling out the red carpet in their efforts to hire new nurses. 88 percent of hospitals offered a substantial sign-on bonus – in the high thousands of dollars, the study on health compensation showed. Other benefits offered by hospitals hoping to recruit new staff included generous relocation packages averaging over $5,000, tuition reimbursement, and payment for continuing education. Given these incentives, it is no wonder that hospitals are the primary places where there are nursing jobs available.
If you are being heavily recruited by a hospital make sure you do your due diligence before accepting any offers. For example, is there a high turnover rate? If so, why? Is the hospital in a neighborhood and/or city that you want to be in for at least a few years? Generally when a hospital offers a financial incentive to come work for them, they require the nurse to stay for a certain agreed-on period of time in exchange for it.
The fact that a hospital is offering a lot of incentives to work for them, though, does not necessarily mean that they are a bad place to work. There is such a severe nursing shortage everywhere that even great facilities are scrambling to recruit new nurses. You just want to be sure that it’s the right hospital for you before you make a long-term commitment.
