Sign on bonuses

hey there...I am a new nurse with some experience and have been recently job offered with a 10K sign on bonus plus relocation. This is a rural hospital but does sign on bonus usually mean there is something wrong with the hospital or do rural hospitals offer this usually. Any thoughts are appreciated..thanks!
It means they are desperate for help. You also get the bonus in increments, so they know they will have you for a specific time. Usually takes a year to receive total bonus. Years ago, everyone had some sort of bonus plan. When the economy turns and the RN's go back into retirement, the shortage will begin again and the bonuses will be back. Good luck! Peace!

I recently saw a job posting for an $8k bonus in Chicago too, and at a mid-sized hospital. I think it means they really want to fill that position and w/a great person, so congrats

I'd love to know where!

Quote from CCL RNI'd love to know where!

I, too have noticed more sign-on bonuses. I think it means they need a qualified applicant, are not happy with what they have seen and are willing to pay for good nurse. They all seem to come with some rules, get parts at different times, or have to repay iof you do not stay for required length of time.. I would not look at it as Bad place, rural area may offer as not everywhere has alot of nurses living close and they feel they could get better talent. Good luck with your journey.

The posters are right, they need someone, but you can't know if that is because no one stays there. High turnover could lead to bonuses and someplace you are now stuck. I would be sure to talk to some staff first if you can. There could be other reasons such as expansion or increased patient load, which would be good signs.

I would talk to the staff or get the down low on the place. It may be that they want a qualified nurse, or it may be that they want any nurse. I have learned that admin and nurse managers are only out for themselves. You need to be out there for you. Good luck!

Just a suggestion to all who are considering sign on bonuses: Take whatever bonus they give you and stick it in a savings account. Don't touch it until you have worked out the obligated time on your agreement.Many times you will find out after starting the reasons a bonus needed to be offered and if you have spent that money you are stuck no matter what they throw at you. By keeping the money set aside you have the option to buy yourself out of a bad situation - and also have leverage to negotiate a better situation.

Quote from bagladyrnJust a suggestion to all who are considering sign on bonuses: Take whatever bonus they give you and stick it in a savings account. Don't touch it until you have worked out the obligated time on your agreement.Many times you will find out after starting the reasons a bonus needed to be offered and if you have spent that money you are stuck no matter what they throw at you. By keeping the money set aside you have the option to buy yourself out of a bad situation - and also have leverage to negotiate a better situation.

We have found in our hospital that there is no shortage of new grads, but that experienced nurses in specialty areas are not jumping ship right now. The sign on bonuses seem to be appearing to encourage CCU, ICU, etc., to leave their current position and move to the new one. I haven't seen any sign-ons for new grads lately.

Although sign-on bonuses are fairly common in better economic times, and have been used at times by lots of good healthcare employers who are looking for an "edge" in attracting good staff when they have a lot of competition (other employers) in their particular area, with the economy and unemployment as bad as they are now and hospitals and other healthcare employers doing everything they can to cut costs and tighten their belts, it's hard to imagine that there would be any reason these days for a hospital to offer a sign-on bonus other than that there's no other way they can get people to work there.Everywhere you turn, you hear about hospitals having hundreds of applicants for each opening. What's wrong with the place, that they've got to bribe people to work there?I understand that $10k is $10k, but I would be v. cautious.

OP, I signed a contract for a sign on bonus with the hospital that I am currently employed. It is a large university, and they offered sign on bonuses to qualified nurses as a way of keeping turn over rates down, as a previous poster suggested. A word of caution: one poster suggested to keep your first installment of the sign on bonus in a separate untouched account. This is sound advice. Recently, we hired an experienced nurse who was qualified for the sign on bonus. Our probationary period is 90 days. At the end of the probationary period, she was let go. That meant that she had to pay back her first installment of the sign on bonus. I know that sometimes it sounds "too good to be true" when considering a sign on bonus. Just because a hospital is offering this does not mean that it is a horrible place to work; rather it means that the hospital would like to encourage nurses to stay put. One of my former managers told me that all in all, it takes $60,000 to train a nurse. I have no idea where she came up with that figure, but the message that I got from her comment was that it takes some serious cash to train a nurse before they can then fly on their own and become productive for the hospital. Offering a sign on bonus is peanuts compared to training several nurses who end up leaving the system before they can contribute autonomously to the hospital.