Nurse recruitment plans focus on working conditions over financial rewards

Five years ago, hospitals waged intense bidding wars to fill nursing vacancies, luring nurses with huge signing bonuses, vehicles and vacations. Such efforts often only exacerbated turnover, spurring nurses to remain in jobs just long enough to claim the prizes before moving to other hospitals with better incentives. Instead, many nurses want better working conditions more than they do extra money. Hospitals now are responding by introducing technology to dramatically reduce paperwork, offering more flexible hours, reducing caseloads, paying for advanced training and giving them more authority.