Some organizations are going to great lengths to fill their vacant nursing positions.
This article was originally published by HCPro's Nurse Leader Insider March 15, 2018.
Hospitals around the country are always looking for new ways to recruit nurses, and some are offering more and more expensive perks to attract and keep nurses.
We hear all the time about nursing shortages, especially in rural healthcare settings. CNN reported this week on some of the more outlandish strategies hospitals are using to recruit and retain nurses. Here are a few examples:
UCHealth operates nine hospitals and over 100 clinics in Colorado, Nebraska, and Wyoming, and they have a staggering 330 openings for RNs. Because the local nursing pool is limited in those areas, they are offering relocation bonuses up to $10,000, and an additional $4000 a year for continuing education. They are offering a Traveler RN program as well, which would allow nurses to do 13-week rotations at different facilities operated by UCHealth.
Inova Health System operates six Washington, D.C.-area hospitals, and they are offering a $20,000 sign-on bonus and up to $20,000 in relocation reimbursement for nurses who live more than 50 miles from one of their hospitals. Nurses that live within 50 miles of their hospital also receive a $10,000 signing bonus.
West Virginia University (WVU) Medicine runs eight hospitals in the state, and they are offering a few different incentives to attract nurses. For nurses that stay with WVU Medicine for more than five years, they receive full college tuition to WVU for both themselves and their children, and partial tuition if they go elsewhere. They also offer a commuter lodging program, which gives nurses that live 60 miles away from their facility a free place to stay in the area.
For more information about how you can recruit and retain nurses in your department, check out these selections from the Strategies for Nurse Managers Reading Room:
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