The Power of Benefits
Janice Spillane, RN, MS

When I graduated from nursing school more than 30 years ago, I was thrilled to have a job that offered vacation and sick time. Paid personal days, tuition reimbursement, and paid education days weren’t standard benefits back then. When I accepted a position at a local community hospital two years later, I couldn’t believe my ears when the interviewer told me I’d be reimbursed up to $500 a year if I decided to go back to school for my bachelor of science degree. Back then, I was earning $12,000 a year as a critical care nurse. Five hundred dollars was a lot of money, and I was thrilled the hospital offered this great benefit. I thought I was on easy street.

Well, times have changed; and today new graduates just out of school can earn starting salaries of $60,000 at some hospitals in the New York City metropolitan area and perhaps even sign-on bonuses of $5,000 or more. Given today’s economy, many nurses find these so-called “high salaries” barely cover the cost of living, let alone stretch far enough to cover school loans. Tuition reimbursement and loan forgiveness programs have become “must haves” for today’s nurses. Other employment benefits have undergone dramatic changes, as well. They address more than financial need; many are designed to help nurses save time, a precious commodity in today’s world.

Recently I polled hospitals from all over the US, through our Nursing Spectrum regional offices, about the initiatives they have instituted to recruit and retain nurses. I was not surprised to find an increasing number of quality-of-life initiatives added to the list of recruitment and retention benefits. Employers are embracing these new benefits because many are low in cost and nurses value them. At some hospitals, employees can drop off their dry cleaning, have their laundry washed and folded, pick up a to-go meal at the cafeteria, and cash their paychecks.

While some quality-of-life benefits are inexpensive, others do have substantial up-front costs. But they also have the potential for enormous payback. For instance, some hospitals have opened child day care centers for their employees and some even offer sick child care. Want to go back to school? No problem. Hospitals and colleges are partnering to provide workplace education programs through which nurses can obtain bachelor’s or master’s degrees without ever having to leave the hospital. For many employees these new workplace incentives make the standard 2% to 4% raises more bearable.

The nursing shortage and tight revenues have prompted employers to become much more creative in designing benefits that fit within their budgets and are time-savers for their employees. They realize satisfied employees are worth their weight in gold. A satisfied nurse is one fewer nurse they need to recruit. Retention is the operative word, and it translates into improved benefits for long-term staff. Abbreviated work weeks (24 to 30 hours) for full-time pay and benefits plus flexible part-time work hours have become commonplace in many areas of the country. If you want to work only four hours a day, three days a week, chances are there is a recruiter at a hospital near you who is sitting by the phone waiting for your call.

We all know money and benefits only go so far. Nurses want to work in environments in which they are valued and in which they have a say in the ways things are done and care is delivered. Shared governance, in which staff who work in the trenches drive change, is on the rise. And more and more facilities are promoting nurses to administrative positions that have clout, positions in which they have a say in the ways hospitals operate and the big money is spent. Having nurses in top positions has a positive trickle-down effect; and nurses are more frequently finding themselves sitting on committees, such as strategic planning, that have in the past been reserved for physicians and highly-placed administrators. Having nurses at the decision core is a powerful benefit for nursing, one that cannot be measured in dollars but can be measured in employee satisfaction.

If you haven’t taken a look at the job market in a while, it may be time for you to make the rounds of area facilities to see what’s new and exciting in the benefits arena. It doesn’t mean you need to leave a job you truly enjoy to take advantage of these new incentives — perhaps your own hospital will be willing to adopt one or two of these benefits to enhance its marketability and image. It never hurts to take a look or to ask around.

Remember, the nursing shortage has placed you in the driver’s seat. All you have to do is decide what you want and where you’d like to go.

Janice Spillane, RN, MS, is an editorial director for Nursing Spectrum.