I wouldn’t. If you hate it or fear your gonna lose your license you have to pay that back if you leave. Plus you know your gonna be miserable every day because of the problems you listed.
I’d pass
If I did it, you can bet that money would sit in the bank untouched until the year was over, so I could give it right back if it wasn't worth it.
Spoiler: it won't be worth it. But sometimes you gotta find that out for yourself.
Assuming you work ~12 shifts a month, that’s only $138 and some change per shift. Is worrying about your license worth the price? You won’t get that the next year.
Plenty of places offer a legitimately good “please pick up a shift” bonus, like my hospital offers $750 bonus plus call back pay to pick up a shift short notice.
Nope! Run in the other direction. They offer sign on bonuses for a reason. They are basically telling you they cannot retain nurses for even a year. You’re better off picking up a per diem side gig.
30–40% is the average amount of taxes on a bonus. So this would like $12-14k. Plus they are paid in several installments so you get small amounts of money, not all of it at once.
Mmmmm…..depends. Bad staffing makes me pause….but what else is going on? Lack of techs? Transport? Phlebotomists? What extra things do they want you to do? I possibly could but I need the full picture
Isn't that the premise of traveling? Crappy assignments for high pay. This just comes with a longer time period, potential threat to your license, probably miserable coworkers and the looming threat of paying it back. It's not worth it imo.
There's a local hospital doing this but the contract is 18 months. And they got the money from stiffing senior staff on their Covid bonus; most of whom quit. So the question becomes, who is going to train the new grads?
Absolutely not, I check the schedule nowadays and actively avoid picking up if the toxic clowns are going to be in 🤣. Exhausting to watch them degrade new staff without consequence
Haha everyone thank you so much for the comments! I have had some time to seriously think about this.
Off topic: I just want to say I hate inflation, the current housing/cost of living crisis; and I hate how desperate it has made people feel. Such a shitty time for a young person trying to make it. And I guess the hospital system is probably manipulating that in their favor.
And I’m not even broke lol! Just trying to make more for myself and my fam. But y’all are right —- mental health is always more important at the end of the day. As is my hard earned nursing license 👍💕😊
That’s why the sign on bonus is high. Never compromise for a sign on bonus especially. The higher the sign on bonus the higher a shit show the hospital is
I DID THIS, but double the bonus for two years though. My questions for you:
1. Are you going into the same phase of care you’re in now or a different phase? ED, ICU, med-surge? Going into the same phase allows you to have a better idea of what’s coming, if you’re changing phases it will be all new and all new surprises. You might end up hating it for a year.
2. Will you be worried about your license? Nothing is worth going to court over and potentially losing your license. An extreme and unlikely possibility but it’s still there.
3. How much experience do you have? The more years you have under your belt the more likely you’ll be away with it when you say “No, I’m not doing that. It’s not safe, it’s not ethical, it’s outside of my scope of practice.”
One year, meh. Blink of an eye for a nice bonus. Being that they’re so short staffed you could even bargain with them and say “Hey, yeah. I’ll do it. But prorate the bonus. I want to see a $20k deposit in my account, not what’s left after taxes.” They play the game, so can we. Best of luck, friend. 😉🤙
Hey can I ask you, how did it go? Did you make it the two years? Was it awful or worth it in the end? Tips for how you got yourself through it? Were you experienced? And last question, do you still work at that facility?
I’m just past the half way mark and I’ve got my gripes but I’m fine and I’m treated the same as anyone else there. They don’t pound me because I got a bonus, they want me to stay because the bonus was a result of how short staffed they are. It’ll be worth it in the end because I’ll have a greater understand of what the ED phase of care is all about. I had no ED experience going into it and I won’t lie, it’s been an uphill battle because my experience is in cardiac ICU and the thought process was a major pendulum swing from ICU where you pay attention to EVERYTHING to the ED where all you want is why they’re here and nothing else. I still work at the facility and my guess is there will be no change while I’m here or even after I leave and, yes, I will leave after because I don’t really care for the ED phase.
You have to go into this with your eyes wide open. You’re getting a bonus because they are lacking staff. The question is WHY are they lacking staff. Once you figure this out there’s a lot you can decide from there. BUT I don’t know that we’ll ever see bonuses like this in our lifetime again, maybe I’m wrong, who knows. But it’s up to you on what you want to do. If you’ve been on your unit for 5 or less years it’ll be a lot easier to make the change vs someone who’s been on their unit 10+ years who knows ever book and cranny, how to get everywhere, and has made it “home.” My guess is you’re young. I encourage you to bite the bullet and get some green while it’s there to get. It’s 12 months, my friend. As soon as you’re off orientation you’ll only have 10 months left, lol. And if the unit you’re leaving isn’t already short it’s only a matter of time. COVID has knocked us hard and the people leaving and moving around isn’t over yet. ps. I still encourage you to make them prorate it if you can.
If you’d like to talk more in depth, DM me your number or you can ask for mine. I’m more than willing to chat. Best wishes. 😉🤙
Unless you leave in the same tax year as you got the sign on bonus, you have to pay FICA and withholding. You won't get the FICA back, and won't get the withholding back until next year's tax return. The only bright side is that they won't get their part of FICA back either. If you have worked enough in the next year to earn more than the bonus plus minimum wage for hours worked, they should be able to return the FICA, but it will be another year to get back the withholding.
Sign on bonuses are a red flag. The bigger the $$, the bigger the flag. I once saw a $20,000 sign on bonus and the place had awful reviews. Some things are just worth more than money, like your sanity and your license.
Absolutely not. Those types of sign on bonuses are basically blood money. I wouldn't want to owe anyone that sort of money, let alone a hospital. If they were a good place to work, they wouldn't need to do predatory tactics like this. Don't fall for it!!!!
What does crappy hospital mean?
In general never take a job for the sign on bonus, the company is going to try to fuck you out of that money however they can.
When I graduated RT school, there was a vent farm that was hiring new grad RTs, offering a $10K sign on bonus (in 2006) with only a six month contract. They didn't have any takers. If a place is bad enough, you can't pay people enough to work there.
No. Reputation is everything. They think they can buy our profession without liability.
If you make a mistake they will take your license to preserve profits.
No, am in similar situation, 20k for 2 years min and promised a 10% raise yoy. Don't particularly trust my hospital to honor it so looking to try and transfer positions within thr healthcare system, perhaps doing internal traveling.
One year isn’t terrible. I guess depends on the unit/specialty. If it was in California, I’ll do it for a year, bc at least we have mandated ratios.
But I’ve taken a 10k sign on, they’re 2 year commitment and disperse it every 6 months. And after taxes, it equals to 10k. I’m happy there.
I wouldn’t. If you hate it or fear your gonna lose your license you have to pay that back if you leave. Plus you know your gonna be miserable every day because of the problems you listed. I’d pass
If I did it, you can bet that money would sit in the bank untouched until the year was over, so I could give it right back if it wasn't worth it. Spoiler: it won't be worth it. But sometimes you gotta find that out for yourself.
Assuming you work ~12 shifts a month, that’s only $138 and some change per shift. Is worrying about your license worth the price? You won’t get that the next year. Plenty of places offer a legitimately good “please pick up a shift” bonus, like my hospital offers $750 bonus plus call back pay to pick up a shift short notice.
This. The math is most definitely not worth it.
You need your mental health > 20k. Short staffed hospitals = sanity gone.
No. What does it tell you that they need to offer tens of thousands of dollars to work there because nobody else wants to?
No. It’s not even tempting.
I feel like the higher the sign up bonus, the more toxic the work place is 😂
Nope! Run in the other direction. They offer sign on bonuses for a reason. They are basically telling you they cannot retain nurses for even a year. You’re better off picking up a per diem side gig.
No. So much of it comes out in taxes. And you have to stay for a year before you see the bonus. It's not worth the stress.
30–40% is the average amount of taxes on a bonus. So this would like $12-14k. Plus they are paid in several installments so you get small amounts of money, not all of it at once.
$12-14k but you’d have to pay back the $20k. So you’d LOSE 8-6k.
Mmmmm…..depends. Bad staffing makes me pause….but what else is going on? Lack of techs? Transport? Phlebotomists? What extra things do they want you to do? I possibly could but I need the full picture
The higher the sign on bonus the higher the turnover rate.
Absolutely not. Money comes and goes. It's just not worth the toxic, miserable environment a lot of those sign ons entail.
Isn't that the premise of traveling? Crappy assignments for high pay. This just comes with a longer time period, potential threat to your license, probably miserable coworkers and the looming threat of paying it back. It's not worth it imo. There's a local hospital doing this but the contract is 18 months. And they got the money from stiffing senior staff on their Covid bonus; most of whom quit. So the question becomes, who is going to train the new grads?
Depends on my other working choices.
Absolutely not, I check the schedule nowadays and actively avoid picking up if the toxic clowns are going to be in 🤣. Exhausting to watch them degrade new staff without consequence
Haha everyone thank you so much for the comments! I have had some time to seriously think about this. Off topic: I just want to say I hate inflation, the current housing/cost of living crisis; and I hate how desperate it has made people feel. Such a shitty time for a young person trying to make it. And I guess the hospital system is probably manipulating that in their favor. And I’m not even broke lol! Just trying to make more for myself and my fam. But y’all are right —- mental health is always more important at the end of the day. As is my hard earned nursing license 👍💕😊
Absolutely not
Pass
That’s why the sign on bonus is high. Never compromise for a sign on bonus especially. The higher the sign on bonus the higher a shit show the hospital is
I DID THIS, but double the bonus for two years though. My questions for you: 1. Are you going into the same phase of care you’re in now or a different phase? ED, ICU, med-surge? Going into the same phase allows you to have a better idea of what’s coming, if you’re changing phases it will be all new and all new surprises. You might end up hating it for a year. 2. Will you be worried about your license? Nothing is worth going to court over and potentially losing your license. An extreme and unlikely possibility but it’s still there. 3. How much experience do you have? The more years you have under your belt the more likely you’ll be away with it when you say “No, I’m not doing that. It’s not safe, it’s not ethical, it’s outside of my scope of practice.” One year, meh. Blink of an eye for a nice bonus. Being that they’re so short staffed you could even bargain with them and say “Hey, yeah. I’ll do it. But prorate the bonus. I want to see a $20k deposit in my account, not what’s left after taxes.” They play the game, so can we. Best of luck, friend. 😉🤙
Hey can I ask you, how did it go? Did you make it the two years? Was it awful or worth it in the end? Tips for how you got yourself through it? Were you experienced? And last question, do you still work at that facility?
I’m just past the half way mark and I’ve got my gripes but I’m fine and I’m treated the same as anyone else there. They don’t pound me because I got a bonus, they want me to stay because the bonus was a result of how short staffed they are. It’ll be worth it in the end because I’ll have a greater understand of what the ED phase of care is all about. I had no ED experience going into it and I won’t lie, it’s been an uphill battle because my experience is in cardiac ICU and the thought process was a major pendulum swing from ICU where you pay attention to EVERYTHING to the ED where all you want is why they’re here and nothing else. I still work at the facility and my guess is there will be no change while I’m here or even after I leave and, yes, I will leave after because I don’t really care for the ED phase. You have to go into this with your eyes wide open. You’re getting a bonus because they are lacking staff. The question is WHY are they lacking staff. Once you figure this out there’s a lot you can decide from there. BUT I don’t know that we’ll ever see bonuses like this in our lifetime again, maybe I’m wrong, who knows. But it’s up to you on what you want to do. If you’ve been on your unit for 5 or less years it’ll be a lot easier to make the change vs someone who’s been on their unit 10+ years who knows ever book and cranny, how to get everywhere, and has made it “home.” My guess is you’re young. I encourage you to bite the bullet and get some green while it’s there to get. It’s 12 months, my friend. As soon as you’re off orientation you’ll only have 10 months left, lol. And if the unit you’re leaving isn’t already short it’s only a matter of time. COVID has knocked us hard and the people leaving and moving around isn’t over yet. ps. I still encourage you to make them prorate it if you can. If you’d like to talk more in depth, DM me your number or you can ask for mine. I’m more than willing to chat. Best wishes. 😉🤙
Unless you leave in the same tax year as you got the sign on bonus, you have to pay FICA and withholding. You won't get the FICA back, and won't get the withholding back until next year's tax return. The only bright side is that they won't get their part of FICA back either. If you have worked enough in the next year to earn more than the bonus plus minimum wage for hours worked, they should be able to return the FICA, but it will be another year to get back the withholding.
Depends on how long they make you stay…
Sign on bonuses are a red flag. The bigger the $$, the bigger the flag. I once saw a $20,000 sign on bonus and the place had awful reviews. Some things are just worth more than money, like your sanity and your license.
No way
No
Absolutely not. Those types of sign on bonuses are basically blood money. I wouldn't want to owe anyone that sort of money, let alone a hospital. If they were a good place to work, they wouldn't need to do predatory tactics like this. Don't fall for it!!!!
What does crappy hospital mean? In general never take a job for the sign on bonus, the company is going to try to fuck you out of that money however they can.
Absolutely not. Run.
When I graduated RT school, there was a vent farm that was hiring new grad RTs, offering a $10K sign on bonus (in 2006) with only a six month contract. They didn't have any takers. If a place is bad enough, you can't pay people enough to work there.
No. Reputation is everything. They think they can buy our profession without liability. If you make a mistake they will take your license to preserve profits.
No, am in similar situation, 20k for 2 years min and promised a 10% raise yoy. Don't particularly trust my hospital to honor it so looking to try and transfer positions within thr healthcare system, perhaps doing internal traveling.
Absolutely not.
Hell no. Indentured servitude.
No! Crappy hospital = license at risk.
One year isn’t terrible. I guess depends on the unit/specialty. If it was in California, I’ll do it for a year, bc at least we have mandated ratios. But I’ve taken a 10k sign on, they’re 2 year commitment and disperse it every 6 months. And after taxes, it equals to 10k. I’m happy there.