A nurse’s salary is barely a part of the pie

In addition to a nurse’s salary, have a look at the full advantages package

Marie Nolan, PhD, MPH, RN, FAAN, enjoys imparting her personal experience negotiating worker advantages to her graduate and undergraduate students at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in Baltimore, where she is a professor and executive associate dean. Nolan tells students that as a brand new nurse in 1980, her supervisor told her she would need to work the night shift. “I said, ‘I couldn’t work at night because I want to learn everything as quickly as possible. If you work at night, you really can’t learn much because the patients are sleeping and you don’t want to wake them up. the head nurse replied, “Well, then you can work all day,” Nolan said. “The three new graduates who were hired right before me were furious,” she said. “They asked why I didn’t have to work the night shift? I replied, ‘Because I said I wouldn’t do it.’ This simple story illustrates several important points that Nolan emphasizes to his students. First, nurses – even new nurses – often have more negotiating power than they realize. Second, it is important for nurses to understand their professional and personal goals before negotiating benefits. Salary is just one element that nurses must consider when looking for a job or reviewing your overall compensation package. Hospitals and other organizations can offer nurses a wide range of benefits, including medical, dental and vision insurance; short- and long-term disability insurance; retirement benefits; and life insurance. Other benefits may include family leave (which may be important for nurses who want to expand their family), gym membership, cell phone discounts, and a free lunch or snacks. However, Nolan said the most important benefit for nurses, especially young nurses, is academic assistance due to the skyrocketing costs of education. Nolan said one hospital might offer $15,000 a year for tuition, while another hospital might only offer $5,000 a year. This difference can really come in handy. “If they had chosen employment based on tuition remission, they could have received a higher amount of $30,000 or $60,000,” Nolan said. Tuition remission differs from reimbursement in that financial advantages or waivers are sometimes secured before the beginning of the college semester. A powerful nursing candidate might also give you the chance to barter wait times before returning to highschool. Nolan said a nurse could tell her future employer that because she may be very energetic and determined, she must be allowed to return to highschool part-time inside six months, slightly than having to attend the customary yr or two for tuition waivers. She might also say that she is able to return to highschool immediately, but just for classes that won’t interfere along with her orientation within the ward. Nurses might also consider whether their employer offers academic support for his or her children. For example, Johns Hopkins Medicine offers assistance to full-time employees who’ve accomplished two years of continuous service to assist pay for his or her dependent kid’s college education as much as 50% of the first-year undergraduate tuition at Johns Hopkins University.

Benefits in your golden years

Another necessary profit to contemplate is the proportion of contributions to a retirement account similar to a 401k that your employer will match. Nolan notes that after 30 years or so, there could be a huge difference in retirement accounts between someone whose employer contributes 6% and someone whose employer contributes 12%. If a nurse has many job opportunities, Nolan suggests making a listing of things similar to: salary, pension and profession opportunities offered by each potential employer. One employer may find yourself paying significantly more in salary and advantages over the course of a profession than one other, but the opposite employer may offer a piece atmosphere that higher suits an individual’s profession and private goals. For example, a community hospital will not be the place for a nurse who has lofty profession ambitions and is in search of extensive opportunities to collaborate with physicians, nevertheless it could also be a super place for a nurse who wants a versatile schedule and would like to avoid lots of the medical crises present in a big teaching hospital. “The problem,” Nolan said, “is that people are uninformed and choose one hospital over another for the wrong reasons.” Barbra Drenski, OnCourse Learning’s senior human resources specialist – advantages and compensation, said that advantages beyond salary could make up as much as 27% of an worker’s total compensation package. Drenski said there are several advantages that many individuals overlook or don’t analyze closely enough when interviewing for a job, including the main points of an organization 401k or other retirement plan beyond the employer match percentage. “People don’t see the vesting schedule,” Drenski said. “The employer can match, but then he doesn’t ask: ‘Is the right acquired immediately?’ Is it acquired within five years?». If you only stay with the company for three years and your vesting schedule exceeds five years, you will not receive 100% of your employer match.” Drenski also emphasizes the importance of creating sure your employer offers a health care savings account, especially if a high-deductible medical plan is an element of your advantages package. “It’s a great way to save pre-tax money for ongoing medical, dental and vision expenses,” Drenski said.

Ask, then dig deeper

Since advantages play a key role in your total compensation, there is no bad time to debate them during job interview process– said Dreński. The higher the extent of the job, the more necessary the advantages package normally becomes in determining whether a possible worker will accept the offer. It can also be necessary to be told concerning the advantages offered by the employer before starting negotiations. This process often begins by reviewing a possible employer’s website, which normally lists basic advantages. But Nolan suggests digging somewhat deeper. She said nurses can call HR and ask for details similar to salary ranges and tuition reimbursement. This will help the nurse realize that she has room to barter. And an easy phone call to a friend – or friend of a friend – is usually the most effective approach to gauge the work environment at a hospital or other organization. Some hospitals even allow potential employees to spend a day with a nurse to get first-hand experience. Once the nurse has all the data she will be able to get, the negotiation process becomes somewhat easier, but you continue to have to know where to attract the road. Nolan said that after you tell your employer what you may’t live without, you have got to mean it. If you do not need to truly leave your job for certain advantages, don’t say that is what you will do. Freelance author Tom Clegg contributed to writing and researching this text.

Career Related Courses

The cost to switch a staff nurse is estimated to range from $36,900 to $57,300. Replacing a nurse with additional training, similar to critical care or labor and delivery, can cost as much as twice the nurse’s annual salary. Although much of the responsibility for nurse retention has been placed on the nurse administrative hierarchy, nurses themselves must play an energetic role in understanding why colleagues remain and help create a piece environment that promotes nurse retention. To ensure a pool of qualified internal candidates, succession planning is a necessary business strategy. Succession planning involves the focused, formal assessment and development of people for future leadership positions. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists registered nursing because the occupation with the best likelihood of job growth through 2022, with a possible increase from 2.71 million in 2012 to three.4 million in 2022. Employment shall be required because of job loss 525,000 substitute nurses workforce. Taking into consideration total projected growth, 2022 guarantees a shortage of 1.05 million registered nurses. According to a 2013 study, 55% of the nursing workforce is 50 years of age or older. As the child boom generation (born between 1946 and 1964) retires, healthcare facilities must hire and retain qualified management staff in a competitive marketplace.