Salary might seem like the most important aspect when assessing a job, but for healthcare workers – hunting for work in a market where hospitals and healthcare employers are competing for staff – it's the perks that frequently matter.

The salary is just the beginning. In the US, sign-on bonuses are still common, but now there's a twist. Many employers are offering retention bonuses or tying sign-on bonuses to the length of time an employee stays with a facility. (Additionally, existing staff members are encouraged – through referral bonuses – to bring in new members.) To ease the burden of night and weekend shifts, employers are offering pay differentials. The University of North Carolina Hospitals, for instance, pays an extra US$10 an hour on weekend days and an extra US$13.75 an hour for weekend evenings/nights. This money can pad a salary considerably.

Some organizations have adopted a very practical monetary incentive: assistance with mortgage and rent payments. Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in Hamilton, provides mortgage subsidies. Full-time nurses get US$100 per month toward their mortgage and part-timers receive US$50 per month. The hospital also provides up to US$1,500 toward mortgage closing costs for the full-timer (US$750 for the part-timer).

Similarly, Cottage Health System in Santa Barbara allows employees to borrow up to US$75,000 (depending on the cost of the home) on a 15-year second mortgage. For renters, St. Joseph General Hospital in Elliot Lake, offers three months free rent.

To ease the stress of moving and develop a wider hiring pool, hospitals are offering attractive relocation packages. In fact, most hospitals in the US and Canada will pay some amount toward relocation. As an example, Cottage Health System provides a US$3,000 rental assistance package.

Providence Kodiak Island Medical Center in , pays for the first 30 days rent and provides a car for the same length of time. To attract potential employees who may be worried about homesickness, the Queen of Angels-Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center in Los Angeles gives nurses two free airline tickets per year (for the first two years) to visit their family back home.

When it comes to perks, sometimes it's those that focus on our mental and physical health that impact our lives the most. While Canadian hospitals seem to be lagging behind in wellness incentives (mainly due to money shortages), many US employers have been coming up with new ways to care for their staff. These incentives may include anything from free gym memberships to nutrition seminars to in-house daycare. The University of Wisconsin Hospitals and Clinics contracted a company called Errand Solutions to provide a unique service: staff can get their dry cleaning done, their film developed, or their car washed, and they pay only the retail price.

A model example, The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has covered all the bases. Stress-reduction workshops, support groups, and weight-loss programs just scrape the surface. The Employee Assistance Service and Education (EASE) program is a confidential resource for those facing stressful situations (such as relationship issues, drug use, or grief) and offers five free sessions in anything from counseling to rehabilitation for the employee or a family member. And the LifeBalance program helps employees find information on anything from locating a summer camp to choosing a babysitter to adopting a child. Both services have round-the-clock, toll-free lines and web access and are designed to help employees balance the demands of work, family, and modern-day life. Clearly the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia is setting the bar very high.

Recognition programs have been a mainstay in the corporate world for years and are catching on in healthcare. At the University of Chicago Hospital, peers nominate an Employee of the Year, and each winner receives an award along with a check for US$1,000. Blue Shield of California prints all employee commendations (from clients) in a weekly online staff newsletter as well as tenure anniversary dates to recognize long-term employees.

To encourage employees to take further degrees, education reimbursements are offered by an increasing number of hospitals in both Canada and the US. (Often, employers will pay for the full amount of tuition but not the books.) And since a health professional's schedule can interfere with class time, some hospitals have begun offering on-site courses, access to online learning opportunities, or flexible hours. To attract recent graduates, Sutter Lakeside Hospital in offers a loan forgiveness program to help nurses repay college debt – they can receive up to 66% of their loan.

Job seekers: don't forget to assess the value of each offer. The intangible benefits can't always be quantified in dollars and cents, but can add significantly to overall job satisfaction.