Breaching StaRN Contract

Nurses New Nurse

Published

Hello, I need some help! I'm a new graduate nurse that started working on a very busy medical-surgical unit in April. In order for me to accept the job, I was required to sign a 2 year contract that states if I didn't stay with the company for 2 years, I'd have to pay them $10,000 in 60 days. I was never given any type of bonus pay--I was only offered the job. I've only been working for the company for 6 months, and I couldn't take it any more. They treated me like a slave and paid me like one too! Sometimes I would not be able to take a lunch break. Every shift I felt like I was risking my patient's lives and my nursing license because I didn't have enough time to provide all of their care! I never would have signed the contract if the manager told me the truth about the unit! She told me the nurse-patient ratio was 1:4. She didn't tell me we rarely have CNA's on our floor. Only after 7 weeks of orientation on my unit, I was consistently assigned 5 and sometimes 6 patients--with no CNA! I was told by my preceptor (who trains people on our unit) to omit critical nursing assessments/tasks because we don't have time (of course they all chart they did those things, but I refuse to follow their advise). Everyone else was too busy to help me too, even the charge nurses. There were many shifts that I was assigned 5-6 patients and all the other experienced nurses were assigned 3-4 patients! On those same days, I was also assigned the most challenging patients together. It was completely unfair for the patients and for me! Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that HCA organization truly values money $$ over patient safety and care!

I don't know what to do. I'm waiting to hear back from a lawyer on some legal advise. I don't feel like it is fair for me to pay them $10,000 for their poor staffing issues and unfair treatment! Apparently the debt is going to collections. Do you have any ideas on what to do?!

Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.

Are you in a work at will state? Or whatever it's called. Which means they can fire you without cause. Think about it. They can hire a new grad under this dubious contract, then fire him/her after 23 months. Oops. You owe us 10 grand. Now we can hire another new grad and get 23 months of work and 10 grand out of her. Great business model but not remotely legal.

Specializes in OR.

welcome to the world of for profit medicine. Places like this (and yes, HCA is one of the biggest offenders) do this in order to attract newbies who need that first nursing job. They get it and are afraid to leave for the exact reasons stated above. So they get the stuffing kicked out of them and if they make it to the 2 years mark or whatever, they wonder why they ever went into nursing at all and we have another bedside nurse running for the hills.

From the corporations side they see, hey...another warm body. We are nothing but another cost of doing business in the world of for profit medicine.

In a slightly inverse manner i was a tech in a nonprofit facility. i received a sort of in kind grant to go to nursing school. Basically they paid me for 40 hours a week, paid my tuition and books, and kept my benefits intact. I had to work 20 hours a week and go to school (and obviously make passing grades) The payback was i had to work there a year for every year they paid for after i graduated. i thought it was great. Full time pay, part time work and guaranteed job post graduation. I left several years after that and have regretted it ever since.

You see very little of the actual work RNs do as a student nurse...

It was expected of me in my nursing program's clinical rotations (especially during capstone) required me doing 99% of our preceptor job.

As a new grad I can honestly say that these are *not* "typical" new grad struggles. I have 4-6 patients a night-exactly the number I was told I would have when I accepted the position. I do have aids every single night (yes, sometimes we are short staffed and have more to do. That's life). Nobody has EVER told me not to perform essential nursing assessments or tasks in order to do aid duties. And nobody has EVER encouraged me to falsify documentation (now that actually can get your license ripped to shreds).

None of this is ok and all of this is stressful, new grad or not.

Specializes in EMS, LTC, Sub-acute Rehab.

I'd be more concerned with where you're going, not necessarily where you've been. Before you get your ducks in a row, consider where you actually want to work.

I have to agree with some of the other posters when they say those 1:8 patient ratios aren't unique, even without an aide. You can also expect to get the 'code brown's', 'difficult' patients, or more patients with a lower acuity, which may seem unfair but is often par for the course. While things might be different for your peers, it might not be the apples to apples scenario you perceive.

I'm not quite sure what advantages you were hoping to obtain from a Starn med/surg position. Most new nurses here start out in med/surg anyway without the StaRN program and it's also an HCA hospital. The programs here are specifically for the ER, ICU, and CCU which are difficult positions to obtain with

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding is the program is 14 weeks long and once completed you pickup a base salary instead of orientation pay.

Specializes in Med Surg Tele.

I left a similiar situation at a simliar HCA hospital. People break their contracts there ALL the time. What are they gonna due...serve you with papers? Show up at your doorstep with a lawyer? I don't think so.

The fact that HCA still uses meditech just goes to show how pathetic their leadership is and how badly they care about saving money.

Be thankful you still have a license, find a new job(trust me it will be better) and put it behind you. That's what I did. I couldn't be happier.

GO UHS system! GO cerner!

1 Votes
Specializes in Critical Care.
I left a similiar situation at a simliar HCA hospital. People break their contracts there ALL the time. What are they gonna due...serve you with papers? Show up at your doorstep with a lawyer? I don't think so.

The fact that HCA still uses meditech just goes to show how pathetic their leadership is and how badly they care about saving money.

Be thankful you still have a license, find a new job(trust me it will be better) and put it behind you. That's what I did. I couldn't be happier.

GO UHS system! GO cerner!

Yes, they very well may take action against you and it's not unheard of for employers to aggressively seek reimbursement. There are even some state BONs that will suspend your license for nursing related debt, this typically applies to student loan debt but can also include breach of contract penalties.

The recruiter actually lied to us about the pay raise. It's not base pay after orientation--it's much less. Yes, the first 7 weeks of orientation is class work and hospital paperwork; the last 7 weeks is on the unit with a preceptor.

The patient population wasn't low acuity, which is why our patient load wasn't safe without CNA's too. I'm also talking about day shift.

I am sorry this happened to you. As others mentioned, consult a lawyer. I read on another thread that a nurse signed a similar contract and quit before her commitment was completed, and she did not have to pay anything because they cannot force you to pay that amount because it is illegal.

In the future, I would stay away from such arrangements. Employers force such contracts on new grads under the guise of preventing new grads from leaving early and to prevent loss of $$ from training, but I have also thought it was due to high turnover rate from poor working conditions. Please keep us posted. I totally sympathize with your situation. That is why many nurses leave bedside as it is dangerous and exploitative.

Bosses and recruiters are not friends.

They're not evil, but they're not watching your back, but the bottom line of their company.

So, if it seems too good to be true, it is.

If you want to know what the real staffing numbers are, go by word of mouth. Or work there as a per diem.

Best of luck

Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.

Nothing you stated seems like a shock to me. I've worked in several different nursing homes where I would be LUCKY if I got a break or got to the bathroom.

I never signed a contract or anything but honestly, that's what nursing is now. I had 30-50 residents to care for & yes I had CNAs but that doesn't mean I leave "little things" for the aides to do. They are just as busy as I am.

I would NEVER sign a contract without reading it thoroughly first. You don't know what you're getting yourself into until it's too late. I wouldn't quit until you talk to a lawyer & secure a new job. You don't want to quit, have burned a bridge & then have payments coming in but no way to make them.

+ Add a Comment