Breaching StaRN Contract

[Bella_CO]

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?!

[chocoholic999]

Hiring,orienting, and educating a new grad nurse can cost upward of $60,000 to an employer, so yes, they want a return on their investment so that every new grad doesn't jump the med/surg ship and go to L&D, ICU. ED, or whatever specialty they actually wanted in the first place as soon as they get that magic 1-2 years experience. The contract is a sign of a desperate employer who loses many new grads. But, you agreed to the terms when you signed the contract. Defaulting on this expense and being sent to collections can ruin your credit rating. Future employers actually look at a credit score, so it may keep you from a "dream job" some day.

I'm sorry that you did not like the working conditions, but that's med surg nursing. In 20 years on med surg floors I got lunch breaks about 5 times. And yes, 7 patients on the day shift. If you find a hospital with better working conditions that what you left, let us all know. We want to work there.

[Bella_CO]

It wouldn't have been so unsafe and unmanageable if we had CNA's on our unit. If the employers do not want to lose their employees they hire, they should invest in sufficient nursing staff. Having just one CNA would have made a significant difference. Hence is why we lost a ridiculous amount of nurses in my very short experience there. That was the #1 compliant. Where I'm from, it is unheard of to have a medical-surgical without CNA's.

Sorry y'all, I still don't have an update. í ½í¹í ¼í¿»

[MJB2010]

Never sign a contract without fully reading every word and knowing how to get out of it. Some places prorate, so perhaps what you owe will be less then the full 10K. Hopefully a lawyer can help or you can find another hca job that is better to work off the rest of the contract.

[MJB2010]

I'm dismayed to see how nasty and unsupportive some of the responses have been. Instead of building one another up, or offering advice, we are eating our young again and going out of our way to be rude, which is sad. It really makes this profession look bad how it continues.

[SummitRN, BSN, RN]

Hiring,orienting, and educating a new grad nurse can cost upward of $60,000 to an employer

Yea yea yea... this is the spew put out by hospitals and some folks gunning for their thesis approval in management/edu track degrees.

The number keeps growing every time I hear it quoted!

Don't buy into that BS without exercising critical thinking.

For starters, compare it to the cost of a non-new-grad RN turning over their position:

http://www.nsinursingsolutions.com/Files/assets/library/retention-institute/NationalHealthcareRNRetentionReport2016.pdf

They give costs almost equal to this mythical cost of of new grad training. Isn't that a bit odd?

So let's compare how much more a new grad really costs!

~8 weeks combined of training, orientation, and classes MINUS 2 weeks combined that an experienced hire receives for their on-boarding, training, and unit orientation.

6 weeks at $21/hr (no differential often no benefits) new grad pay = $4500 for a new grad with 6 weeks of precepted orientation and "residency."

CRY ME A RIVER FOR THE HOSPITAL

[Bella_CO]

Yes, I think the whole StaRN program was an ingenious financial idea because the first 7 weeks of the program we were taught by 1-2 nurses for 50 new graduate employees. That's very cost-effective orientation. In most of my coworkers opinions, we thought the first 7 weeks were mostly a waste of time and money. The simulation and EKG were the two most helpful things we did, which could've only required about 1 week to do.

[RN-dancer]

Off topic but it sad that nursing working conditions are unsafe oppressing and discouraging. Veteran nurses just take this as a reality and cope versus new nurses see beyond the stresses and unsafe conditions, job satisfaction

Is just as important. Nurses need to unify and demanding better. WE LITERALLY RUN THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM but have no real pull of the strings. We are a fractured profession.

[wing]

I honestly had the WORST experience with memorial HCA as a new grad. Their nurse/patient ratio was insane and staffing was always awful. What ever happened with your contract?

[melaninatedSRNA22]

Sooo..

what ended up happening?! Lol

[axelandra]

I signed a contract and am starting at an HCA hospital in a month! I wanted a supportive residency program but now Im scared that my experience might be like the OPs! Any update??

[Bella_CO]

I was very fortunate, and I have not heard from HCA since. You may have a completely different experience than me and some of my fellow cohort.

[Bella_CO]

Also here's an update:

I've been working at a wonderful hospital that is almost always full staffed with RNs and PCTs!! ?? Most of the employees do their job and we try our best to work together and help each other! It's really night and day from my previous terrible experiences. I actually can't believe how naive I was to sign the contract, but you live and you learn. I definitely encourage anyone who works under similar conditions to speak up. I went to the highest chain of command about the working conditions, and he didn't even hear what I had to say, which is why I finally decided to leave HCA.