Honors BSN unable to find job. Can the college be sued?

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in LTC.

I am a recent BSN grad, with prior BS in Biology in 2000. I graduated from my college in May 2010 with 3.5 GPA and departmental honors. Have applied to Vet Admin and they responded that they got my resume but nothing else. Have applied to many other facilities and have received either no response or been told no available positions for new grads. Like many, I have spent a good deal of money getting through the program and now have no income and may become homeless if this drags on much longer. I am contemplating suing my college. We were informed in our last semester of school in an off-handed way by one professor that it costs $22,000 to train a new RN. i still have my notes from this class and it is right there in black and white. (In fact it was a test question on the first exam, so it must have been important information). Yet the college itself never informed us in a timely fashion about this. I remember when the teacher told us this info in class we all looked at each other in horror, knowing full well what this meant. As it stands now, of my graduating class of 47 students only about 10% have found positions and are working. Of those, all of them either had worked at the facility as a CNA during school or had parents who already worked there.

I have spoken to an attorney about this potential lawsuit and he claims it would go nowhere because colleges are not required to provide such info about costs of hiring on the other end. I don't believe this. And just because it has never happened in the past, that they are required, does not mean that it should not be required. That is what legal precedents are for. To establish things in law that have not been established before. I feel that, if the cost of hiring was important enough to put on an exam, then it should have been important enough for either nursing or university admin to provide us with up-front. Colleges do financial planning way in advance and do not wait til the last minute to figure out how much financial aide they can anticipate, how many students, etc. No one can tell me that the college was unaware of problems re: nurses getting hired.

I feel that colleges should properly DISCLOSE information to students that is relevant to their continuing in the program. Appropriate disclosure is something that everyone does by law. Why are colleges and universities exempt? Had we known this info as soon as possible at least some of us might have elected to either postpone nursing or find another career. The particular college I graduated from runs about $15,000 per semester for a full course load. That is $120,000 for a full 4 years. This, of course, is very good for the school in that they get loads of tuition money and get to keep THEIR JOBS. I would be interested to get some feedback from others on this forum. Most of the people I have talked to about this seem terrified to even approach the subject. I guess we are all so conditioned to think well of our schools or perhaps, by conditioning, we are all afraid to speak out.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Are you kidding?

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Also, how are you planning on a lawsuit against your school, when you say you have no income and are about to be homeless. Also, you just graduated in May...try talking to some of the new grads that graduated a year ago and still don't have a job!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in multispecialty ICU, SICU including CV.

Are you kidding?

Graduation from any college program is not a guarantee of a job, even with honors. It's never been that way and never will be. Educational institutions cannot provide you with a sure shot at a job, for good reason -- they are there to educate you and provide you with a foundation for your future, but there is no way they could ensure that all or even a high percentage of their grads get jobs. I suppose that you think that all colleges should employ a department full of people that do nothing but sit around and look for perfect jobs for you to apply for, too? I don't think so. There is no obligation there, implied or written. Your lawsuit would go nowhere.

Job prospects for everybody are crummy right now. Why don't you ask the liberal arts grad that graduated with top honors from your school where she/he is working right now -- she/he might very well be unemployed too. Or, working at the Gap. Or, Hardees. Or, something else completely beneath his/her level of education. This is how it is.

Please read what you wrote. I'm honestly blown away by this kind of attitude. How entitled can you get? Jeez.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

I don't know what basis you would use for a lawsuit, since your agreement with the school by paying their tuition and fees was for them to provide you with a nursing education so that you could sit for the NCLEX, and they did just that. Seems like they fulfilled their end of the agreement since you graduated and passed NCLEX. Their responsibility toward you clearly ended the day you graduated.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

So you're upset that the school did not disclose the guesstimated amount it takes to train a NG and that you weren't guaranteed a job after graduation. I must say that's a bit ridiculous. I graduated as valedictorian and still searched/waited for a job like everyone else. Instead of focusing all this energy into being angry and trying to sue the school, put it into something uselful like finding a job.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Are you serious??? The school provided exactly what it was obligated to provide you, the education for which you enrolled. Whether or not you can find employment after you graduate is entirely your own concern. If it were possible for people to sue colleges and universities because they couldn't find jobs with their degree afterwards, no college or university in the US would still have a fine arts department or classics department! (I was a music major the first time around in college -- I've joked for years that schools should be required to have an "informed consent" policy for fine arts majors; something all the incoming students sign that states, "I've been informed and understand fully that I will probably never be able to earn a living with this degree, and I am freely choosing to pursue the degree anyway ...")

If you already had a BA from 2000, you are definitely an adult -- what responsibility do you think you hold for researching the nursing field (including employment prospects and realities) before you undertook an expensive education in nursing? How much did you know about nursing before you started school?

I agree with the attorney with whom you spoke. It's a shame that the economy has taken a rather abrupt downturn in recent years, but that is certainly not your alma mater's fault and they do not owe you anything.

(BTW, I've encountered much higher figures for the costs of employing and orienting a new RN than the $22k you were told in school -- what little discussion there is in the literature notes a range ~$40k - 100k. But that includes the regular salary for the RN for the first year, and your instructor's figure may be breaking the costs down in a different way.)

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Are you freaking kidding me? Part of being an adult is taking responsibility for your own future. I'm not sure if you are aware but we are in what is called a recession. Let me say that slowly for you. Re-ces-sion. Please refer to dictionary.com if this concept wasn't covered in your program or your 5th grade vocabulary class. You are perfectly capable of keeping abreast of economic trends yourself. That's part of the homework in choosing a career. That along with the knowledge that things change.

My word. You, my dear, need to get a life and a grip. Take responsibility for your own future and stop passing the buck to others. I can't imagine someone like this working as a nurse. *shudder* Your lawyer probably thinks you are off your rocker and has a call in to the men in white coats already.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in M/S, MICU, CVICU, SICU, ER, Trauma, NICU.

Wow.

This type of thinking is the reason why America is so ******* up.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Nursing Education, CVICU, Float Pool.

Hun there are people that have graduated 3 years agpe and are still looking for RN work. It's gonna takes some time. Unless that school had a written contract that said they would help you find a job upon graduation I agree with the lawyer that the case would go nowhere.

Maybe things will look up soon. I hope you find something soon.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.

Please tell me that this a joke....

Just in case, it isn't a joke:

Unless your school made a promise in writing that you would have a job at course completion, no, you cannot sue them.

And the vast majority of all professionals have extensive cost to new hire training. That is nothing specific to nursing.

You chose to major in nursing...much like people choose philosophy, music, art, etc. That in no way promises you or them a job in the respective field.

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Well Op, I am also in your shoes. My instructors started walking around with their heads down my last semester too. The whole nursing division was jumpy as well.

Think of it... if an instructor makes known that there most likely will not be a job for you once you graduate, they surely will be canned. Colleges after all are big business and that is bad marketing.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment