Legal or not

[shelbabyrn]

We have nine practitioners who work in our unit. 3 of them have their Master's. The others were certified by a Hospital sponsored program. Our new Unit Director has said that he will give those NNPs who are not Master's prepared a certain time period to return to school or they will be "let go". If a Master's degree was not a requirement on their job application, can he legally force them to go back to school?

[jadednurse]

Don't quote me on this, but I would think the answer is yes. Job responsibilities and requirements can change anytime after you start a position. I would think it might be questionable if your employer weren't offering a chance to update one's qualifications though.

[Nurse Ratched, RN]

If it's a right to work state you can be let go for any or no reason as long as it doesn't violate civil rights laws. If there was a union or a contract involved, there would be wiggle room.

Edited to add: if however, all the NP's who were certified throught the hospital program happened to be older it's possible the right lawyer might be able to make a case for age discrimination, but those are extremely hard to prove.

[cincygirlpnp]

The state laws are changing. The grandfathering in of NP's is now gone. In Ohio to practice an NP MUST have a masters degree in nursing by a specific date. The policy of which you speak may not be the hospital's policy, but that of the state.

[Gomer]

Yes it is very legal. Check out your hospital's Personnel and Policy Manual. I'm certain you will find a clause in there that states something to the effect, "....the employer may change the job description (e.g., requirements) as a business necessity..." or something to that effect.