DHMC Nurse Residency Program

nightshift82 · Feb 17, 2009

I am very sorry to hear that this hospital has resorted to this type of contract. I wish you all the best.

valeriecathleen · Feb 22, 2009

I just heard this from an administrator at my children's elementary school! Her daughter graduated in May and after the boards accepted a position training in the NICU at Dartmouth-Hitchcock.

I wonder what the retention is for them at 2 years.

nightshift82 · Feb 22, 2009

My understanding is this something new that is happening 2009 so your friend's daughter is lucky not to have been forced into signing this contract. My daughter is currently looking and there are plenty of facilities thoughout the Northeast that do not require a contract such as this. Her professors have suggested sending a copy of this contract to the New Hampshire Board of Nursing:crying2: Like yourself I wonder what would make them go to such extremes and how quickly these RN's leave after the 3 years!

greygooseuria · Feb 24, 2009

I have heard nothing but good things about DHMC, contract or not.

Are you sure the 15k isn't the amount they pay off of your student loans? I have an interview with them next week and I'll ask.

nightshift82 · Feb 24, 2009

No I have the copy of the contract. Believe me, both myself and my daughter were very excited for her employment @DHMC but were very shocked when told of a contract and waited to pass judgement on it when it arrrived and it is as stated. I wish it was not so.....

greygooseuria · Feb 25, 2009

Can you scan the contract and post it here? I'd really like to see it before I invest my time interviewing with them. Or could you PM it to me?

nightshift82 · Feb 25, 2009

Sorry I am kinda a computer boob- I would be more than happy to mail it to you. When I see my daughter next sha can probably help me scan it in and make a pdf file? I'm not sure how to do it. I will be working tomorrow and can fax it to you or mail it, just let me know.

mnf626 · Mar 4, 2009

you would say computer boob!

nightshift82 · Mar 4, 2009

I am, what can I say:redbeathe Am always willing to learn.

EwwThat'sNasty · Mar 9, 2009

Beware!

Been there, done that.

Almost died. Had I been forced to stay the three years most likely I would not be writing this.

Today my BP is 116/16. Some years back in DHMC's residency program, after a difficult night with a critical care preceptor whose idea of nursing was to read romantic novels, and "make work" for me, between bouts of bullying (and I was not the only recipient of said bullying) I felt odd when I made it home, exhausted. I felt funky.

My BP was 215/115. Imagine, and this was an hour after leaving.

The unit as far as I could guess then had a turn-over rate of about 50% per year. I cannot say that this was hidden but it was hard to figure the turn-over rate unless one really kept track of who was who and asked: "what happened to so and so." I will say that there is no exit interview for me--it was quite clear that they did not want to hear what I might have said and frankly I was very fearful to say what I wanted to say. Possible repurcussions? Probably.

Push, push, push... Even though I was promised that I would be given a certain number of months before I was expected to be competent to a defined level, I was pushed there in half the time.

Do others who have been there feel this same way? Probably. But to talk about it is to risk being black-listed. DHMC--wake up, for as I saw it there are abusive situations due to staff shortages. And yet, I loved my work, the facility is wonderful, and completed my training, and would still be there today if I had been allowed to simply feel safe.

If you must sign the contract, quietly add a small line: "I reserve the right to void this if I feel that I am in danger at DHMC." They probably won't notice it.

When will we wake up and realize that we not only "kill our young," we torture them on the way to death. I fear that the answer is: about the time when we return to true economic affluance. Unfortunately I do not expect to see that within my lifetime. It is all about money. It will continue to be all about money.

Note: To be fair, at that time there was a huge difference in ambiance between areas. Maternal/child then had an amazingly positive reputation. So too did Neuro/Neuro IC; yet other wards especially some of the Med/Surg wards reeked with stress and disatisfaction. I am not saying that DHMC is bad, though I left I loved the place and many in it.

It is years later, and yet my bitterness is evident. I hope it has changed for the better. Also be aware that the educational component was first class and that my first preceptor was shining. Had she not left the unit (she left for a positive reason) I suspect I'd still be there.

From my experience I would not sign such a contract for it holds you to one standard while it holds them to no standard.

There was an article that I read, it probably dates from about 2003, it is in DHMC's library and the article was in a journal on Nursing Education. The article's researcher looked at "fast track critical care programs" in three unnamed Boston Hospitals and tracked several hundred recent grads over a year. I cannot remember the stats but to sum it up, by the end of one year, I think half had left the program. When the researcher queried the reason, almost always it was "lateral or horizontal" violence. (Lateral or Horizontal Violence is essentially another word for Bullying).

I strongly recommend that every nurse to be (or recent nurse) read the book "Odd Girl Out," by Rachel Simmons, you can get a copy cheap at half.com. Had I read this book I probably would have understood my Jekyl/Hyde "evil" preceptor (who was the most technically competent nurse, in my estimation, on the floor). To this day I am deeply saddened by my experience there.

A friend of mine told me that Woman's and Infants hospital in RI hired about a hundred new grads in a fast track program and according to my friend (this is hearsay so be careful) within a year barely 20 were left. The others quit. The predominant reason in this case was mandatory overtime. Staff shortages resulted in nurses being locked onto double shifts regardless if you had a child home. So many quit that the next year (as the story goes) mandatory overtime was changed. So realize that while it might be horrid one year, the policies might be great the next.

If are going to sign such a contract, I would suggest finding a contract attorney and having them review it to see if it is truly legal. It may simply not be enforceble. But we nurses are an odd lot, and if we agree to something we're apt to stick to it, even if it kills us.

nightshift82 · Mar 11, 2009

Thanks for the input. Too bad this thread is not connected w/ the students so they know they don't have to sign such contracts and they are not the "Norm". I know this has been discussed in my daughter's "Leadership in Nursing Class" and all of her professors were very concerned about such contracts.

emtmotorman · May 28, 2009

Bottom line, if everyone refuses to sign these, they would have to abandon the idea of "contracts". A contract is also an agreement between 2 (or more) parties. You have the legal right to ammend it and negotiate it. You can feel free to add anything you want.

Even if you did break it, the hospital does not instantly get 15,000 from you. All they can do is demand you pay. If you refuse, for cause, their only option is to take you to court. If the contract is not reasonable and you have a valid reason for breaking it, the court may very well throw it out and dismiss the case.

I have seen these contracts. most, if not all, allow exceptions for serious illness for the employee or immediate family. Often there are other hardship releases. if DHMC is not placing this in their contracts, they are being stupid, as no court would uphold such a contract if an employee developed say cancer. Or was horribly injured in an accident. or if their was a hostile work enviornment. most federal and State law protects employees from hostile work enviornments (eating the young) That would be another reason for the contract to be voided.

Like other posters said, have an attorney review it. It may not even be legal. You may also be able to negotiate its contents under state law. Just because they present it to you, that doesn't mean its legal or written in stone.

My critical care fellowship also had an unwritten contract. It was more of a blacklist. As the largest healthcare system around, they pretty much said leave before 2 years without a good reason...and you'll never work here again. Since they run most of the hospitals around, it was a bigger threat then any $$$.

The sad part is, rather than look at WHY they need a contract and correct attrition, they feel this will force people into staying and correct attrition. It won't. People will still leave, people who do stay will be bitter and lousy employees. Sick time will rise, pt care will suffer etc. DHMC should be investigating why nurses are leaving, not forcing them to stay.