Graduate Nurse program with contract - Page 2

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  1. Apr 17, '12 by
    i’m sure they did nothave a gun to their head, nor did they fully grasp what hospital nursing entails. we all know that many hr recruiters work with a bonus package (financial incentive). where ever there is a financial incentive, there is room for clouded messages. for instance: "we would like you to remain on your unit, however, xyz hospital puts the nurses first. we will work with you to make sure it’s a fit.” i am not privy to the situation;however as a jd, i do know that the aclu will listen to their plight and offer advice if they can or cannot help in this situation. yes, i do not know if the hospital explored all the options or not; that is why it is of the utmost importance that this new grad, goes the extra mile so his or her rights are protected. many times, finacial fees do not hold up unless an actual monetary bonus was accepted upon employment.
    Last edit by NRSKarenRN on May 15, '12 : Reason: spacing
    brandy1017 likes this.
  2. Apr 17, '12 by
    Quote from Epic_RN
    I am also in a new grad residency program with a 3 year contract. The reason they charge so much is because they spend so much to put you through the residency and then nurses would just take off. My fellow residents and I were told that our hospital shelled out over $5000 for each new grad just for the training, not to mention preceptor pay and pay for the educators. Can you really blame then for wanting to recoup their losses? You knew what the contract was when you signed it, you can't alter it just because you want to leave now. Just MHO.
    My thoughts exactly. I signed a two year contract. All I can do is pray that it works out or else I would have to pay 3500...
    Epic_RN likes this.
  3. Apr 17, '12 by
    I'm scheduled to graduate in May of 2012 and I've been looking into countless residency opportunities that require a contract to be signed. Does anybody have any ideas on how to lessen the likelihood that this situation will happen? I plan to ask as many questions as I can think of and have thought about showing the contract to a lawyer to have him/her look over it. Any other ideas and/or input?
  4. Asst. Admin
    Apr 17, '12 by
    Quote from irish4077
    i’m sure they did nothave a gun to their head, nor did they fully grasp what hospital nursingentails. we all know that many hrrecruiters work with a bonus package (financial incentive). where ever there isa financial incentive, there is room for clouded messages. for instance: "wewould like you to remain on your unit, however, xyz hospital puts the nursesfirst. we will work with you to makesure it’s a fit.” i am not privy to the situation;however as a jd, i do know that the aclu will listen to their plight and offer adviceif they can or cannot help in this situation. yes, i do not know if the hospitalexplored all the options or not; that is why it is of the utmost importancethat this new grad, goes the extra mile so his or her rights are protected. many times, finacial fees do not hold up unless an actual monetary bonus was accepted upon employment.
    just a friendly reminder...........we need to be careful here on an as giving legal advice is against the tos.
    wooh likes this.
  5. Apr 17, '12 by
    If you enter into one of these agreements , then when you start recieving your pay put some away in savings before anything else , so that if you decide the working conditions are unsafe etc. you will have the money available to pay off the outstanding balance the employer claims .
    Indeed the employer is not holding a gun to the grads head BUT their may be no alternate route to employment ie. only jobs posted require experience . No experience = no job so to break that cycle you take the residency .
    wooh likes this.
  6. Asst. Admin
    Apr 17, '12 by
    In terms of legal advice, get a lawyer as they're the only ones who are qualified to give it...not us. You willingly signed a contract so unfortunately I don't see any "outs" for you because you did acknowledge acceptance of their terms...but if there is one, it's the lawyer who will find it.

    However, before resorting to paying the fee or taking legal action, is there some change that you could make to make lasting those two years possible? Maybe a different unit, different preceptor, different schedule, different specialty?
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  7. Admin
    Apr 17, '12 by
    I think what this is all boiling down too: you need a lawyer.
    wooh likes this.
  8. Apr 17, '12 by
    1) stick it out, and try to figure out what you can do to make it a better experience for yourself
    2) work with the hospital and see if you can transfer to a different unit/shift
    3) quit and pay the fee
    4) get a lawyer
  9. Apr 18, '12 by
    Where I work we have a 7 month Critical Care Nurse Residency program. It requires a two year contract that starts after the residency program. Spots in the residency are in very high demand and competion is fierce. There is a $15K buy out for those who do not complete the two year contract.
    Many many people do not complete the contract. Some pay it off and some do not. Of those that do not pay some are gone after by the hospital and some not. For example the daughter of the head anesthesiologist walked away form the contract to attend CRNA school and nobody said a word. I have heard her brag about not paying a dime. So far as I know nobody has been taken to court for failure to pay.
    Many people are very happy to accept the superb critical care training offered then want to bail on the hospital when it comes time to pay it back. In our case mostly they leave for CRNA school. This has lead to some drastic measures. For example new grad BSNs are no longer hired into the nurse residency for the SICU. So far 100% of the ADN grads hired have completed the 2 year contract, vs about 10% of the BSN grads.
  10. Apr 18, '12 by
    This is also the reason a lot of places are leary of hiring new grads period. But if you are lucky enough to find a residency program and you knew what the contract entailed before signing it, then you knew the consequences of breaking the contract. Looking for an out just because you now don't like the work environment just seems wrong to me somehow. If enough new grads at your place do what your doing, they might just cut their losses and discontinue the program altogether.

    Just my
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