Alarming conditions of a job offer letter

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guest1107684

37 Posts

I have never worked night shifts and I am sure that with time my body will get used to it. My true concern is that I will not have as many opportunities for growth during night shifts. Yes, there are things that you are doing at night time, but it is nothing compared to what day shifts are like.

My goal is to transition to travel nursing in several years. I have serious doubts that working nights will prepare me enough for this transition. I also don’t want to jump from one hospital to another in search of a day shift position after getting 6-12 months of night shift experience.

Many nurse I met said that their first jobs were at smaller community hospitals and they were working days. The environment was pretty hectic, but they got a great deal of experience that would help them survive pretty much anywhere. I think that I need exactly that. I believe it is possible if I am willing to look everywhere and possibly relocate if I am offered the position I truly want.

HomeBound

256 Posts

Specializes in ED, ICU, Prehospital.
20 minutes ago, okurilen said:

I have never worked night shifts and I am sure that with time my body will get used to it. My true concern is that I will not have as many opportunities for growth during night shifts. Yes, there are things that you are doing at night time, but it is nothing compared to what day shifts are like.

My goal is to transition to travel nursing in several years. I have serious doubts that working nights will prepare me enough for this transition. I also don’t want to jump from one hospital to another in search of a day shift position after getting 6-12 months of night shift experience.

Many nurse I met said that their first jobs were at smaller community hospitals and they were working days. The environment was pretty hectic, but they got a great deal of experience that would help them survive pretty much anywhere. I think that I need exactly that. I believe it is possible if I am willing to look everywhere and possibly relocate if I am offered the position I truly want.

OP, the contract is a bait and switch...you would be willingly signing on as an indentured servant. Their will is what counts and they clearly stated this in the offer letter. They know. Nights are almost impossible to fill on some units...therefore "floating". If you wanted to be a float nurse, you would have applied for that...not to mention you have zero experience. floating takes a great deal of experience and flexibility...not something a new grad has.

the way this contract reads to me is that they know if they tell you the truth, you would never, ever accept it. not for any amount of money, yet I am sure they offered you base new grad rate, right?

then you would be stuck on something you don't want, can't do or do poorly with....and you quit or are fired. both bad scenarios and lemme tell ya....any facility that would do this....will bad mouth you on the way out if you dare quit them.

you DO have leverage, that is another thing nurses want you to think....this is how it is, you're a new grad, I did it so you have to do it....nonsense. nursing school brainwashes you that there is a system in place and if you don't do it their way, you won't work.

bahhhhhloney. especially if you are willing and able to relocate. if not, you still have leverage. nurses are fleeing for the exits in acute care. en masse.

NP. CRNA. Teaching. outpatient. dialysis. pharmaceutical. insurance. case management. OUT of nursing altogether.

its bull puckey that managers and hr want you to believe. jobs are a dime a dozen....ergo....the facilities are now willingly shoving the bait and switch to the forefront of recruiting. It's also a sign of a crap facility as a whole.

all you need is 18 months to 2 years of NURSING EXPERIENCE. anywhere. doing anything. to become a traveler.

want great experience to do travel in pretty much any specialty except for OR? go the the ER or the cath lab. ACLS experience trumps "can handle 9 patients at a time" because they know....nobody actually HANDLES 9 patients...they muddle muddle thru. practicing acls on emergent patients gives you street cred. I can travel doing PACU, Pre op, cath, er, icu, med surg and a plethora of other specialties bc I have ER (and thats how I got into icu, btw).

ypur letter is a good one....but never apologize to someone who needs more from you than you will ever need from them.

allnurses Guide

hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I

4 Articles; 5,049 Posts

Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).

This looks like a pretty standard contract for any employer in an "At Will" employment state.

chare

4,236 Posts

1 hour ago, hppygr8ful said:

This looks like a pretty standard contract for any employer in an "At Will" employment state.

Exactly. All the employer is doing is telling the OP up front what might happen.

2beAnurseR0

14 Posts

Specializes in ER, Advocate, critical care, Case management.

You need to go with your gut. If you accept this position you will always be second guessing your manager and corporate. You will never feel completely at ease even if your doing better than everyone else.

You need to find a place where you are comfortable and you can trust your manager.

guest1107684

37 Posts

4 hours ago, hppygr8ful said:

This looks like a pretty standard contract for any employer in an "At Will" employment state.

That is interesting. Can you please elaborate on this? They mentioned that it is at will. I have read about the at will employment (https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/employment-at-will-definition-30022.html) and it only mentioned that they can fire you without any reason.

"Furthermore, your employment is at will. This means that your employment with ... is to continue only at the
mutual consent of both ... and yourself. Consequently, either ... or you may terminate the employment
relationship at any time, with or without cause, and with or without advanced notice."

How do you make a specific agreement with such an employer about the conditions of your employment with them knowing ahead of time that they may change anything? Under these conditions there really is nothing to negotiate, because you don't even have any legal rights to take this to court and say that we had a deal, and now the other party is not doing what they agreed to do.

Omitting other specifics of the verbal agreement is a little bit alarming to me. I feel that IF they ever change anything, and I am not saying they will, I can't even go to my supervisor to say, "We agreed that I will be employed at your hospital doing this sort of work and getting this compensation for it and now I am doing something completely different and not getting paid the wage we initially agreed on."

allnurses Guide

hppygr8ful, ASN, RN, EMT-I

4 Articles; 5,049 Posts

Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
11 hours ago, okurilen said:

That is interesting. Can you please elaborate on this? They mentioned that it is at will. I have read about the at will employment (https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/employment-at-will-definition-30022.html) and it only mentioned that they can fire you without any reason.

"Furthermore, your employment is at will. This means that your employment with ... is to continue only at the
mutual consent of both ... and yourself. Consequently, either ... or you may terminate the employment
relationship at any time, with or without cause, and with or without advanced notice."

How do you make a specific agreement with such an employer about the conditions of your employment with them knowing ahead of time that they may change anything? Under these conditions there really is nothing to negotiate, because you don't even have any legal rights to take this to court and say that we had a deal, and now the other party is not doing what they agreed to do.

Omitting other specifics of the verbal agreement is a little bit alarming to me. I feel that IF they ever change anything, and I am not saying they will, I can't even go to my supervisor to say, "We agreed that I will be employed at your hospital doing this sort of work and getting this compensation for it and now I am doing something completely different and not getting paid the wage we initially agreed on."

What I mean is that the employer or the employee may terminate the employment at any time for any reason or no reason at all. So they don't even have to tell you why they are firing you. Take the current crises for example. MY unit in the psych hospital will close as soon as we discharge our last patient and we are not accepting any new adolescent patients. So as soon as that last patient leaves I will be floated to another unit or adults will be housed on my unit. I have been there 20 years and my last contract states "I do not float" however if I refuse to float they can simply say "Your employment is no longer required!' A done deal I'm out with no legal recourse. This is what these clauses in contracts are for and believe me hospital's being corporate entities have already checked with their lawyers about using such language.

Hppy

JadedCPN, BSN, RN

1,476 Posts

Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
19 hours ago, okurilen said:

..My true concern is that I will not have as many opportunities for growth during night shifts. Yes, there are things that you are doing at night time, but it is nothing compared to what day shifts are like.

My goal is to transition to travel nursing in several years. I have serious doubts that working nights will prepare me enough for this transition...

For what it is worth, this is just not accurate. Night shift is often with less resources, less ancillary staff, higher ratios, etc. and in my experience would likely prepare you for travel nursing just as good, if not better, than day shift.

JKL33

6,777 Posts

21 hours ago, okurilen said:

My true concern is that I will not have as many opportunities for growth during night shifts. Yes, there are things that you are doing at night time, but it is nothing compared to what day shifts are like.

You will have p.l.e.n.t.y. of opportunities for learning and personal/professional growth on the night shift.

I'm not going to get into the classic "battle of the shifts;" suffice it to say there are plenty of things to learn on all shifts and they all have their own perks and challenges.

Part of your experience has to do with what you choose to make of it.

MunoRN, RN

8,058 Posts

Specializes in Critical Care.

I'd be careful about searching for the greener grass, your offer is pretty standard for a new grad. I've never seen a job description for any nursing job that specifically limited the duties and responsibilities for instance, they all include the boilerplate 'and other duties as assigned'. The potential to offer a different position if it turns out they don't feel you're a good fit for the position you were offered is if anything to your advantage, the alternative is that they'll just let you go at the end of your probationary period rather than trying to find a workable alternative.

Specializes in ER, Occupational Health.
17 hours ago, okurilen said:

That is interesting. Can you please elaborate on this? They mentioned that it is at will. I have read about the at will employment (https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/employment-at-will-definition-30022.html) and it only mentioned that they can fire you without any reason.

"Furthermore, your employment is at will. This means that your employment with ... is to continue only at the
mutual consent of both ... and yourself. Consequently, either ... or you may terminate the employment
relationship at any time, with or without cause, and with or without advanced notice."

How do you make a specific agreement with such an employer about the conditions of your employment with them knowing ahead of time that they may change anything? Under these conditions there really is nothing to negotiate, because you don't even have any legal rights to take this to court and say that we had a deal, and now the other party is not doing what they agreed to do.

Omitting other specifics of the verbal agreement is a little bit alarming to me. I feel that IF they ever change anything, and I am not saying they will, I can't even go to my supervisor to say, "We agreed that I will be employed at your hospital doing this sort of work and getting this compensation for it and now I am doing something completely different and not getting paid the wage we initially agreed on."

This is exactly why I would never work for a non-union facility unless absolutely necessary. I realize that some areas do not have unions but I highly recommend considering a union hospital if you get an offer from one.

Goodmom2

17 Posts

RUN AWAY-NOT A GOOD FIRST NURSE JOB,TOO MANY VARIABLES UNKNOWN-JUST CONSIDER ALL SUDES

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