Any advice on when to put in 2-wk notice??

[SweetBabyJames]

Hey all,

This is a bit of a strange question.

I signed on for a 5K bonus at a hospital in PA, committing to a year. I was a NG and now have a year of experience. It was a bad experience and I wouldn't recommend a contract to any new nurse. I've almost made it to a whole year when I can finally leave without having to owe the hospital any money.

My contract ends on July 14th. It's a Tuesday. I work Thursday, Friday, Saturday night that week, the 16th, 17th, 18th. So, if I put in my notice exactly two weeks before my contract ends, the 14th, I won't actually work the second week because it's at the end of the week.

My question is if I should expect them to ask me to finish off that week? Would that be reasonable? Can I say no? Would HR give me a hard time for having not worked that full week? Is this a *** thing to do? I guess I'm wondering the meaning/extend of "two week's notice," with our irregular rotating nurse schedules. I honestly forget if I did this on purpose. I might have.

All I care about is avoiding being accused of breaking contract in any way whatsoever. I don't want to directly screw over my floor, and my managers already know that I am leaving. I just can't wait to get away from this environment, which I feel is very toxic.

Does anyone have any perspective on this; what I can expect to happen, so I can plan my big cross-country move the week after?

Maybe this is a non-issue. They will have already given their recommendations by then.

Thanks all. SBJ ❤️

[EDNURSE20, BSN]

I would wait till your one year anniversary had ended. That way there nothing they can do. If you put it in early, they may get you to finish immediately and then pay back the bonus too.

I would Make sure you have a new job to go to as well!

[SweetBabyJames]

11 minutes ago, nznurse93 said:

I would wait till your one year anniversary had ended. That way there nothing they can do. If you put it in early, they may get you to finish immediately and then pay back the bonus too.

I would Make sure you have a new job to go to as well!

Thanks for your response!

I'll technically still be employed until the very last day of my contract, I just won't have worked that week yet.

[Jedrnurse, BSN, RN]

Don't play around with dates; work the full two week notice. In the end, it'll be nothing, but not burning a bridge is a very good habit to get into.

[SweetBabyJames]

Just now, Jedrnurse said:

Don't play around with dates; work the full two week notice. In the end, it'll be nothing, but not burning a bridge is a very good habit to get into.

Yeah I guess it doesn't matter that much. I'll offer it and see what they say!

[JKL33]

31 minutes ago, SweetBabyJames said:

Thanks for your response!

I'll technically still be employed until the very last day of my contract, I just won't have worked that week yet.

I think the issue the above poster is getting at is that you may want to consider not giving your two weeks' notice until you have completed your duties on July 14. The problem with wanting to be completely done on 7/14 is that if you give a 2-week notice on 6/30 there's a decent chance that, knowing you're leaving anyway, they will tell you you're not needed sometime before 7/14 and then try to argue that you didn't finish out your contract. That would be on them and you could probably successfully argue that you weren't skipping out early on the contract. But most people would not want the headache of their shenanigans when so close to being done with them.

Turn in your 2 week notice after you have completed your duties on 7/14. You'll have 6 more shifts to work. You can handle it. Do everything you can to leave on excellent terms also.

Also, I hope you already have another job lined up because this doesn't seem to be the best time to be job hunting.

Good luck ~

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

I would also double check your policy that you only need to give 2 weeks notice. Some facilities may require more than that.

[RNperdiem, RN]

You do have another job lined up with a start date?

Covid demolished the budgets of a lot of hospitals in my area and hiring is way down. Unless hiring is strong in your area, or you can risk a stretch of unemployment, give your notice two weeks before the starting date of the new job.

[llg, PhD, RN]

I recommend being very clear in your resignation letter. I have always included a sentence along the lines of: "My last day/shift of availability for work will be Wednesday day shift, June 15th." (or whatever) That way, you have the documentation that you were available up to and through the last day of your contract -- but that you won't be available to work for them after June 15th. Then you can hand in the letter any time you want (as long as it meets their "2 week" requirement.)

[SweetBabyJames]

This is super helpful, thank you!

[amoLucia]

12 hours ago, Jedrnurse said:

Don't play around with dates; work the full two week notice. In the end, it'll be nothing, but not burning a bridge is a very good habit to get into.

This just about says it all! Don't shoot yourself in the foot by cutting your dates short and allowing your soon-to-be-ex employer to screw you on a technicality!

As difficult as it may be, take the high road and be the professional here.

Just to be on the safe side, I'd make sure your resignation letter identified the contract dates and then your days of working past that contract commitment. And be doubly sure that your resignation obligation only requires 2 weeks. As someone else pointed out, many places require more these days.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Have a lawyer review your contract.

Good luck.