Are Hospitals requiring courses to be considered for hire unfair?

[Esme12]

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age: 50

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nursing specialty: critical care, ed, cath lab,ctpac,trauma

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originally posted by ninja2011

sadly,

there are even programs where having certification prior to being considered are a requirement. in san diego there is a hospital that even requires a 600 dollar regional perinatal class before you can even be considered.

i would do acls and pals if i was you and anything else you can get certified in to be more marketable.

i'm just shocked that's all.......i am sick right now and cannot work.......i read this stuff and i think if i ever get well enough to go back to work......would i ever find a job again.......

i agree they should do whatever it takes to be competative but i still think it's shameful that the hospitals are shirking their responsibilities to pay for training. how ethical is it to make someone pay for a $600.00 course for a job they may not get.......but if you do get the position you've already taken the course they should be paying for.....talk about finding more that one way to skin a cat. there isn't any amount of money that will make me believe that the hospitals are perfectly aware that making an employment candidate take required courses is saving them tons of dough........ but that's off topic.

i started this line of thinking in another post. are hospitals shirking their responsibility? do you think it's right for hospitals to do this? anyone else experiencing this? i am godsmacked at just another tactic by the hospitals to cheat people in order to save money.......

[steelydanfan]

Employers can set any standard for employment consideration that they care to, it is up to the prospective employee to meet those standards if they want to be considered for hire. That is life.

There is a REAL problem in nursing these days. To whit, most hospitals want thier new grads to be up and running, and most nursing programs are telling thier students, "Not to worry, the hospital will train you in that".

Hospitals cannot afford to subsize the education you should have gotten from your alma mater, and yet the graduate has no way of really knowing that her/his education was substandard.

It's a no/win situation.

So, the preceptors get blamed for being mean/out of touch/jealous of new nurses and I could go on, and on.....

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

Hospitals require applicants for nursing positions to have completed nursing school, but they don't pay for that education. I don't really see how certification requirements for a position are any different than experience requirements or degree requirements. Does it suck when employers all want experience or certifications you don't have? Of course. Is it unethical? I don't think so.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

There is a REAL problem in nursing these days. To whit, most hospitals want thier new grads to be up and running, and most nursing programs are telling thier students, "Not to worry, the hospital will train you in that".

Hospitals cannot afford ??? (yes they can)to subsize the education you should have gotten from your alma mater, and yet the graduate has no way of really knowing that her/his education was substandard.

It's a no/win situation.

So, the preceptors get blamed for being mean/out of touch/jealous of new nurses and I could go on, and on.....

SO a new grads should take ACLS,BLS and PALS as well as others, which used to be job compentencies, just to be considered the beter candidate for the position? Freeing the hospitals from what has been historically their responsibility?

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

SO a new grads should take ACLS,BLS and PALS as well as others, which used to be job compentencies, just to be considered the beter candidate for the position? Freeing the hospitals from what has been historically their responsibility?

I don't really understand why you seem so fixated on how it used to be handled. Tradition doesn't always justify or protect a practice. The job market is tough right now, especially in some areas and especially for new grads. Hospitals can be picky and I imagine it's likely the tide will turn at some point and they'll relax employment requirements. Until then this strikes me as a market, supply and demand issue not an issue of the employer's responsibility.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

I don't really understand why you seem so fixated on how it used to be handled. Tradition doesn't always justify or protect a practice. The job market is tough right now, especially in some areas and especially for new grads. Hospitals can be picky and I imagine it's likely the tide will turn at some point and they'll relax employment requirements. Until then this strikes me as a market, supply and demand issue not an issue of the employer's responsibility.

I'm not fixated...I'm sad. Hospitals have money...... just not for nurses. Do you really think that once they are able to save this huge amount of money they will ever do what is right again? It is federal labor law and they have found a nice way around it.....kudos for them!

[hiddencatRN, BSN, RN]

I'm not fixated...I'm sad. Hospitals have money...... just not for nurses. Do you really think that once they are able to save this huge amount of money they will ever do what is right again? It is federal labor law and they have found a nice way around it.....kudos for them!

Honestly? I don't think this is all that wide-spread. A few new grads trying to get an edge and a few hospitals with application requirements that we hear a lot about on allnurses doesn't necessarily mean that this is representative of what's going on in general. But yes, I absolutely believe that when hospitals start having a shortage of applicants they will lower their requirements.

[caroladybelle, BSN, RN]

SO a new grads should take ACLS,BLS and PALS as well as others, which used to be job compentencies, just to be considered the beter candidate for the position? Freeing the hospitals from what has been historically their responsibility?

Again, it has not been "historically their responsibility".

Nor has it been the norm in many professions.

I have been in nursing close to 20 years, and have friends that were nurses in the 70s and 80s.

Some places will pay those fees and others require them before hire with no reimbursement. It depends on the facility.

Thus, this is not a new issue, nor is it confined to nursing.

[Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN]

Again, it has not been "historically their responsibility".

Nor has it been the norm in many professions.

I have been in nursing close to 20 years, and have friends that were nurses in the 70s and 80s.

Some places will pay those fees and others require them before hire with no reimbursement. It depends on the facility.

Thus, this is not a new issue, nor is it confined to nursing.

It is new for me......I have been a nurse for 32 years and I was a nurse in the late seventies and eighties.....andit is federal law that when you are employed by a facility and they require it they MUST pay for it and pay for your time to go. IT IS THEIR RESPONSIBILITY to pay for it..........That is Federal labor law.....fair wage and labor deopartment. If you doubt it.....call the attorney general in your state........I think people get taken advantage of because no one really knows the law. .

You are right it's NOT a new problem......about 10 years ago I moved to another state and that hospital required the nurses to pay for their ACLS when the ACLS was required to keep the position.......funny a call to the attorney general and the hospital graciously returned all monies paid and never charged their staff again to take the required course. I wonder how much money they "saved" by illegally charging the staff to pay for it.

It just seemed to me that for new grads taking ACLS to get the "edge" seemed mixed up......to me. An opinion of mine......a personal thought about the changing job market and the hospitals that continue to make nurses do more with less......to require nurses to pass a course before an interview seemed strange ....TO ME......just my opinion just my thought.......however lame it may seem.......it was important to me. And iI was wondering if anyone else felt the same.....and obviously they don't so my question is answered.