Been here 5mths, want out of contract...

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2006

K,

I have heard this so often recently, I wish all the nurses who have problems of the kind we are all facing would post just so everybody can understand what is going on overhere, especially with agencies. It is not my place to say who is struggling as they post on here that all is well. When the truth is we are all in deep s***t.

I know this is not helping you but there are so many, you are not alone.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2006

You know the only thing I can think of is a lot of hospitals have sign on bounus's why not find a job at another hospital and give your agency the sign on bonus. I know if you secure a job at a hospital not served by your agency then they cant do anything about you working there. Plus our credit score is raising so yours may well be doing the same, you may be able to borrow the money.

fergus51 · Jul 18, 2006

Would they let you set up a payment plan? 10K isn't really all that much if you have 15 years of experience. You should be able to secure a high paying travel job and pay that off fairly quickly.

cariad · Jul 18, 2006

ok, theres a few things that you have to take into consideration, do you like where you are working? I take it that you are here with family,,,,husband and kids? dont know which agency you are with, but maybe you had better not post the name here as they are known for reading these posts.

I personally think that the uk nurses are lulled into thinking that they are coming here to earn mega bucks, which for your contract, just isnt true. depending on how much money you bring depends on the lifestyle that you have when you first come here. if you take on too much too soon, then you could run into prblems, ie...new cars, big houses with big bills. and child care and husbands not earning enough.

I used to work overtime, while I did my contract and did very well, but each person has different circumstances and not all hospitals offer this.

the agency will come after you for the money, and any new job will want references from where you are working, and wont need to know that you are still under contract with the agency.

kheynurse · Jul 18, 2006

Long story short....

when we arrived, the local office for the agency didn't reallise that they were supposed to be looking for a long (3-6 month ) placement for me. They gave me traditional agency shifts, a day here a day there, about 24 hrs a week, some weeks nothing etc. They were making noises about a local hospital job, but it turned out that was for agency type shifts too, and it never came to fruition in the end. After several weeks of having difficulty making ends meet I finally went into the office with my contract and lost my temper.....they still couldn't work out what my problem was! Several calls later to the agency corporate dept and they suddenly created a full time postion in their office for me. After a few weeks they found me a job in my speciality but only 28hrs a week, so I do 28hrs there and 12hrs in the office. This pays the bills, but whenever there is a bank holiday, I loose a days pay, and I am not alloweed to do any overtime at all. (they also keep forgetting to pay me for portions of my hrs, or sending it late, so we get huge bank charges)

We were getting along OK untill we joined the agency's medical insurance plan. (we thought we HAD to get it through an employer and were not advised by the agnecy staff that we could buy it on our own) This cover is costing us $800.oo a month and is crippling us. We found MUCH cheaper cover online and called to cancel our existing policy, and were told we have to stay in it for a full year!

We will have no house, food or petrol, but FANTASTIC medical cover! maybe they will let us live in a hospital somewhere!

When I signed with the agency they lead us to believe that my cover was paid for and we only had to fund the DH and kids, this is not infact the case.

I cannot afford to continue to work for this agency. I did not expect to be rich when we got here, but I did not expect to have to be shopping for groceries in a dollar and store and using coupons to stretch the budget a little more. In the current job market for RN's in the US this is a rediculous situation.

Sorry for the long rant... I hope this helps others who are coming over, to see that things can be very difficult.

K

english_nurse · Jul 18, 2006

it sounds to me that your agency has broken its contract with you, surely if that is indeed true you do not owe them a penny or cent! in fact they owe you money for messing you around

is there any chance of you getting legal advice to see if you can leave your contract without penalty?

obviuosly with me still being in the uk i dont know how easy or acheivable this is in the usa, it may be worth a go though

good luck

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2006

it sounds to me that your agency has broken its contract with you, surely if that is indeed true you do not owe them a penny or cent! in fact they owe you money for messing you around
is there any chance of you getting legal advice to see if you can leave your contract without penalty?
obviuosly with me still being in the uk i dont know how easy or acheivable this is in the usa, it may be worth a go though
good luck

It;s good advice and if she was in the UK really great advice, but here things seem to work slightly different- Nothing is a clear cut-it's strange how you almost have to kill a person in the Uk to be sacked as a nurse but here......you are not so protected.

From what i can see if you strike it lucky everything goes really really well but if things go wrong they really go bad. There are some nurses who just fall so lucky. Mine re work well I cant comment because I only managed 7 weeks-I'd have loved to given it a whole lot longer. Of course my big fear now is that I too will be chased for the money for breaking my contract, even though it is no fault of my own.

english_nurse · Jul 18, 2006

yeah its interesting how the protection that you imagine is here in the nhs seems lacking in the usa

its interesting how different things can be mind you i think the nhs is toughening up abit probably due to finances

i injured my back at work about six weeks ago, slipped disc apparently, so as you can imagine ive been in a fair bit of pain, im now having physio, on regular analgesia, some days i feel ok, on these days i do a bit too much, the day after im back to pain again!

so of course im off work sick work related injury......

i get a phonecall the other day from my manager she was really arsy with me, someone saw me shopping for groceries, and told her they saw me, may i add that my husband was with me, he did the shopping i walked around with him telling him what to shove in trolley as he wouldnt have a clue, bless

so to go back to work now i have to have interview with human resources, manager etc, and i did my back in at work!!!!! anyway my gp is furious and written me a lovely letter to take to interview

actually am on my way to physio now lucky me.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Jul 18, 2006

Oh are you not allowed to eat now if you are off sick??? You are not allowed to phone a person off sick at home and become arsy. Unfortunatly it is mre difficult to prove a sick back but 80% of people will suffer from bad backs in their life time-so I am informed.

english_nurse · Jul 18, 2006

Ha exactly! no eating allowed as im seriously ill

the thing is i have doctors and physios notes to cover me, so they cant say much really.

suzanne4, RN · Jul 18, 2006

The OP needs to get an immigration attorney here as soon as possible. First, the agency must meet what they had listed in the contract when they first submitted it to USCIS for approval. Sounds like they owe you back salary, as well.