Benefit of an employment contract?

[NewbieFNP, MSN, RN, APRN]

I live in an at-will employment state (Tennessee). I signed a contract with an employer but was suddenly terminated 8 months later. It knew early on that it was a bad fit as the management was clearly "fire happy" as evidenced by lots of turnover. My issue is: if I were to have left the position I would have been required to give a 90 day notice. With this in mind; what is the value or purpose of the contract for me?

[Corey Narry, MSN, RN, NP]

I'd have to know what the details of the contract says. Contract negotiation is necessary to protect you and is quite complicated and a lot of NP's especially the new grads tend to proceed carelessly without reading the fine details. The contract you signed should have a provision for how early termination would proceed and whether you can be "terminated without cause" or "for cause" and what your rights are in case of the latter. Not knowing what the circumstances that led to your termination are and the details you signed, it's hard to evaluate whether the contract was one-sided (favored the employer).