Hello, I need some help! I'm a new graduate nurse that started working on a very busy medical-surgical unit in April. In order for me to accept the job, I was required to sign a 2 year contract that states if I didn't stay with the company for 2 years, I'd have to pay them $10,000 in 60 days. I was never given any type of bonus pay--I was only offered the job. I've only been working for the company for 6 months, and I couldn't take it any more. They treated me like a slave and paid me like one too! Sometimes I would not be able to take a lunch break. Every shift I felt like I was risking my patient's lives and my nursing license because I didn't have enough time to provide all of their care! I never would have signed the contract if the manager told me the truth about the unit! She told me the nurse-patient ratio was 1:4. She didn't tell me we rarely have CNA's on our floor. Only after 7 weeks of orientation on my unit, I was consistently assigned 5 and sometimes 6 patients--with no CNA! I was told by my preceptor (who trains people on our unit) to omit critical nursing assessments/tasks because we don't have time (of course they all chart they did those things, but I refuse to follow their advise). Everyone else was too busy to help me too, even the charge nurses. There were many shifts that I was assigned 5-6 patients and all the other experienced nurses were assigned 3-4 patients! On those same days, I was also assigned the most challenging patients together. It was completely unfair for the patients and for me! Unfortunately, I found out the hard way that HCA organization truly values money $$ over patient safety and care!
I don't know what to do. I'm waiting to hear back from a lawyer on some legal advise. I don't feel like it is fair for me to pay them $10,000 for their poor staffing issues and unfair treatment! Apparently the debt is going to collections. Do you have any ideas on what to do?!
Yes, they very well may take action against you and it's not unheard of for employers to aggressively seek reimbursement. There are even some state BONs that will suspend your license for nursing related debt, this typically applies to student loan debt but can also include breach of contract penalties.
A judgement is collectible for a certain time period (ten years). At the end of that time period, the creditor can go back to court and have the judgement reaffirmed. And it is very common for creditors with a valid judgement to go after one's bank accounts. The money is gone before the account holder even has any idea what is going on. And all of this, including the original court case bringing about the default judgement, can take place without the defendant having an inkling. The process server commits perjury when stating that he legally served notice. All of this information can be verified by perusing the internet. You can find it in many places. How can one sleep at night, ignoring a debt, and always wondering what steps have been taken against them or where in the process, the collection of the debt might be? Creditors go after far less than $10,000. All information that can be gleaned from the internet.
I encountered the same problem. I signed a contract with StarN program at HCA and quit before my contract was over. They never came after me and even paid me my PTO balance. It was definitely a risk but I was miserable there. Same experience as you. That was almost 2 years ago. Never heard from them since.
The recruiter actually lied to us about the pay raise. It's not base pay after orientation--it's much less. Yes, the first 7 weeks of orientation is class work and hospital paperwork; the last 7 weeks is on the unit with a preceptor.
The patient population wasn't low acuity, which is why our patient load wasn't safe without CNA's too. I'm also talking about day shift.
Could you elaborate? What did they say they were going to pay you after orientation? And then what did they actually pay you?
I'm not remotely qualified to give legal advice, but I'm with Hppy. If it was me, I would not rush to pay them $10K. Certainly not in 60 days. Maybe in 60 years. Collections? That's just people bugging you on the phone. They can be told where to go. The hospital can take you to small claims court and maybe even get a judgement against you. But it's still up to them to figure out how to collect it.
Collections isn't just people bugging you on the phone. Debts that go to collections can affect your credit. That can be a big deal - it can keep you from borrowing money, renting an apartment, etc. Debts don't just disappear because you ignore them. If they sent your debt to collections, you NEED to address it somehow - either pay up or fight them about paying it. But don't just ignore it!
Collections isn't just people bugging you on the phone. Debts that go to collections can affect your credit. That can be a big deal - it can keep you from borrowing money, renting an apartment, etc. Debts don't just disappear because you ignore them. If they sent your debt to collections, you NEED to address it somehow - either pay up or fight them about paying it. But don't just ignore it!
This.
When I was young, I had the mentality that if I ignored it, it didn't hurt me.
Until I hit 30 and wanted to buy a house. It took a full year and a lot of money to get my credit high enough to buy a house and get a decent rate.
Don't do that to yourself. Be proactive and protect your future!
If they were contacting you and threatening to send you to collections, that's a different story. I've never actually heard of anyone having legal action taken against them from a hospital because of a contract...I'm sure it happens though.
What's the point of contacting a lawyer? You don't actually have any kind of legal leverage. You signed and contract and you broke it. What's there to argue? Either set up a payment plan with the hospital or just leave it alone. If HCA tracked down every nurse that broke a contract, they would be buried in legal fees, right?
I did the program as well. Except our payback is 4k. Not 10k. Everything else you mentioned happened to us as well. It's been really rough. But I'm still in it because I'm not trying to blacklist myself from HA or pay the money. We've had folks who quit but haven't been asked to pay back...
Getting out of HCA and into basically any other system should make you an additional 4K in a year or far less. Go work for the VA you'll make an extra 10K in your first year.
I know it has already been said, but your experience isn't really that bad. A lot of places have a 5:1 with sometimes 6:1. I've heard some places put their night nurses at 7:1 on med/surg floors. You will also realize aides aren't always a given. Many, many times I went to work and we had no aides...RN's were responsible for the whole thing. It's insanely difficult as a new nurse to juggle that, but you will find that to be true most places you work.
That being said, never, ever, ever, ever, never, never, never sign a contract to work if it's not industry standard. Absolutely keep this as a valuable learning experience. When I graduated with my first degree (before nursing), I was offered a position as a victim advocate at a well known District Attorney's Office in a major east coast city that is part of the story line of a show that sounds like Gaw & Border. I was told I had to sign a 1 year contract to be sure, "All the time and training wouldn't be wasted" if I wanted to leave before a year. I can't remeber the terms of the contract, but it was absolute hell the entire time I was there. Absolute total hell. I knew I made a mistake when the investigator assigned to completing my background check said, "They have an exceptionally high turnover rate, moreso than the rest of the office. I'm not sure why." It was so bad that I decided against law school and went into nursing. I learned from that point on to never, ever sign a contract because it's a clear warning it's a rotten place to work.
I hope you can find a solid solution to this that won't cost you $10,000. Best of luck!
If they want you to sign a contract, that's a great time to add all your concerns about floating, ratios, breaks, mandating, and whatever else you can think of to protect yourself. Get all those promises in writing.
I did StaRN too. 9/10 times they dont come after you. and p.s. the contract is for HCA, not your unit. So, if u want to transfer floors or hospitals u can. Just has to be a HCA facility.
caliotter3
38,333 Posts
A judgement is collectible for a certain time period (ten years). At the end of that time period, the creditor can go back to court and have the judgement reaffirmed. And it is very common for creditors with a valid judgement to go after one's bank accounts. The money is gone before the account holder even has any idea what is going on. And all of this, including the original court case bringing about the default judgement, can take place without the defendant having an inkling. The process server commits perjury when stating that he legally served notice. All of this information can be verified by perusing the internet. You can find it in many places. How can one sleep at night, ignoring a debt, and always wondering what steps have been taken against them or where in the process, the collection of the debt might be? Creditors go after far less than $10,000. All information that can be gleaned from the internet.