DON took advantage of me

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Nurse Beth,

In 2012, I was a new grad with my ADN, struggling to find a job. All that would hire me was a SNF in Oceanside, CA. The DON there told me that I would be hired $15/hr during my probation period of 90 days due to a high turnover rate, then it would be increased to $26/hr (no back pay for staying loyal after the 90 days). Being naive, I agreed to it, but after speaking with my coworkers at another SNF I currently work at, they said they took advantage of me and that it was illegal. Is that true? Was it illegal? If so, what can I do about it?

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Dear Taken Advantage Of,

Shame on them! No wonder they have a high turnover rate. They are sending a message that they do not value nurses and quality patient care, or even understand good management practices.

It's natural to feel angry about having been paid an unfair low wage, but the best thing at this point is to let it go and move on.

They did take advantage of your eagerness to land a job and your naivete in the job market. But being taken advantage is not necessarily illegal.

There is nothing illegal with an employer making a job offer at a certain salary (even if it's low) and then giving a substantial raise in 90 days, when both parties agreed to the terms. Now if they violated any overtime labor and wages laws, that is a different story.

I know from here on you'll have researched customary and reasonable pay in your area. Thank you for alerting others to this unfair pay practice.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

note: You could always consult an attorney. But in this case, I wouldn't throw money at an attorney, just my point of view. You have lost enough money. :) Good luck!

[GuEsT78]

Nurse Beth is right. Our courts are overloaded. When you sign a contract that's not illegal (as in below the minimum wage), just unfavorable to you, they don't want to get involved. What you agreed to do, you must do. Some lessons may be painful, but you can still learn from them.

Keep that in mind in every area of your life from buying a home to wills. Go over all contracts carefully and seek advice if you feel it'd be useful. If that means consulting a lawyer, don't hesitate to bargain over the price. In the last decade or so the country has become glutted with lawyers needing work. And ask around to find out who is good. I'm no fan of lawyers, but in some situations a good lawyer can be priceless.

The same need for care is true in other areas. I'm a writer and am in the process of negotiating Chinese translations of some of my books. Many publishers have a less-than-favorable standard contract that tilts the table their way. Talk with them and that contract appears on the table. Resist and a more favorable contract will quickly appear. If they want your book, they're willing to deal.

I am in no position to know, but I suspect that hospitals often play that same game. They have one contract for new and naive nurses and another they use when they know that one won't work. That's where researching to discover what's reasonable and customary in your area is a good idea.

Don't worry. Learning from a bad experience when you are new may prove far better than learning much later when the stakes may be far higher.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

It's all about location, location, location...

The SNF in the OP is located in Oceanside, CA. Southern California's nursing employment market has been glutted for the past six or seven years. Thus, many unscrupulous employers and hiring managers can get away with lowballing what they offer to new hires.

After all, if the new nurse rejects the $15/hourly 'training wage,' I can guarantee 100+ unemployed nurses are waiting in the wings for the job. It's a sad state of affairs at the present time due to certain employers who take advantage and certain new nurses who are so desperate that people take advantage of them.

[Health Coach00]

I remember when I first started out, the same thing was happening to me. The pay discrepancy was better, but I got what seemed to be the harder work loads. This happened every time I moved from one state to another too. What is really sad to me is that nurses do it to nurses. There is sometimes no sense of fairness. It wasn't until I got more into the hospice environment that I found more autonomy and the ability to make a good wage. When you are working in a SNF it is easy to transition to hospice. Some hospices work inside these facilities. I found if I made a friend on the outside, I was usually welcomed to join their hospice group. Because of my BSN, I was able to manage a set of clients time and time again. With nurses who are really frustrated and sad, I would recommend going outside the traditional nursing. I am Health Coaching now and absolutely love it. Sometimes it is just a matter of peeking outside the box.