Employment at will!

[nurse955]

At some point in own nursing career, each one of us will experience a situation whereby during interview and prior to acceptance of job offer; human resource, recruiters, or Nurse Managers did not tell you about issues on the unit or hospital(moral, constant turnover), floating to units you have no experience in, on-call without the pay, terrible insurance plan, charge nurse duties by default and while you are still on orientation(everyone called in), etc.

I've been a nurse for 17years and every application or job offer letter always says something like this-----employement is at will and this offer does not denotes a contract.

If this is the case, why is it held against you if one leaves an employer after 3, 4, or 6months?

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

At some point in own nursing career, each one of us will experience a situation whereby during interview and prior to acceptance of job offer; human resource, recruiters, or Nurse Managers did not tell you about issues on the unit or hospital(moral, constant turnover), floating to units you have no experience in, on-call without the pay, terrible insurance plan, charge nurse duties by default and while you are still on orientation(everyone called in), etc.

I've been a nurse for 17years and every application or job offer letter always says something like this-----employement is at will and this offer does not denotes a contract.

If this is the case, why is it held against you if one leaves an employer after 3, 4, or 6months?

How is it held against you?

[That Guy, BSN, RN, EMT-B]

It makes you look unstable and like you float. Why would a hospital invest the time to train you if you jump ship so quickly. it is expensive to hire and train new employees.

[liz0105]

'Employment At Will' is more of a legal term - meaning that either the hospital can terminate the position or the employee can choose to quit, without any liability to either party.

Regarding the appearance of 'unstability', that's up to the perception of the next employer.

[xtxrn, ASN, RN]

I don't see how anybody can use leaving a job against them , if they give their proper notice (usually 2 weeks for floor staff; 30 days for management .).... All of the things listed are part of business. Floating is for the benefit of staffing the hospital. Nobody likes it (unless they work float pool), but to keep staff on board, it's necessary.

[SweetseRN]

I guess the quick answer is, if it's a one time thing that didn't work out, I don't think anyone would hold it against you. But if your resume reads like: employer A 2 months, employer B 1 month, employer C, 3 months...In that case it may look bad for you.

[MrChicagoRN, RN]

I've been a nurse for 17years and every application or job offer letter always says something like this-----employement is at will and this offer does not denotes a contract.

If this is the case, why is it held against you if one leaves an employer after 3, 4, or 6months?

Each state writes it's own labor law. Illinois, like many others are "employment at will"

That means if I was the employer, I could fire you at any time for any legal reason. And you the employer can quit at any time. and neither one can sue the other.

How the next employer interprets the circumstance of your leaving is entirely up to them, and has nothing to do with this concept

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

I've always heard you don't need to include jobs you've had less than 90 days in a resume. Also, these days many see frequent job changes as contributing to the well-roundedness of an employee. Sure, employers don't want to train you and have you leave them, but they understand things happen. Most won't hold it against you personally, or in any report they give about you, if you give proper notice...

[cindyloowho]

I've always heard you don't need to include jobs you've had less than 90 days in a resume.

You don't have to put ANY job on a resume, regardless of how long you've been there. I could have held a job for 3 years but then chosen not to put it on my resume...cause it is just that; MY resume and what goes on it is my choice :-)

But to the OP, I see what you are saying. We se sooooo many posts on this forum from people asking advice about how to leave a job early on and while most are supportive, some crabby crabersons give them grief for leaving before 1 year. I see no reason to stay at a job you hate, but it certainly becomes a problem and liability for a new employer if you routinely jump from one job to another.

[gettingbsn2msn, MSN, RN]

This is why I have decided that I like agency and/or travel. Plus, I am making more money :)

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

When I wrote you don't need to include jobs of less than 90 days on a resume, what I meant is...often at the end of an application it will ask you to sign that your information is accurate and complete. I thought a loophole from the "complete" was the less than 90 days job. I think of applications as if they're resumes since they often have the same information.

Surely, a resume can include whatever you want it to include.

[Bella'sMyBaby]

It's all about Employers having the cards stacked in their favor...

Their way of getting rid of employees who are a "threat" to their Organization.