Legal contract for ICU

Published Jan 27, 2016

7 Posts

I have been given the opportunity to broaden my horizons in my field and have been selected to start the first critical care float pool nurse program at our hospital. Essentially that means that I would leave my home floor (telemetry) and work as float pool exclusively in the ICU and telemetry. I would be enrolled in a 3 month training program that consisted of classroom and online learning in addition to being precepted into the ICU. My biggest concern is that the ICU is notorious for being labeled a caustic environment. Recently several core staff members were terminated and the number of experienced ICU nurses left is limited. In order to formally accept the position I must sign a contract to stay in the critical care float pool for a minimum of two years. If for any reason I leave before that two years I owe the amount that the 3 month course cost which is $12,000. I have honestly not had any problems with the ICU staff but cant help but wonder why they have such a low rate of nurse retention. My question is if there is a specific type of lawyer that I need to consult to see how much legal ground this contract really has in case things start to get real "hairy" in the ICU. I have made a couple calls to local lawyers but none of them deal with this type of situation. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.