Legal or not

1. We have nine practitioners who work in our unit. 3 of them have their Master's. The others were certified by a Hospital sponsored program. Our new Unit Director has said that he will give those NNPs who are not Master's prepared a certain time period to return to school or they will be "let go". If a Master's degree was not a requirement on their job application, can he legally force them to go back to school?

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2. 

   About shelbabyrn

   Joined: Jul '03; Posts: 23
   RN-NICU

   4 Comments

   Topic Closed
3. 
   Jul 24, '03

   Don't quote me on this, but I would think the answer is yes. Job responsibilities and requirements can change anytime after you start a position. I would think it might be questionable if your employer weren't offering a chance to update one's qualifications though.
4. 
   Jul 24, '03

   If it's a right to work state you can be let go for any or no reason as long as it doesn't violate civil rights laws. If there was a union or a contract involved, there would be wiggle room.
   
   Edited to add: if however, all the NP's who were certified throught the hospital program happened to be older it's possible the right lawyer might be able to make a case for age discrimination, but those are extremely hard to prove.
5. 
   Aug 11, '03

   The state laws are changing. The grandfathering in of NP's is now gone. In Ohio to practice an NP MUST have a masters degree in nursing by a specific date. The policy of which you speak may not be the hospital's policy, but that of the state.
6. 
   Aug 12, '03

   Yes it is very legal. Check out your hospital's Personnel and Policy Manual. I'm certain you will find a clause in there that states something to the effect, "....the employer may change the job description (e.g., requirements) as a business necessity..." or something to that effect.

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