Graduate Nurse program with contract

commonsense · Apr 17, 2012

I'm scheduled to graduate in May of 2012 and I've been looking into countless residency opportunities that require a contract to be signed. Does anybody have any ideas on how to lessen the likelihood that this situation will happen? I plan to ask as many questions as I can think of and have thought about showing the contract to a lawyer to have him/her look over it. Any other ideas and/or input?

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 17, 2012

i’m sure they did nothave a gun to their head, nor did they fully grasp what hospital nursingentails. we all know that many hrrecruiters work with a bonus package (financial incentive). where ever there isa financial incentive, there is room for clouded messages. for instance: "wewould like you to remain on your unit, however, xyz hospital puts the nursesfirst. we will work with you to makesure it’s a fit.” i am not privy to the situation;however as a jd, i do know that the aclu will listen to their plight and offer adviceif they can or cannot help in this situation. yes, i do not know if the hospitalexplored all the options or not; that is why it is of the utmost importancethat this new grad, goes the extra mile so his or her rights are protected. many times, finacial fees do not hold up unless an actual monetary bonus was accepted upon employment.

just a friendly reminder...........we need to be careful here on an as giving legal advice is against the tos.

nicurn001 · Apr 17, 2012

If you enter into one of these agreements , then when you start recieving your pay put some away in savings before anything else , so that if you decide the working conditions are unsafe etc. you will have the money available to pay off the outstanding balance the employer claims .

Indeed the employer is not holding a gun to the grads head BUT their may be no alternate route to employment ie. only jobs posted require experience . No experience = no job so to break that cycle you take the residency .

Meriwhen, ASN, BSN, MSN, RN · Apr 18, 2012

In terms of legal advice, get a lawyer as they're the only ones who are qualified to give it...not us. You willingly signed a contract so unfortunately I don't see any "outs" for you because you did acknowledge acceptance of their terms...but if there is one, it's the lawyer who will find it.

However, before resorting to paying the fee or taking legal action, is there some change that you could make to make lasting those two years possible? Maybe a different unit, different preceptor, different schedule, different specialty?

Trauma Columnist · Apr 18, 2012

I think what this is all boiling down too: you need a lawyer.

**CalicoKitty, BSN, MSN, RN** · Apr 18, 2012

1) stick it out, and try to figure out what you can do to make it a better experience for yourself

2) work with the hospital and see if you can transfer to a different unit/shift

3) quit and pay the fee

4) get a lawyer

PMFB-RN, RN · Apr 18, 2012

Where I work we have a 7 month Critical Care Nurse Residency program. It requires a two year contract that starts after the residency program. Spots in the residency are in very high demand and competion is fierce. There is a $15K buy out for those who do not complete the two year contract.

Many many people do not complete the contract. Some pay it off and some do not. Of those that do not pay some are gone after by the hospital and some not. For example the daughter of the head anesthesiologist walked away form the contract to attend CRNA school and nobody said a word. I have heard her brag about not paying a dime. So far as I know nobody has been taken to court for failure to pay.

Many people are very happy to accept the superb critical care training offered then want to bail on the hospital when it comes time to pay it back. In our case mostly they leave for CRNA school. This has lead to some drastic measures. For example new grad BSNs are no longer hired into the nurse residency for the SICU. So far 100% of the ADN grads hired have completed the 2 year contract, vs about 10% of the BSN grads.

WildcatFanRN, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2012

This is also the reason a lot of places are leary of hiring new grads period. But if you are lucky enough to find a residency program and you knew what the contract entailed before signing it, then you knew the consequences of breaking the contract. Looking for an out just because you now don't like the work environment just seems wrong to me somehow. If enough new grads at your place do what your doing, they might just cut their losses and discontinue the program altogether.

Just my :twocents:

nicurn001 · Apr 18, 2012

Maybe this is an interesting concept , rather than just drop the residency program , why not look at why the participants do not wish to complete the contracts , if it is simply greed then go after them to recoup the facilities costs , but if it is due to the poor work enviroment , improve the enviroment because it is a loud statement when given a good education the participants can't tolerate being at your facility a moment longer !

commonsense · Apr 18, 2012

Where I work we have a 7 month Critical Care Nurse Residency program. It requires a two year contract that starts after the residency program. Spots in the residency are in very high demand and competion is fierce. There is a $15K buy out for those who do not complete the two year contract.
Many many people do not complete the contract. Some pay it off and some do not. Of those that do not pay some are gone after by the hospital and some not. For example the daughter of the head anesthesiologist walked away form the contract to attend CRNA school and nobody said a word. I have heard her brag about not paying a dime. So far as I know nobody has been taken to court for failure to pay.
Many people are very happy to accept the superb critical care training offered then want to bail on the hospital when it comes time to pay it back. In our case mostly they leave for CRNA school. This has lead to some drastic measures. For example new grad BSNs are no longer hired into the nurse residency for the SICU. So far 100% of the ADN grads hired have completed the 2 year contract, vs about 10% of the BSN grads.

It's sad that I can tell from your post this individual was a member of the millennial generation. Not honoring your commitment to a contract is one thing, but to brag about not honoring that contract and not being punished is even worse. Stories like this make me ashamed of the generation I was born in.

nicurn001 · Apr 18, 2012

It's sad that I can tell from your post this individual was a member of the millennial generation. Not honoring your commitment to a contract is one thing, but to brag about not honoring that contract and not being punished is even worse. Stories like this make me ashamed of the generation I was born in.

I think you may have misread PMFB-RN's contribution , they gave an example of someone who did not honor the contract , but I don't see, as you appear to infer , that they even enterred into this program .

CrufflerJJ, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Apr 19, 2012

Maybe this is an interesting concept , rather than just drop the residency program , why not look at why the participants do not wish to complete the contracts , if it is simply greed then go after them to recoup the facilities costs , but if it is due to the poor work enviroment , improve the enviroment because it is a loud statement when given a good education the participants can't tolerate being at your facility a moment longer !

In a perfect world, maybe. Unfortunately, there are plenty of less-than-ethical folks who will go through the residency program so they can list it on their resume, then they all of the sudden decide that the work place is unsafe, poorly staffed, hostile, whatever (claimed to avoid having to pay the early severance clause of their contract). And they amazingly go on to CRNA school. Such a shock....not!