Below is the email that I received from Memorial Hermann last week, what is your take about it?
Dear New Graduate Nurse,
Memorial Hermann is considering creating a RN Training Program targeted to new graduates who wish to gain invaluable hospital experience. This program would last anywhere from two to six months and would be offered in a variety of specialty areas throughout our system. While the Training Program would be unpaid, participants would be well positioned to be considered for employment at Memorial Hermann upon completion of the program.
We value your opinion and ask that you please take a minute to share your initial impression of such a program by hitting reply and indicating your thoughts below:
____Yes, I think such a program is a good idea.
____No, I do not think such a program is a good idea.
I don't think it is such a bad idea. Many other professions offer unpaid internships. Is this a full time program? If not, I think it is feasible to partake in this and simultaneously get a paying job in a non-nursing field. If s/he proves competent, it sounds like employment is probable. If not, the experience and references should still be a significant resume booster.
Correct me if I'm wrong but doesn't Memorial Hermann offer paid internships currently? So they want to get the cream of the crop, train them the way they see fit, and then have their pick of the litter? If I was even to consider unpaid internship I would have them gurantee a job, and if they refused I would wait until my internship was up and take my valuable experience to the nearest competitor.
Please do not stoop to the level of rendering your services for free. No other group of educated professionals would work for free, so neither should nurses.
I've been looking for work for 7mo in the Houston area and would jump on this in a heartbeat, its easy to say don't do this when you have a job with +4yrs exp. Try walking in my shoes every day trying to find a job, it is hard work, I would rather spend my time working/learning for free than wasting my time emailing, calling then going up to hospitals just to find out sorry were looking for experienced nurses.
Besides I didn't become a RN for the money, i was working at JSC making the same pay an RN does.
Once I graduate, there will be no way in hell that I will work for free. I'd rather deliver pizza for Dominos to pay my bills if I need to wait for jobs to open up.
EDIT: Matthew, if you work as free labor, you will make the job market even worse. Why would hospitals need to hire any new grads if they can rely on people working for free?
in my opinion its better than waiting at home with no job, or letting an interview decide who the best nurse would be. instead of hiring only 10 nurse per 6mo they could hire 20 give them a shot see who the keepers are.
anything over 8 weeks would start to be an insult, also if you did a great job then you should get some kind of hiring on bonus/ no hard feelings. i would put it around 8 x 40 x 20 = $6400 at the least $3200 because in the long run a lot of people would hold that in the back of there minds, and if another company came around offering greater benefits or what not, they might think back and remember the time they worked those 8 weeks for free. longterm retention rates would fall.
you tend to stay with good companies even if they payless or have less benefits, if they treat you with respect, have a good work environment and allow room for growth.
in the longterm the money is just not that important.
RUN, RUN, RUN!!!!!! Memorial Hermann is not a good company to work for. The best of the best (from hell!). I worked there for 3 years and it was not worth it. They should offer top pay since most of their Neuro-ICU nurses left at the same time. RUN!!!
Hey, I did a summer internship before. And it was unpaid. It was amazing experience to add to my resume, and not to mention a great reference!! In these tough economic times, ya take what you can get. Honestly... beggars can't be choosers.
Unpaid internships aren't rare. They occur in many other industries as well.
Many professionals in other fields complete unpaid interships in order to gain experience or to get their foot in the door. Personally, I think this could be a good option for some new grads who are having a hard time finding employment or even new grads that might want to brush up or improve upon their nursing skills.
When was the last time a police officer or fire fighter was asked to work for free? This does nothing but drive the overall salary for nursing further down.
:flmngmd:
um, my father is a volunteer fire cheif in my town for 31 years, on TOP of working full time. in fact, id say his real job has suffered on many occasion because of the tireless hours he puts in. and you know what? he is a helluva fireman.
and they have many volunteer nurses, FEMA, red cross, blood banks, etc.
sry, i know you didnt mean much by throwing firemen in, but it grinds me when ppl don't recognize that there are men missing holiday meals with their family cuz another stupid family cant cook a turkey without setting their kitchens on fire. and many do it for free.
Honestly, with the surplus of new graduates and the lack of new graduate positions, I would be interested in obtaining any nursing experience with or without pay. Like SNB1014 said, there are many volunteer nurses out there. Additionally, volunteering is a very uplifting activity.
No one wants to pay the "losers" (sorry for the lack of a better term). This unpaid internship is simply to weed out the cream of the crop and offer those positions. Hospitals are BUSINESSES and until you realize they are, you will never like what they do. I have seen it with my own eyes...a hospital takes in a random person they thought would do well... Spend $15k over 3 months of training to find out they cannot handle the job and the person quits. That is money wasted.
:flmngmd:
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I don't think it is such a bad idea. Many other professions offer unpaid internships. Is this a full time program? If not, I think it is feasible to partake in this and simultaneously get a paying job in a non-nursing field. If s/he proves competent, it sounds like employment is probable. If not, the experience and references should still be a significant resume booster.