Last year, I worked 6 months as a nurse resident at a large teaching hospital in Boston that I am not going to name (however it is currently #1 in the country, hint hint). At the time when I was applying for jobs, I was a new grad nurse after completing an Accelerated BSN program through this hospital's school, so when I got the offer I thought it sounded like a great opportunity. They made it sound like a great resume booster and a good educational opportunity so I took it, despite the abysmal pay at $12.38/hr with benefits. They even said they would try to hire me at the end of the residency, which was scheduled to be some time in April 2016 (although no official end date was ever set).
I knew the pay would be tough to live off of, especially living right in the middle of downtown Boston. I was fortunate that I had some money saved because at the time I was 27, and nursing this was a second career and second degree for me. I was in the first wave of residents starting in June 2015, with more that were hired in September and December. Little did I know, they would eventually hire around 500 new grad RNs, making my chances of being hired at the end of the program smaller and smaller. Only about the first month of the program was spent on "education", and then we were set free to work on various units throughout the hospital. Before I knew it, I was doing the same amount of work (if not more) than other nurses, however getting paid 1/3 of what they were. Nursing aides were starting out with $15/hr pay. At first it was fine with me, but then it got old really fast. I mean, minimum wage in Massachusetts is $10/hr! I've worked retail jobs getting paid more than I was as a RN!
The hospital took advantage of new graduate nurses and is continuing to do so, without any guarantee of a full-time position at the end of the residency. The job was not only difficult on the monetary side, but after the first month there was no part of it I would consider to be a "residency" (other than the bad pay). It was so poorly organized for a hospital that is supposed to be one of the best in the world. I made the decision to leave the program early, and it was the best choice I could have made. I am now employed at another hospital, earning a real nurse's salary, with the opportunity for job growth and am MUCH happier.
Yes, I now have the basic RN skills and the big-name hospital on my resume, but I felt so taken advantage of during this time and never fully respected by most of my other colleagues. Many of them viewed us as "fake nurses" or that we were only there because we couldn't get jobs anywhere else.
My advice to new grads looking into residency programs--make sure you know what you're getting yourself into! Perhaps if I was younger and able to live with my parents this would have been a better opportunity. However, as nurses, we are the ones who keep patients alive, the ones that keep hospitals open 24/7 to help those in need, but this program made me feel as though I didn't matter to the hospital not just because of the pay, but because I did not feel respected as a REAL nurse.
And after writing this, I feel the need to name the hospital...Massachusetts General Hospital. I'm curious to hear of other people's experiences with residency programs...please share!
Wow, 180 degrees different from my critical care residency. We were treated like little chicks for 6 months. LOTS of class time, very gradual introduction to full time solo nursing. And paid at new grad/then new nurse pay. I don't think any of the nurses in my class weren't hired. They did state that they wanted a verbal 2 year commitment from us, which I was perfectly content to give. It seemed very reasonable.
Times have changed, it seems, or perhaps not. Perhaps the most prestigious hospitals have always gotten away with this.
There has been ongoing critique regarding that program because of pay structure and other things.
In any way - I left a position at that place because the way nurses treated each other was just not ok. I did not feel that I had to prove myself worthy of working there and put up with bizarre behavior. Sure, they will never employ me again as I left soon after orientation but I would not want to go back.
I'm in the Memorial Hermann residency program in Texas and we all get paid $26.50 no matter what unit. Medsurg gets 3 months orientation and a year of classes, ICU/Critical care gets 6 months, and OR has a year orientation.
Each hospital in the system only accepts a certain number (my little hospital accepted 8) of people, and they fully expect you (you sign a 2 year contract) to stay employed after that year is over.
As a patient I will stay away from hospitals like that. Money, money, money...when you pay minimum you only care about money not care. That s a big no.
As a patient I will stay away from hospitals like that. Money, money, money...when you pay minimum you only care about money not care. That s a big no.
Really? You would boycott one of the top academic medical centers in the US because you disapprove of their optional new grad residency program?
Thanks you writing this post, its very eye opening. I will be looking for new grad positions in a few months but still have not decided if i want to do the residency programs. I have looked on each hospital website regarding their programs but there is still a lot of information missing. Regardless of what I choose, I hope I get a decent training.
I am currently serving time in an 18-month residency program. It's not quite as you've outlined above:
We are paid a new grad salary, and we are definitely not treated like pee-ons by the rest of the staff; if anything, I believe other nurses envy our mobility to a degree- we rotate units q6mos.
The "promise" at hire was that we were being primed to land in a coveted ICU position. Of course, I don't count on it. Now they are saying ICU Isn't guaranteed, but at the end of the program, all the residents can basically choose any unit they desire to work in.
The outline of the program is shady, and sometimes unrealistic, it's quite new (the pilot, actually) and unorganized, but at the end of the day, I have grown to really value all of the experiences I've been privileged to be a part of during this program.
There is nearly nowhere else that I would ever legit be able to change units every six months without sending red flags into the professional void.
Its been fantastic. Would I do it for $12/h and have people looking down their noses at me all day? Probably not.
I guess the success/likeability pof the programs are all relative to goals of the organization enlisting warm bodies. The goal here is retention - they are hedging their bets that after 18months in position, someone might think twice about leaving if they don't get their dream position. They think they're cunning. And they are.....
Additionally, the nursing teams have been phenomenal here for the most part. There will always be that handful who eat their young, every organization needs them, but even as a baby nurse right out of orientation I never felt like I had to drive through tears/panic/anxiety on my way to work.
That is crazy! 12.38 an hour? It's good to know that Mass General, which is a nationally recognized hospital, stoops to this level. Despicable. Thank you for disclosing the name of the hospital -- the more publicity these hospitals get for these antics, the better. That is how they are held accountable. Yale New Haven Hospital in CT also does the same thing calivianya is describing. Paying low wages because they have a "big name."
The sad thing is, we have people on this forum who read threads like these and would call the OP a "job hopper" and "giving new nurses a bad name" because the OP isn't willing to put up with shoddy conditions and lies.
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xoemmylouox, ASN, RN
3,150 Posts
Wow.. The hospitals here pay you as a new grad, not minimum wage. That's just awful.