New Grad Orientation Contracts

[Kaiyas]

I've seen older posts on this site about New Grad Orientation Contracts that require new nurses to stay on their unit for a set amount of time (up to 2 years) or else be forced to pay back orientation costs to the facility. Most of those posts told new grads to run as fast as they could away from the facility.

However, a lot of the places I've applied to all have those contracts. Is this becoming more common?

What happened to sign on bonuses in order to retain nurses?

To clarify, they require you to sign a "new grad residency" contract, which is 8-12 weeks of orientation. If you pass their orientation period you are required to work on that unit for 2 years (and in some cases required to stay at the facility for an additional year). Failure to do so, as stated in the contract, requires the nurse to pay back orientation costs of 10,000 dollars, which is pro-rated down slightly the longer you stay.

I understand that nurse retention is important, but this seems threatening and morale crushing. I completely understand having to sign a contract to pay back a sign-on bonus if you leave early, but having to "pay" for my orientation seems a little ridiculous. It makes me wonder what's wrong with the facility that would make nurses want to leave so badly that HR thought this contract was the only way to keep nurses working there.

Should I follow the older posts advice of running from these facilities or do I bite the bullet and just accept that this is what I have to do in order to get experience?

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Who really cares? What about the new grads that let go by their employer during probation. What is the difference. To me it works both ways!

New grads let go by their employer during orientation or probation are usually let go for cause. They are unteachable, they cannot accept criticism, however constructive or they are unreliable employees. (Communication issues, attendance issues, honesty issues.) Granted, I don't know every situation. But before a new grad is let go on my unit, they are given multiple chances to fix their issues and usually multiple preceptors as well. The only time I know of a new grad being fired without such chances were the one who no-call/no-showed for an entire holiday weekend (job abandonment) and the one who went home with a boatload of narcotics in her pocket.

[Nunya, BSN]

There is no out for that on the contract. While my spouse is active duty military, he is retiring next March and won't be transferred again. We are moving to the area where this hospital is, so I'm not worried about getting moved and having to break the contract.

There aren't any better options since all of the hospitals around here are requiring similar contracts. So no matter where I go, I'm going to have to sign something along these lines.

I have read that a lot of new nurses seem to be quitting in their first year, so I can understand why facilities are worried about losing new hires and losing all the time spent training them. It just seems to me that using a sign on bonus (that would have to be paid back if you left early) would seem a better enticement than a contract that comes across as "You WILL stay here or we WILL sue you for X amount of dollars."

What if something happens health wise to your husband or kids that makes it difficult for you to work? What if something happens to YOU that makes it difficult but not impossible or dangerous for you to work? I know someone who had cancer who found it very difficult to continue to work because of appointments, fatigue etc. I don't mean to be a downer but...

[Nunya, BSN]

8-12 week "residency"? Everywhere I've worked that's called orientation. Go somewhere else.

[SweetPotatoes]

I graduated last year and started at my current hospital last July. I had to sign a three-year contract and I got $10,000 for it. If you leave before the three years due to disability, then the amount is forgiven- but otherwise you have to pay it back.

I used some of the money for tuition and set aside the rest in case something happens and I need to leave before my three years.

I understand that a lot of new grads leave jobs within a couple of months which is weird to me, to not even try to stick it out a year.

That being said, I work in an emergency room that is extremely unsafe in terms of staffing and resources, and things always being broken, not having enough nurses to travel to tests with critical patients, having two icu patients as well as two other patients (ratio 4:1), not having enough techs, getting 3 patients back to back after discharging three to upstairs, etc.

this tends to be the reason that nurses leave. but honestly in my facility, more experienced nurses leave more than the new graduates. Because of the unsafe working conditions.

I do well in chaos / under pressure so I don't plan on leaving unless something really crazy happens. I understand the need for contracts but on the other hand it does kind of suck having this over my head.

however, my contract is a hospital one, not an emergency room one.

So technically if I realize that I can't take the emergency room anymore, then I am supposed to be able to transfer to another unit within the hospital. However people have tried and the managers have blocked their efforts 🤷🏾*♀️

[NurseBlaq]

I graduated last year and started at my current hospital last July. I had to sign a three-year contract and I got $10,000 for it. If you leave before the three years due to disability, then the amount is forgiven- but otherwise you have to pay it back.

I used some of the money for tuition and set aside the rest in case something happens and I need to leave before my three years.

I understand that a lot of new grads leave jobs within a couple of months which is weird to me, to not even try to stick it out a year.

That being said, I work in an emergency room that is extremely unsafe in terms of staffing and resources, and things always being broken, not having enough nurses to travel to tests with critical patients, having two icu patients as well as two other patients (ratio 4:1), not having enough techs, getting 3 patients back to back after discharging three to upstairs, etc.

this tends to be the reason that nurses leave. but honestly in my facility, more experienced nurses leave more than the new graduates. Because of the unsafe working conditions.

I do well in chaos / under pressure so I don't plan on leaving unless something really crazy happens. I understand the need for contracts but on the other hand it does kind of suck having this over my head.

however, my contract is a hospital one, not an emergency room one.

So technically if I realize that I can't take the emergency room anymore, then I am supposed to be able to transfer to another unit within the hospital. However people have tried and the managers have blocked their efforts í ¾í´·í ¼í¿¾*♀️

I may be wrong here but you got a sign-on bonus. What OP is describing is not the same. They got nothing but a job offer and if they leave then they basically have to pay for orientation.

[NurseBlaq]

I graduated last year and started at my current hospital last July. I had to sign a three-year contract and I got $10,000 for it. If you leave before the three years due to disability, then the amount is forgiven- but otherwise you have to pay it back.

I used some of the money for tuition and set aside the rest in case something happens and I need to leave before my three years.

I understand that a lot of new grads leave jobs within a couple of months which is weird to me, to not even try to stick it out a year.

That being said, I work in an emergency room that is extremely unsafe in terms of staffing and resources, and things always being broken, not having enough nurses to travel to tests with critical patients, having two icu patients as well as two other patients (ratio 4:1), not having enough techs, getting 3 patients back to back after discharging three to upstairs, etc.

this tends to be the reason that nurses leave. but honestly in my facility, more experienced nurses leave more than the new graduates. Because of the unsafe working conditions.

I do well in chaos / under pressure so I don't plan on leaving unless something really crazy happens. I understand the need for contracts but on the other hand it does kind of suck having this over my head.

however, my contract is a hospital one, not an emergency room one.

So technically if I realize that I can't take the emergency room anymore, then I am supposed to be able to transfer to another unit within the hospital. However people have tried and the managers have blocked their efforts 🤷🏾*♀️

I may be wrong here but you got a sign-on bonus. What OP is describing is not the same. They got nothing but a job offer and if they leave then they basically have to pay for orientation.

[SweetPotatoes]

@nurseblaq I meant to quote you sorry-still figuring out this phone lol

I gotcha, I see how this looks like a sign on bonus based on the way I wrote this. But I believe those are technically reserved for experienced nurses- I don't know if they have a contract associated with sign on bonuses or not.

This was a program I did through my school as a new grad-the hospital gave me 10k through my school in exchange for three years, and I completed my practicum on this unit.

The other new grads who did not do this thru their schools are going through what the OP describe, having to pay out of pocket for orientation costs if they leave before the three years.

For me, the point was that I still had to sign a contract as a new grad and have the same obligations, even as those who did not get the scholarship through school.

But the 10k did make a difference in terms of me choosing to accept the position.

[creynolds28]

***** Sure, you should pay back a bonus if you don't stay. But in my opinion, it's the hospital's responsibility to train you. You paid for the degree; they pay for orientation costs.

[creynolds28]

Well, since I know how much facilities care about money, maybe they should invest more money in retaining the great nurses they already have. It is not up to the new hire to consider how much it costs the company to hire them. It is up to the company to decide if they want to spend that money on a new hire or the nurses they've already trained.