$10,000 penalty if you leave the ICU

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Specializes in Anesthesia, CCRN, SRNA.

I am looking at joining a hospitals ICU unit and was floored with their expecations. To join this unit you have to sign a two year contract. If you leave before the end of your two years of work for any reason you have to pay them $10,000.

The hospital has a 20 week training program for ICU nurses and I can understand they may want to recoup some of their costs for early exiters.....but $10000??

Is this common in any other cities? Needless to say I will be interviewing elsewhere.

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Is the $10,000 the amount of the sign on bonus? I have heard of repaying a sign on bonus if you leave before the specified time. I have never heard of what sounds like a fine for leaving.

This situation sounds like a red flag. Why do they need these measures to keep staff from leaving?

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Specializes in Maternal - Child Health.

I would never sign such an agreement. I understand the high cost of orienting new staff, and the huge financial hit a unit takes when a staff member leaves after a short period of employment, but don't believe that this is the answer.

It is unrealistic to expect 2 years of service from every newly hired RN, and there are many valid reasons for leaving a job prior to the 2 year mark, such as unanticipated change in family status (transfer, illness, family emergency, etc.) If a unit is having a "run" of nurses leaving after a short term of employment, the manager needs to determine why. Such a large exodus of staff will not be fully explained by employees leaving for personal or "frivolous" reasons. There will be unit- or hospital-based reasons for this, such as poor staffing, poor workng conditions, excessive on-call requirements, hostile politics, etc., all very good reasons NOT to sign such an agreement.

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Specializes in Anesthesia, CCRN, SRNA.

There is no sign on bonus to join this unit. It is a fairly new policy they have put into place.

I thought it was a red flag issue and am glad those who have responded feel the same way.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, MS, ICU.

That is by far one of the most bizarre things I have ever heard!!!! They cannot be serious...???!!! If this is part of your contract I would really have to wonder what the working conditions are like for the ICU to resort to this! WOW!!! I would run screaming in the other direction if I was presented with that!!! It sounds like selling your soul to the Devil to me!

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Specializes in Anesthesia, CCRN, SRNA.

My friend who works in the ER at the hospital sent me this note today.....

MIMC now has a "Critical Care" training program. You have to interview for a postion and go through a 20 wk program training program through 4 ICUS . Not so bad,huh? There's more..... you get ASSIGNED to your ICU,have to sign a 2yr contract,and have to pay back $10,000 in training if you break contract! I am sure it will be prorated,but it's not worth the risk. "What does this lucky nurse get",you ask, A J-O-B!!! Sounds inticing,huh? Not when there are 5 hosps in town!!

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sounds like good coporate planning to me.....lol

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Ha, one of the hospitals around here has an ER orientation program like that. Supposedly they give you classes for 6 months, a mentor, and... (wait for it...) ... let you work in their high-volume, high burn-out ER! To do it you sign a 2 year contract, $10,000 penalty if you break it.

A friend of mine did it but found the working conditions ATROCIOUS and has since broken the contract to protect her license. If they go after her she threatens to take everything she saw to JCAHO.

So glad I didn't do it! Believe it or not, it can look attractive to new grads wanting a position in a specialty area because it seems like a structured orientation. But hey, 2 years is a long time! And I'm a fickle new nurse ;).

It's a disservice to new grads who are competent but not a good fit... then they get burnt out because they're forced to stay in that area. :o

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Specializes in ICU.

Cedars Sinai in LA has a similar policy, but instead of 10K, it's somewhere around 5K as reimbursement for the new grad class anywhere in the hospital, not just critical care. You have to sign a 2-year agreement as well. It's a great hospital, but just this alone made me look for jobs elsewhere!

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Specializes in icu,ccu, er, corrections.

The ER I came from had the same kind of thing, but only for new grads.

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Specializes in ICU;CCU;Telemetry;L&D;Hospice;ER/Trauma;.

oh bruther...I guess I missed the orientation train....

When I started, I learned OTJ....basically, it was, "here's your patient, here's your paperwork, here's the bathroom, here's the crash cart... any questions? Ms. so and so over there will be your RESOURCE."

I am glad to see that orientation has improved...but at who's expense?

For pete's sakes, if the hospital isn't making enough money, maybe they ought to reconsider that fat bonus check all the administration people get, the concierge service they bought into, the $10MILLION, (yes, I did say million) cafeteria complete with fountains, and Italian Marble...(they were so proud that it was featured in an issue of Architectural Digest!

Once again, it's about projecting an IMAGE, and not about building a solid staff....in the bean counters' views, as long as they can make do and make the paying public think they are a top notch place to have your colon resected, they don't give a tinker's darn about some nurse's need for solid training post nursing school....this is atrocious.

I wouldn't walk into a contract like that....it sounds to me like a trap....

If they cannot keep and train nurses any other way than to tie them up and hornswaggle them, then in my view, it's a sign that the whole place has some problems...

Find another place...you shouldn't have to pay anyone for the PLEASURE of working at their esteemed hospital....they should PAY YOU!

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

As you can see from some of the other posts ... more and more hospitals are asking nurses to make a committment in exchange for the lengthy orientation programs that newer nurses are expecting. While I would be very hesitant to sign such an agreement, I can understand the hospital's point of view.

Many, many nurses take jobs in hospitals with good orientation programs with no intention of staying for more than a few months. They intend to simply get the training and then become a travel nurse ... or go to graduate school ... or move out of town ... etc. They take advantage of the $50,000 it costs the hospital to hire and orient them without any intention of helping the hospital recoup its significant investment in their education. Hospitals are getting tired of having nurses take advantage of them in this way and are beginning to look for ways to discourage that sort of thing.

I wouldn't sign such an agreement unless I was satisfied with the fine print. For example, is the amount pro-rated for length of service? Can you transfer to another unit of the same hospital if it doesn't work out? What happens if they want you to leave? If you decide within the first 2 or 3 weeks that you don't want to stay (and have not cost them much in orientation costs), do you still have to pay the full $10,000? What if they ask you to leave on week 2 of orientation? Does the contract specify the details of the orientaion? If they don't deliver the educational program as promised, does that free you from your obligations? etc.

Such a contract could actually protect a nurse and work to her benefit -- force the hospital to provide an outstanding educational program that might be worth the committment/money. But it will take a while for this new state of affairs to "settle out" and for the marketplace and the profession to establish standards, etc. In the meantime, I would be hesitant to sign such a contract, but I would consider it under the right circumstances.

llg

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