nursedolphin

I was an elementary school counselor and made the jump to nursing. Unlike a teacher, I would of been a counselor until I retired with 3 options: elementary, junior or high school vs a teacher can switched grades, subjects, etc. Nursing has opened so many more doors for me. I am still employed by the school district for a .2 position and work my 3 days in the hospital. It is the best of both worlds but can become a little busy. With nursing I do not take any of the problems home. I swipe in, swipe out and leave my thoughts with work. As a counselor, I ALWAYS brought problems home and worried about the kids-if Jane Doe was going to be fed/hurt/etc. I have been summons to court for so many cases that I have dealt with. Some of the parents have been the most difficult people I ever had to work with...I give you kuddos, I could never have been a teacher. The teaching material, SOL's and increasing pressure on the teachers is awful to obtain the perfect scores. I am luckily not in a stressful unit, I love my job. I probably do more teaching then I did as a counselor in the school system, lol. There are so many possibilities in nursing and so many doors can be opened. The hardest switch for me was as a counselor I knew the schedule the school year before (ex: M-F 9-4, breaks, workdays, etc). As a nurse I have to adjust to knowing my scheduling only 6 weeks in advance and working various shifts. My planner is glued to my pocket! I do miss having the summer and holidays off. Are you planning on going back to nursing school full or part time? Are you going to work as a sub? I went for my BSN because I did not want to take a step backwards and have to go back for my BSN later. Otherwise, my hospital has a Child Life Specialist position working with sick children. You could find a similar position and the hospital could pay for some of your nursing classes :) Good luck!

I went through this....just look for my previous post. I received some nice posts but overall, I had mean posts. I signed a contract and HATED the job after a few weeks. A lot of posts asked how I could hate a job after a few weeks. It was intuition, I knew I would not like it. My contract stated I had to stay for 12 months after the completion of my internship-which was 3 months. So basically I had to stay for 15 months. I talked to HR first to see what the implications were. At first, they gave me a go-around for a few days. I talked to my manager and she was an advocate for me. She totally understood not liking a job and being forced to stay. I am so grateful for her and was sooo lucky to have her because she was able to tell HR not to charge me $10,000 and got that in writing. If I had to stay, I would be happy to work for her, just not the unit. Looking back, I would NEVER sign a contract again. I think that the nursing profession thinks they can treat people like garbage because nurses are so replaceable. We really need a voice saying this is so unacceptable. Obviously, facilities do not care about nurses as human beings with feelings, just forced slave workers held to a contract. It is so one sided.

Thanks everyone for your responses!! I think on Monday I will def march myself in and see what I can do. I hope my schedule will change in a few months. As for my internship, I get paid my hourly rate. Thank you for the link! The article was very interesting. Fingers crossed :) Thanks again everyone!!!!

Is your inside person a hiring manager that makes the final decision? I cannot tell you the number of times I thought a job was going to work out.....please be careful and do not give up a FT job. Maybe you could start the FT job and work PRN in OB. I had so many similar experiences and even received verbal offers only to not get the position.I even gave up great positions for the chance at my dream job-needless to say, it did not work out. Good luck!

I really liked Hurst review. They have a great class, plus on line test banks. I found the Hurst questions VERY similar to the NCLEX questions. You can do it :) Good luck!!!

Thanks luvmyhubbybunche and mojitos2go! I would love to run. This teaches me a great lesson. Money never exchanged hands :) I will not mention prorate when and if I resign but use it as a backup plan. Thank you all for your great advice :) It is so nice to bounce ideas off bc I cannot talk about leaving with any of the coworkers (not that any are decent) or other people I graduated with because they did not have to sign contracts at the hospitals they work at.

Chin Up, your awesome! The one line basically just stated that the employee would have to remain in the position for one year after the completion of the internship, otherwise the employee would have to pay $10,000. There was not mention of understanding what I was getting into or duress. So annoying. I hope they will prorate it...Thanks again for your help!

FancypantsRN, ChinUp and Onaclear day - you are all awesome!! Thank you so much. I feel waaay better. There is not a critical care course, 12 lead EKG just education classes which I have yet to attend. ChinUp, lol about getting fired! It is an at-will state in which they could fire me at a given notice. I hear you about corporate, they are a bunch of number crunchers without feelings. I do understand there is a cost associated with training new graduates but $10,000 for 3 months???? That is extreme. I might mention prorating, that is a great idea! The contract was one line!!!

Yup. After I finish the internship (3 months) I have to stay a year so I have to be employed there for 15 months. It is sooo frustrating. I got myself into a pickle. The money is not a signing bonus just the cost of the internship. I want to leave after a few weeks because I know it is not the place for me but I am stuck for another 14.5 months

Thanks Chinup. LOL about your post...I posted a question if I can break the contract and got eaten alive. You are correct-I do have 90 days probation. I am afraid to mention anything because 15 months is a long time to not get along with the boss. If I leave I have to pay back $10,000 for the cost of the 3 month internship. Grrrr!

I wish I could transfer...the policy is 1 year to transfer.

True, thank you!

The unit is so unprofessional. I was hired to work in a different area/population and was placed into this unit. I would rather be unemployed than work with awful co-workers, back stabbers, awful work schedule (was promised 3 12's and am stuck with 5 8's), etc.

Thanks everyone. I reread the contract and it did not state the unit. So I guess I am stuck. That was a great suggestion to take the contract home and read it. I wish I would of done that.

So I signed a 15 month contract as a new graduate nurse and a few weeks into the job, I hate it. I did not know about the commitment during the interview. My question is: has anyone NOT signed the contract and still worked? Or did you negotiate it differently? I was so caught off guard and did not know how to approach the situation. I am now reflecting on what I should of said to not sign/commitment for so long. I was so worried that if I did not sign, I would not have the position because they would of found someone who would have signed. Has anyone had a similar situation? Thanks!

Congratulations on your extern position! I do not believe that new graduate nurses need to start out in med/surg. If you are interested in the ER, I think it would be great to start off learning how things are done in the ER vs starting in med/surg where things might be different. A lot of the Nurse Managers I have spoken with prefer new grads over experienced nurses who come into the ER without ER experience because they can "shape" new grads into the er way. But the hospital cannot hire new grads so they take the experienced nurses. My friend was hired into the ER as a new grad and has the same orientation length, preceptor, etc as the experienced nurse. The other nurse is struggling because he learned a different way of doing things. But this is only one example, I am sure there is more for both sides. Plus, if you start in the ER you can build hours to become certified. You will also be able to obtain your ACLS, EKG leads, possibly Pals and so much more. http://www.ena.org/BCEN/Pages/default.aspx Good luck with your decision.

I totally regret signing. The contract was not mentioned in the interview so when I went in for the Employee health/benefits/physical, I had to meet with HR. It was so on the spot and awkward. I have NO idea what I was thinking.... I know this will not look great for future employers but I would rather explain that the job was not for me and being honest. I will not put this job on my resume.

Congrats on your offers! That is so exciting. Where in FL? We have a second home on the gulf side and I would move there in a heartbeat. Real estate in FL has not hit rock bottom yet and it is soooo low-you could get a great deal on a waterfront home for $250,000. BUT there are some downsides to FL too-the humidity, hot summers, etc. It does offer a great, healthy lifestyle because you can swim year round, walk/run/bike year round, access to fresh fruits, etc. We have friends from AZ and they loved AZ and would move back if they could. Good luck!

Thank you everyone for you thoughts and opinions. I never took the $10,000 as a signing bonus-it is the amount of money the hospital spends to train new grads. I will complete the internship on July 1st-which I would have to stay 12 months after. I am thankful for this but I also know I will be miserable for 15 months. Life is too short to not enjoy your job. I was promised day shifts and cardiology - then on the first day of work I find out I am on a different unit with the evening shift. Purple Scrubs-you are correct. It is not a sign on bonus. DekagirlsRN and KcKSK-thank you for your support :) Esme12-Thank you for mentioning prorating. I think that is a great idea. ToddMSRRT-Thank you. I will check with the state. I know a person who quit hers after 4 months and the hospital never made her pay the amount back. Heron-Thank you. I am not sure the hospital is for me but I will ask. It is a for-profit. During the interview the hospital sounded amazing and since I have been on the other side, I think it is awful.

Good Morning, I am having an issue at my new job. I signed a year contract after the completion of my internship-so basically I have to stay for 15 months because the internship is 3 months. On April 11th I started on the floor and I HATE it. I am so thankful for the job but I am miserable. I know myself to know this job is not for me. I want to ask to get out of my contract and leave the position. I want to give another new graduate a job that they will enjoy. Has anyone gotten out of a contract without paying back $10,000? I am hoping they will work with me but I have no clue if they will. The contract just stated, "After the completion of the internship, the employee must remain in the Clinical Nurse I position for 12 months, otherwise the employee must repay $10,000." Soooo, I am thinking since they have 3 months to fire me during the internship, I have 3 months to re-sign. I know I will receive negative feedback but I am asking for help. I personally do not want to waste 15 months of my life working at a job that I am miserable at. Again, I am thankful for a position but I am miserable. Thank you for reading.