I am canceling my contract after one week

Specialties Travel

Published

I won't go into details, but I accepted a 6wk contract with a company that I know I shouldn't have because they are cold, greedy, and uncaring for their nurses. I had car troubles my first week and made it to all of orientation using many different buses, trains, begging rides and lots of walking. The company would not help in any way (such as giving me some financial assist-I needed $200 to get my car out and had already worked 25 hrs that week) by not staying in their office 10 extra minutes to help me and by not sending a promised advance of the above amount. Not only did they hinder me but also made sure to "remind" me that I needed to be on time every day - which I was even though it was VERY difficult.

I have already decided that I do not want to work for any company like this. The $1800 a week they were offering (for 48hrs/wk) blinded me and I went against my gut and integrity and I cannot do it any more. I know it looks bad, I know I signed the contract but I will not continue.

What I am asking is, even though they have not invested any money in me as far as travel, licensing, housing, etc. and the $200 advance can be taken from the 30 hrs I have already worked, can they sue me for anything? Knowing this company like I do, I will most likely not see any of the money I have already made-they will find something to charge me for but I don't know of any other legal consequences. The manager of the unit understands that it is not a issue with the unit but with my employer and althought she is disappointed, she says that she would welcome me back as staff or as a registry nurse.

Do I need to fear any consequences that I may not know about? I already have work in the area and my conscience will not let me give any more of my time to this company.

ok I just skimmed thru 5 pages of post and couldn't find but one sentence that answered the actual question. I guess no one here has broken a contract and is willing to tell about it....hrm. If anyone has broken a contract for whatever reason, please, post it with some details so we all can be better informed. My contract states I'm responsible for fees and housing, but doesn't list an actual amount. I think we have all had enough financial "advice."

Thanks

Michelle

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Specializes in ICU of all kinds, CVICU, Cath Lab, ER..

Imessajumper:

Please consider contacting modestneeds.com for financial help.. your situation with the car/Katrina/etc. makes you a perfect candidate for help from this wonderful organization (I have been a member since the first year). They are designed to help you back on your feet.

And, Medic - nasty, personal attacks! Come on! Not nice and certainly doesn't fit with the purpose behind this website.

I broke a contract about 10 years ago with a huge group that has swallowed up all the little hospitals in the area... first of all, my name was incorrect throughout the entire document (I pointed this out to them repeatedly - they brushed it off) that makes it a less than legal document.. secondly, I had everything covered in the agreement (burned once) including night shift differential... when they announced they were decreasing all night shift diffs by 15%, I took my contract and went to see the head of HR who said basically "so what"... my cousin, a big wheel in the big muccky muccky law firm downtown wrote him a note and explained what a legally binding contract was. I walked away clean.

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THANK YOU. THANK YOU!! :-) I have so been waiting for someone to post on a cancelled contract.

Michelle

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
ok I just skimmed thru 5 pages of post and couldn't find but one sentence that answered the actual question. I guess no one here has broken a contract and is willing to tell about it....hrm. If anyone has broken a contract for whatever reason, please, post it with some details so we all can be better informed. My contract states I'm responsible for fees and housing, but doesn't list an actual amount. I think we have all had enough financial "advice."

After six years of traveling, I have never broken a contract.

I have had great assignments and I have lousy ones where I bit my nails for 13 weeks because conditions were so bad and I felt that I was risking my license.

I have had to have an emergency bronch, while over 1500 miles from home in an area that is not known for friendliness and in which I knew almost no one. My manager had to sign me out from the procedure.

My home in Florida got hit by 3 hurricanes in about 6 weeks, putting a 6 foot by 6 foot hole in my roof, and completely destroying a large outbuilding on the property. My mother suffered a torn rotator cuff at the same time.

And I have had a wire biopsy of my breast done while 1000 miles from home.

While my recruiter is kind, I did not expect them to bail out me transportation-wise or financially. It is my responsibility not theirs. In all of my contracts, I have completed them, and made up any missed time.

I empathize with your situation, but cannot offer any advice, other than you may need to revise your expectations of travel and travel groups in the future. What you are expecting is not something commonly available from them. No matter what fluffy promises that those ads tell you.

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Specializes in neuro, critical care, open heart..

i have broken 1 contract. i was at the facility for 3 days. my last night there i was given an assignment that i disagreed with and informed both the charge nurse AND the house supervisor, and was told by both to basically "deal with it". I had one pt in contact isolation with several bad infections, and my other pt was in with leukemia. i was told by my agency that i would have to pay a fee, but so far, nothing. that has been about 6 months ago. needless to say, i was doing surgical scrubs on myself that night. when i left the next day, both of my arms were red and sore from the elbows to fingertips!

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
my references come from my coworkers - charge nurses or lead nurses - usually. i already have two other agencies looking for contracts and i work for two local nursing registries that keep me real busy at the local hospitals. i am embarassed and feel bad about leaving them short and i call the unit and explained that i am truly sorry but i cannot work for this company anymore. anyway, thanks for the reply, and travel nursing is great but - i do not recommend anyone to work for the "big" company that we all know about or any of it's subsidiaries. send me a personal message and i will hook you up with the best recruiter and company i have worked for in 8 years.

lisa

i don't understand why you "cannot work for this company anymore." you signed a 6 week contract and have five weeks to go. you're leaving the hospital short -- and you haven't said anything against them. you're unhappy with the company, so don't sign another contract with them, but i don't understand why you can't finish your contract.

and why is it the travel company's fault you can't "pay to get your car out?"

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more and more judging... it must be impossible for some poeple to NOT put their two-cents in, even after the poster said to quit judging her character and to just answer the question. She didn't ask "What do you think of me cancelling the contract or tell me about how you have gone through hell and high water to stay on a contract."

Michelle

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Specializes in Oncology/Haemetology/HIV.
more and more judging... it must be impossible for some poeple to NOT put their two-cents in, even after the poster said to quit judging her character and to just answer the question. She didn't ask "What do you think of me cancelling the contract or tell me about how you have gone through hell and high water to stay on a contract."

I don't see anything in the last several posts "judging character".

The OP has decried her company as failing her and people have explained that s/he is expecting things of her company that are not their responsibility and that s/he may need to revise her expectations of them.

When people come on a public BB, complaining about how bad a company is and describing how it has failed him/her, and their is nothing in the posts indicating any reasonable failing, posters are going to tell them that. If the OP does not care for that, s/he may write simply "How do I break a contract?" And leave out berating the company for its failings, when it has not failed him/her. By including that data, they invited others to comment. And they have.

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"Do I need to fear any consequences that I may not know about?" is the only question asked by the original poster. Few replies have offered an answer to this question. It is resonable to expect an answer to the question asked while on a BB. She went on and asked to stop giving her the shame on you speeches. There are 6 pages of replies to the orginal post, I feel that if would you read the others you will have a better understand of my reply. I don't think that her expectations of her company are too high but I didn't reply to the post because it still does not answer her question.

Michelle

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.
AU-RN1969:

Possible? maybe, but highly unlikely.

I am quite mobile. I could have all my possessions packed into my car in a relatively short amount of time, however if something unavoidable happened you are right.... my ef would be a thing of the past. That's what it is there for! EMERGENCIES. thus the name ;)

If I had to use it then I would just replenish it quickly because I have no consumer debt. 80% of my monthly income is disposable!

I thought this thread was finished, but thanks for bringing it up again. I thoroughly enjoy explaining why I am right and those that disagree with me are wrong.

Wow. I'll bet he's fun at parties. :uhoh3:

To the OP, I am sorry this has happened to you. Check your contract and see if there are any penalties for not finishing your contract.

On a different note, I certainly don't want to take the same attitude as our self-righteous boardmate, but until your life is more stable, it might not be a good idea to pursue travel nursing. Maybe you could work in a more stable situation until you have a financial safety net to work with before striking out as a travel nurse.

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Specializes in ER, Flight.
If you have been in nursing very long, then you would understand that different people respond to different tactics. Some need there hands held and others need to be told sternly to straighten up and take responsibility.

Based on the info given by the op, I chose the latter response.

I am older, nearly your age and a nurse for a long time, have put four kids through college, and just became a grandma for the first time. I have learned through the years that some people fall on hard times. My tactics are not to trash someone that is struggling but to help them if I can. I wonder what happened in your life to make you so cold and heartless. I hope you treat your pts far better than you have this poor woman. If not, then god help your pts. Maybe you have just gotten to old to be curtious, have feelings, or understand that others are not as lucky as you are.

To NatKat:

Do you think anyone would invite him to a party.... ohhhh maybe that's his problem.... no one likes him???? Ya think?????

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ernurse:

My tactics are not to trash someone that is struggling but to help them if I can

What you don't seem to grasp is that you can also help people by being stern and blunt. Some people need a reality check. Believing that a travel company should be responsible for advancing your paycheck and paying to repair your car is unrealistic. Often times by being overly caring and babying someone you are in fact enabling them for further failure.

It was my hope that my blunt comments would make the op step back from her situation and realize how unrealistic her expectations of her company were. As I mentioned previously, I believe people should take responsibility for their actions and not place blame on others.

As far as your personal attack on my nursing skills, I could really care less what you think. I have consistently ranked in the 99th percentile on satisfaction surveys completed by my patients. More importantly I KNOW I'm good at what I do.

Maybe you have just gotten to old to be curtious, have feelings, or understand that others are not as lucky as you are.

I don't believe in luck. I think things happen for a reason. I have taken very deliberate actions and worked hard for the success in life I have obtained.

I have learned through the years that some people fall on hard times

This is true. Life does happen. It's called murphy's law, however many

"hard times" can be either prevented or well planned for. In this instance, a $200 auto repair is a "hard time" that can both be planned for and to some degree prevented.

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