3 year contract?

[RNMariposa]

I am a fairly new nurse. Currently, I am working per diem at a facility. It is great but they aren't looking to hire anyone full time in the near future. I am really needing a full time job so I have still been sending out resumes. I had an interview with a facility yesterday. Thje interview went well but I am at a loss as to what to do. I have semi been offered a job. The hitch is that they want me to sign an agreement to stay with them for 3 years before they will fully consider me for the position. But basically it sounded like they liked me but they would not hire me on the spot unless I signed the contract.

What I was told about why they have that in place ( they spend a lot of money training and they don't want me to leave for something else I want to do 6 months down the road and then they are out all of the time and money training. They are saying three years because they figure the first year is trial and error and it is a learning time. The next two years they are seeing the benefits of the training) makes sense, however I wanted to ask around to see if this was a common practise?

Should I be worried about taking a job that makes me sign a contract? They did say if I really wanted to leave before the contract was up then I would have to reimburse the facility the orientation and training monies.

The other thing is this is the first full time position that has called me in to interview so I am a little nervous about a) not getting any other interviews and b) having someone else I really liked better call me up after I have already taken this position.

On the plus side, I know I would learn a lot more than where I am doing my per diem work and that makes me want to say yes. But I am still torn.

Would I feel better about it if they didn't make me sign it? Yes, I probably wouldn't have spent so much time worrying about taking the job or not if they hadn't said anything about the contract.

What would you do?

[erroridiot]

I am a fairly new nurse. Currently, I am working per diem at a facility. It is great but they aren't looking to hire anyone full time in the near future. I am really needing a full time job so I have still been sending out resumes. I had an interview with a facility yesterday. Thje interview went well but I am at a loss as to what to do. I have semi been offered a job. The hitch is that they want me to sign an agreement to stay with them for 3 years before they will fully consider me for the position. But basically it sounded like they liked me but they would not hire me on the spot unless I signed the contract.

What I was told about why they have that in place ( they spend a lot of money training and they don't want me to leave for something else I want to do 6 months down the road and then they are out all of the time and money training. They are saying three years because they figure the first year is trial and error and it is a learning time. The next two years they are seeing the benefits of the training) makes sense, however I wanted to ask around to see if this was a common practise?

Should I be worried about taking a job that makes me sign a contract? They did say if I really wanted to leave before the contract was up then I would have to reimburse the facility the orientation and training monies.

The other thing is this is the first full time position that has called me in to interview so I am a little nervous about a) not getting any other interviews and b) having someone else I really liked better call me up after I have already taken this position.

On the plus side, I know I would learn a lot more than where I am doing my per diem work and that makes me want to say yes. But I am still torn.

Would I feel better about it if they didn't make me sign it? Yes, I probably wouldn't have spent so much time worrying about taking the job or not if they hadn't said anything about the contract.

What would you do?

I would thoroughly investigate the Big Red Flag of signing this document.

Why do they need this?

What is their turnover rate?

What kind of facility is it?

When was their last survey?

etc., etc.

erroridiot

[pers]

I would not sign a contract that long, particularly without something more than a job being in it for me.

Potential employees are also not the only ones capable of stretching the truth during an interview... Does the contract stipulate your working conditions (patient loads, hours, holidays, unit, etc)? Does it offer a way to deal with a hostile environment (even if it's just the ability to switch shifts or units)? If they aren't willing to put in the contract all that they are promising you during the interview even if it just sounds "normal" I would not sign it. As others have stated, there's something going on at this facility that makes a significant portion of their staff not want to work there or they wouldn't need this contract for just "normal" training that every facility is going to offer.

[Moogie]

In addition to the excellent advice you've been given by the other posters, I'd like to bring up a potential problem I see with the three year contract.

What happens if your life circumstances change and you'd be unable to fulfill your end of the contract? Is there a provision, say, for your spouse or partner getting transferred and your family moving away? What if you become pregnant and decide to be a SAHM? What if you decide you simply want a change in lifestyle and want to move to a larger and livelier community or a smaller and quieter place? What if you want to live closer to family or decide to move further away?

Three years is a long time to commit to even the best job because you just don't know what's ahead of you in the future. A one year contract, even two years could be doable. Three years just seems unreasonable.

Good luck in your decision!

[GRADRN2010]

What did you end up doing?

I am/was in the same dilemma and found your post.

[Zookeeper3]

Our facility has a TWO year contract, for new BSN grads who go through a critical care school. It is about 12 weeks in class/clinical then 6-8 more weeks of orientation with the preceptors. This is a very expensive program and many completed it, worked 6 months and left or used the program to get into anesthesia school. So the two year contract protects the facility from abuse and ensures at least one year of a functioning staff nurse in return.

If your situation is similar, this is a standard of hospitals that provide extensive training programs to new nurses. If this is just for a step down or floor position, it is VERY, VERY suspicious.