2 year contracts????

[Nursestef2]

Hi all,

I am a senior graduating this May and have begun the job hunt-I already have an interview. I've been doing some research and apparently a lot of hospitals have new grads sign 2 year contracts? Is this pretty standard everywhere? I am only going to be in the area for one year and then will be moving, so there's no way I can sign on for 2 years anywhere. Not sure if I can even get a hospital job given this circumstance. Any advice? I really didn't know about this and am so stressed now!

[Green Tea, RN]

I don't think you like this, but some hospitals require contracts because they don't wanna hire new graduates like you who only wanna work a year and leave. Training new graduates cost. They only want to invest their money on nurses who stay and work for them. It's that simple.

[babeinboots, MSN, NP, CNM]

Just go on the interview and see. The hospital I'm doing my L&D residency at did not require me to sign a contact. Every hospital is different. Good luck!

[Nursestef2]

I don't wanna work for a year and leave. My spouse is going to an amazing grad school in a different state and I'm going to be moving. I have had 2 CNA jobs, an internship at a top hospital, and a 4.0 every semester. I just don't think it's reasonable for me to be unemployed for a year because of my family situation. That's all I'm saying. I see nurses leaving jobs all the time, new grads or not.

[Nursestef2]

That's the plan! I just got in touch with a couple people who recently got hired at the same place and they said they did not have to sign a long term contract, which is good to hear. Congrats on the residency!

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

It varies from region to region and hospital to hospital. If you do decide to accept a job at a hospital that requires a 2-year contract, you'll have a certain amount of money that you need to repay if you break that contract early. Fortunately, the value that you owe is usually prorated based on how early you're leaving (so if you leave after one year, you may only owe half of the contract value).

The lowest value I've seen is $2,000 to break a new grad contract (east coast), and the highest value I've seen is $5,000 (west coast). Again, some places have them and some places don't (both east coast and west coast). If you do choose to accept the contact and plan to leave early, you should budget for the fee which may be required as a lump sum at the time you leave. Also realize that if you do break your contract, you will likely be ineligible for re-hire and you may tick off your manager and HR (which could burn some bridges if future employers contact that hospital for references).

Best of luck with whatever you decide.

[Nursestef2]

Thanks so much for your response! I actually got hired at my first job since this and luckily there is not a contract/sign on bonus. But I will definitely watch for this in the future!!

[adventure_rn, MSN, NP]

Thanks so much for your response! I actually got hired at my first job since this and luckily there is not a contract/sign on bonus. But I will definitely watch for this in the future!!

Congrats! I doubt you'll have an issue with it in the future. 2-year contracts are almost exclusively a new grad issue, so hopefully you won't ever have to worry about them. As an experienced nurse, you may have to sign a 1-year contract if you get a sign-on bonus (almost never made available to new grads), but that's a lot more manageble for most people; if you break it, you simply have to repay the value of the bonus.