APRN Employment Contract Critique

Introduction

An employment contract is defined as the agreement between an employee and an employer on the basis of their employment relationship. Contracts may be temporal, permanent or independent. When nurse practitioners are looking for employment, they search for positions that best suit their skills, abilities and experience (Brodie, 2011). After a nurse practitioner has been interviewed and has been offered a job, then the most important part becomes about nurse practitioner contract negotiation. Bargaining for salary is one of the crucial parts of the negotiation because it is the first step to achieving personal and career goals. The responsibility of a family nurse practitioner (FNP) is to provide primary medical care to patients - from children to adults. The essay aims at providing a critique of a sample nurse practitioner employment contract (included in the appendices section). The critique will major on various factors including compensation, bonuses, on call time, vacation, restriction to competition, expectations on number of patients to see daily, expectations on the non-clinical work they should do, support services that should be offered to NP, travel compensation, mileage, time off reasons for termination and others.

APRN Employment Contract Critique

Scope of services to be performed and population

A nurse practitioner deals with a wide range of health services to both children and adults. The services include the diagnosis and management of acute and chronic health problems.

Compensation

Compensation in this case is money given to a NP for the services they offer to a hospital or medical center. A nurse practitioner should receive an average wage of $111,375 without the inclusion of overtime and bonuses. However, the average salary is also dependent on the years of experience. In the United States a nurse practitioner at the entry level will be paid an approximate of $97,000 for one year. Nurse practitioners with three to nine of years of experience earn approximately from $110,000 to $119,000. However, as a result of the nature of their profession, skills and their need in the society, they should at no point be paid below $90,000 annually. The salary may however range from hospital to hospital. Top medical firms for nurse practitioners in the United States include Signify Health which pay their NPs $492,455 annually and UCLA Health which pays their NPs $180,406 annually (Dillon, & Hoyson 2014). The employment contract should ensure that the salaries for nurse practitioner is nothing below that of an entry level.

One of the positive elements of compensation in the highlighted employment contract is that nurse practitioners will be paid biweekly. This is very crucial because as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic, it cushions employees from the detrimental effects of a downturn in economic activity.

Travel Compensation

Nurse practitioners, especially family nurse practitioners who take their time to go to families and take care of their health needs, need to be paid for the time they spend travelling for work assignments. Transportation is the responsibility of the employee. However, the company is required to provide travel expenses when the NP is out of town or has attended conferences on behalf of the firm. The travel compensation acts as an overtime payment and the NP is required to fill in overtime payments to ensure they are captured and see to it that there are no problems on disbursements.

Gas/ Mileage

This is part of travel compensation. It is the NPs responsibility to take care of their transportation costs. However, if the NP is sent on a mission outside the hospital, then the firm needs to take care of the associated costs. This is instrumental because such an arrangement is not in the NPSs budget. The NP is required to fill a form to be compensated for the gas they have spent. The NP is required to have receipts as evidence of the extra gas used.

On call time

On call responsibility of a NP is to ensure that patients continue to be treated and that they are on their medication despite the physician being away. On call time enables the nurse to receive instructions from the physician on patients that were on treatment. On call responsibilities should, however, not affect the NPs working hours. Despite on call time, the NP has the right to work only within their shift hours and leave for their homes. Any additional time they spent in the hospital even on call time with the physician should be regarded as overtime. Furthermore, nurse practitioners should always ensure that they are reachable during call time to ensure efficiency when treating patients.

Bonuses

Most of the time, bonuses are not guaranteed. NPs should be evaluated after every six months. The ealuation is dependent upon multiple performance factors. Nurse practitioners who perform well could receive a bonus. A move of this nature is meant to promote performance and increase morale. In the present scenario, the employment contract would need to provide a clear view of the amount of money that nurse practitioners may earn as bonuses when they perform to a certain level. Such information is important because it promotes fairness and equality throughout the entire process (Dillon & Hoyson 2014).

Duration of Employment

The NPs contract of employment shows that NPs should be employed for one year, but then then there are options for renewal on a periodic basis. Today, many people are employed on the basis of temporary contracts and they are renewed based on performance. The nurse practitioner is also supposed to work from 8:00 am to 4:30 pm. Any extra hours past these should be paid when there is clear consent from the human resource department.

How the Agreement Can be Altered or Updated

One of the instances which the agreement could be altered is when a nurse practitioner is unwell and therefore, they cannot attend to patients. On normal occasions, a nurse practitioner has leave days in the working calendar. They are given a maximum of four sick leave days. However, there are illnesses that could require the nurse practitioner to stay for a month or more on bed rest prior to resumption. At this point, it is the employers responsibility to embrace measures to advance the employees well-being. The employer may choose to pay the employee half the salary.

Responsibility for maintaining and paying for credentials

Nurse practitioners are required to renew their licenses when due. In any case they do not renew the licenses, they could be terminated from work. Nurse practitioners may be able to maintain their certifications and credentials by ensuring that set calendar dates for renewal. In essence, nurse practitioners are also required to pay prescriptive fees for the relevant documentation. Copies of the documentation should be kept on file for verification. If the nurse practitioner do not comply with laws related to credentials maintenance and payment, they may not have any other leverage to support them.

Benefits and Vacation Time

Nurse practitioners have benefits - including vacations and insurance. Such benefits are supposed to act as motivators for nurse practitioners to be competent in their field. When the practitioners are employed in their first year, they are given a vacation of two weeks but as they continue working for their employer for longer, they are likely to have one or two months vacation. However, the contract agreement does not include the employees family in vacations. Although they may be costly, I am of the opinion that an employee may need to spend their free time with their family which could involve travelling. This helps ease work-related pressure and crucial details on the same should have, therefore, been a prominent aspect of the contract. There may also be need to ensure that nurse practitioners receive optical, visual, and general insurance.

Time off and expenses for continuing education

The nurse practitioner should have time off - depending on their shift and emergencies at the hospital. The employer is more than willing to ensure that the nurse practitioners continue with their education which would have a positive impact on the ability of nurse practitioners to offer quality services.

Restriction on Competition

Every employment contracts routinely have non-compete clauses (Bellot, Valdez, Altdoerffer, Quiaoit, Bronzell-Wynder & Cunningham, 2017). In this case, the employer urges the nurse practitioner not to take up employment within a 50-mile radius when and if the contracted is terminated. The good thing about the non-compete clause is that it is clearly defined and only works for two years. This means that regardless of a nurse practitioners decision to dissolve the agreement, they may still get back and serve the same clients after two years. The employer has the right to file a complaint against the nurse practitioner in case they do not follow the set agreement on the non-compete clause.

Reasons for termination

The nurse practitioner has the right to terminate the contract for their own reasons....…issued to this agency by the corporation.

PRESCRIPTIVE FEES

All state and federally regulated prescriptive fees and documentation of DEA and state narcotic licenses are a condition of employment and must be submitted to the Management prior to employment for verification. Current copies of these documents shall be kept on file for immediate review at all times.

Payment for Health Professions Bureau Prescriptive Authority Advanced Practice Nurse will be issued to this agency by the corporation. The following are included Prescriptive authority, controlled substances registration fees and DEA licensure verification.

COMMUNICATION

Communication devices will be supplied by the Corporation and will remain property of said Corporation for the duration of employment. The devices provided shall not be used for Personal communication and shall be returned to the Employer upon departing from the Corporation. It is the responsibility of the employee to maintain the equipment in good condition and report any defects, problems or malfunction.

Repairs and replacement of the device will be the responsibility of the Corporation.

TRANSPORTATION

Transportation will be the responsibility of the employee. Transportation will only be provided when the employee is out of town for the purpose of attending a meeting, conference, and or education offering required by the Corporation. All receipts of the transportation will be required for reimbursement by the Corporation. Transportation should be arranged prior to the travel and an estimation of the cost and duration made at that time. When at all possible, the Corporation will made these reservations and provide the information concerning the transportation prior to departure to the traveling parties.

Transportation to the satellite offices will be the responsibility of the employee.

Dependable transportation is an expectation for employment.

INSURANCE

Medical Insurance:

The employee within the financial parameters defined by the Corporation may determine the type of plan selected. The plan identified by the employee should be submitted to the Corporation for review.

The information to be submitted to the Corporation should include type of plan, cost, and a contact person with the said insurance company.

Malpractice Insurance:

The employee will be carried on the primary physicians Medical Malpractice Insurance for the duration of their employment. It is the option of the NP to purchase at their own expense, separate malpractice coverage.

The Following Malpractice Insurance Company should be able to answer any question you may have concerned the policy. Upon employment the Corpoation will provide a copy of the updated addition of the employees coverage.

______________

PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

The corporation will bill the Nurse Practitioners fees for the duration of the contractual agreement. It will be the responsibility of the employee to properly code the patient superbill on the electronic medical record computer software. Training on the system will be provided to the employee.

Information Systems Security Agreement shall be signed between the employee and the Corporation.

The corporation shall maintain sole ownership of any and all patient charts, mailing lists, and electronic computerized information concerning patient data. The use of said information outside the practice shall be construed as a violation of the Patients HIPPA. rights and shall be prosecuted as such.

Promotion of the Company:

The employee shall represent the Corporation in a professional manner and as a representative of the company the following methods of advertising may be employed for the continued promotion of our corporate philosophy.

Newspaper Advertisements

Business Cards

Misc. other printed materials to promote the business for the general public.

The inclusion of the employees name and credentials may be used in the promotion of the Corporation.

The employee shall have the opportunity to review all material which contain his/her professional /personal identification. The employee written and/or verbal approval should be obtained in a reasonable time for the printing of the material. Objections or suggestions for the material will be given careful consideration prior to printing.

Promotion of the corporation may require attendance of various local and regional activities. The Nurse Practitioner may be asked to participate in the activity. The coordination of such events will be made with the approval and availability of the Nurse Practitioner. The NP should make an attempt to attend these functions given ample time and space in the schedule. Weekend events should be schedule in advance and coordinated with the NP. Weekend promotional commitments are not mandatory and will not influence the practitioners employment status with the corporation.

COOPERATIVE AGREEMENT

The primary physician of the practice or any designated legal physician agent of the corporation, will execute a cooperative agreement for the purpose of satisfying legal requirements for the continuing practice of…