Your job, not the chart

Job hunting while you still have the badge

Before you resign, find out what you signed. Then leave the files, the lists and the 2 a.m. texts where they are.

10 min read built on 9 full opinions updated 2026-09-21

Written by a med-surg RN, ten years, day shift. Why there is no name on it · How this guide is made

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You're interviewing on your days off, and your manager doesn't know yet. Before you hand in a resignation letter, find out what you signed when you were hired. And don't take anything out the door that belongs to your current employer.

Key points

  • Find every paper you've signed, at hire and since: employment agreement, confidentiality agreement, non-solicitation, severance. If you don't have copies, ask HR. In each one, check four things: how many months, how many miles, which services, and who pays the legal fees.
  • If you have a restrictive covenant, tell the new employer in writing, early, and attach a copy. After that, it's for them and their lawyers to decide.
  • Nothing from work goes to your personal email, your phone or your home computer. That means no patient information, spreadsheets, referral lists, unit numbers or policy binders.
  • Give the notice period your contract asks for. Do it in writing and keep a copy.
  • Write every text and email about the move as if a stranger will read it later.

What to write

What people write What holds up better
Resume: Grew Unit 4B census from 22 to 31 and cut agency spend $180K in FY24Charge nurse, 32-bed med-surg unit; led staffing and onboarding for new grads
Cover email: I can bring my referral relationships with the case managers at [HOSPITAL]I have five years in home health care transitions and am looking for a coordinator role
Text to a coworker: Lol they're going to freak, I'm taking half the PICC patients with meNothing. Talk in person, or keep it to I'm interviewing, will tell you more when it's final
To new HR: I think I signed something but it's probably fineMy current agreement has a restrictive covenant. A copy is attached. Please have your team review it before an offer is final.
Resignation: Today is my last day, effective immediatelyPer section [X] of my agreement, I am giving [NUMBER] days' notice. My last scheduled shift will be [DATE].
To a former patient's family who finds you: Of course, just switch over to usThank you for reaching out. I'm not able to discuss your care arrangements. Please contact [OLD EMPLOYER] directly.

Template

Request to HR for your signed documents

To: [HR CONTACT NAME]
Subject: Copies of my signed employment documents

Hello [HR CONTACT NAME],

I am [YOUR NAME], [YOUR TITLE], [UNIT / DEPARTMENT], employee ID [ID NUMBER].

Please send me copies of every document I have signed with [EMPLOYER NAME]
since my hire date of [HIRE DATE], including any employment agreement,
confidentiality agreement, non-competition or non-solicitation agreement,
and any later amendments, with the date each one was signed.

Please send them to this work email address.

Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

Disclosure to the prospective employer

To: [NEW EMPLOYER HR CONTACT]
Subject: Restrictive covenant in my current agreement, [YOUR NAME]

Hello [NAME],

Thank you for the conversation on [INTERVIEW DATE] about the [POSITION TITLE]
role.

Before an offer is finalized, I want to let you know that my current
agreement with [CURRENT EMPLOYER] contains a [NON-COMPETE / NON-SOLICITATION /
CONFIDENTIALITY] provision. A copy of that section is attached. In summary,
it covers [NUMBER] months, [NUMBER] miles from [LOCATION], and [SERVICES AS
WRITTEN IN THE AGREEMENT].

Please have the appropriate person on your side review it and let me know
how [NEW EMPLOYER] would like to address it.

I have not brought and will not bring any documents, patient information,
or business information from [CURRENT EMPLOYER].

Regards,
[YOUR NAME]
[PHONE]

Resignation notice

To: [MANAGER NAME]
Cc: [HR CONTACT NAME]
Subject: Notice of resignation, [YOUR NAME]

[MANAGER NAME],

I am resigning from my position as [YOUR TITLE] on [UNIT].

Per [SECTION NUMBER] of my employment agreement, I am giving [NUMBER] days'
notice. My last scheduled shift will be [DATE].

I will complete my scheduled shifts through that date and help with handoff
as needed. I will return my badge, keys, pager and any other property on or
before my last day and will confirm the return in writing.

Thank you,
[YOUR NAME]
[DATE]

Return of property on the last day

To: [MANAGER NAME]
Cc: [HR CONTACT NAME]
Subject: Return of property, [YOUR NAME], [DATE]

On [DATE] at [TIME] I returned the following to [NAME OF PERSON WHO RECEIVED IT]:

- ID badge, number [BADGE NUMBER]
- Keys / access cards: [LIST]
- Devices: [PHONE / PAGER / LAPTOP, WITH ASSET TAG]
- Paper materials: [LIST, OR NONE]

I have not kept copies of any work documents, patient information, or
business information on personal email, phone, or computer. Any work files
that were on my personal devices have been deleted as of [DATE].

[YOUR NAME]

Reply when a former contact or patient's family reaches you at the new job

Thank you for reaching out. I am not able to discuss arrangements for your
care or your organization's referrals. Please contact [FORMER EMPLOYER]
directly at [MAIN PHONE NUMBER].

[YOUR NAME]

Words to avoid

Phrase Why it hurts Use instead
my patients / my bookSounds like you plan to take people who belong to the practice's client basethe patient population I worked with
my referral sources will follow meA non-solicitation clause is written against exactly thisLeave it out entirely
I'll just forward it to my GmailIt leaves a transfer log, and someone can count it laterAsk HR in writing what you may keep
I didn't sign a non-competePeople usually say this before they've checkedI've requested copies of my signed agreements
effective immediatelyCan skip a notice period you agreed toThe exact notice period from your contract
Your unit's revenue, census or budget figuresThat's internal business informationYour role, your skills, your certifications

Paper you signed, files you built, texts you write

The most common mistake is assuming you never signed anything. Onboarding is a pile of e-signatures on day one. The restrictive covenant might be on page eleven of the employment agreement, or it came later as a separate form you clicked through at a skills fair. Most people find out it exists when their new start date gets pushed back.

The second mistake is grabbing things on the way out. It feels harmless: your own templates, the census tracker you built, a phone photo of the on-call list. Once a dispute starts, those files are the evidence. People can argue about what a covenant means. Nobody argues about a folder of your old employer's documents on your home laptop. Anyone can count the files.

The third mistake is careless writing during the search. That covers texts to a work friend, a cover email full of your unit's numbers, and a resume that says your referral sources will follow you. You write these at 2 a.m. without thinking. If there's ever a dispute, both sides go looking for exactly this kind of paper.

Bottom line

Read what you signed before you accept the new job. Disclose it in writing. Leave behind everything that belongs to your old employer.

Official guidance

  • Patient information stays protected wherever it is. That includes scraps, phone notes and anything you'd like to keep as a reference. None of it leaves with you. (careerstaff.com, heidihealth.com)

In court, 2015–2026

What happened in 9 court cases

Dr. Safadi & Assocs., Inc. v. McColley, Ohio Court of Appeals, 2023. A nurse practitioner at an allergy practice took an ENT job. Before accepting, she emailed the new clinic's HR, attached her non-compete and wrote that her attorney wanted to know how they planned to handle it, "I am directly liable for any breach of the non-compete clause." Her old employer sued anyway. A temporary restraining order kept her from starting on schedule. She won in the trial court, and the appeals court affirmed. Her texts with a coworker about the job search are quoted in the opinion.

Jeffrey E. Duermitt v. Odyssey Healthcare, Inc. (mem. dec.), Indiana Court of Appeals, 2015. A hospice executive director (not a nurse) had signed a non-compete and a confidentiality agreement. Before he left, he "used his Odyssey email account to transmit a number of Odyssey documents to his personal email account". Those documents included referral-source agreements, a growth plan and market data. On the day he was let go, he sent a competitor his resume along with his sites' revenue figures. The appeals court affirmed a preliminary injunction against him. It's a memorandum decision, so it isn't precedent. The facts still make a clear list of what not to take.

Infinity Home Care, L.L.C. and Sylvie Forjet v. Amedisys Holding, LLC, District Court of Appeal of Florida, 2015. An RN working as a care transition coordinator went to a competing home health agency. "She immediately began soliciting referral sources that had previously referred business to Amedisys." She testified that she understood her covenant to cover only contacts she first made at Amedisys. In her reading, people she'd known for years were outside it. The appeals court affirmed the temporary injunction. This is the opinion on rehearing. An earlier August 2015 opinion in the same appeal came out the same way.

Great Lakes Anesthesia, P.C. v. Kyle O'Bryan and Megan O'Bryan, Indiana Court of Appeals, 2018. A married CRNA couple signed agreements with fine print worth reading slowly. One clause said that if they violated the covenant, "the duration of the covenant will automatically be extended to include the period of violation." Another made the losing side pay the winner's attorney fees. They asked to be released, and the employer said no. So they resigned effective immediately and sued the same day. The appeals court affirmed the denial of the employer's request for a preliminary injunction.

Se. Reg'l Physician Servs. v. Scott, Court of Appeals of North Carolina, 2026. Two NPs at a cardiology clinic gave the required 90 days' notice and moved to an integrated primary care and behavioral health center. Their covenants barred them from practicing medicine for competing providers. The court found the one-year time limit and the distances reasonable. It still held the covenants overbroad and refused to rewrite them: "This prohibition impermissibly limits Defendants’ abilities to meaningfully engage in their careers."

Chad R. Dubois, Kenneth D. Simmons III, Monica Bentzen, and Lance T. Mendoza v. Anesthesia Associates, Texas Court of Appeals, 9th District (Beaumont), 2026. Four CRNAs signed a covenant covering three years and 20 miles. It came with a liquidated damages clause: "Employee shall pay to Employer $30,000 immediately upon the occurrence of such breach or violation." The appeals court affirmed the temporary injunction. The hospital that wanted to keep them working tried to join the case, and the trial court struck its petition. Later, in a separate proceeding, the same appeals court denied the hospital's mandamus petition. Compare this with the North Carolina case above. The people were similar, but the documents, the states and the results were different.

Fort Sanders Regional Medical Center v. American Anesthesiology of Tennessee, P.C., Court of Appeals of Tennessee, 2024. Anesthesiologists and CRNAs had two-year covenants with their group. The trial court declared the covenants unenforceable as applied to them. The appeals court affirmed.

Socko, D. v. Mid-Atantic Systems of CPA, Inc. Aplt, Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, 2015. This one isn't healthcare. A waterproofing salesman signed a stricter non-compete partway through his job and got no new benefit for signing it. When he moved to a competitor, his old employer sent the agreement to the new one. "Ten days later, Pennsylvania Basement Waterproofing terminated Socko’s employment." He sued, and Pennsylvania's highest court affirmed that the agreement was unenforceable for lack of consideration. For you, the point is that the date you signed each paper can matter. Keep copies that show it.

Lyons Insurance Agency, Inc. v. Kelly Wark, Court of Chancery of Delaware, 2020. Also not healthcare. She was an insurance agent. A former client found her at her new job and asked her to bid. She said no because of her non-compete and stayed out of the process until her old agency had already been eliminated. Her contract made her pay if a client followed her, whether or not she'd done anything to bring them over. On these facts the court held that payment clause unenforceable: "This provision is untethered to any competitive acts by the former employee." It also called the non-compete itself presumptively valid. Her record was clean because she stepped back carefully and documented it.

Court decisions

Published decisions, linked to CourtListener.

All decisions behind this guide

From nurses online

Quoted as written. Opinion, not a source.

  • I have heard recently that upon hire, many nurses are required, as a condition of employment, to sign a "non-compete agreement" with their hospital employer. That agreement says that they cannot apply for a nursing job at a similar position in any other hospital in a particular geographic

    r/nursing on Reddit: Non-competes reddit

  • Or maybe request an LOA / FMLA leave / sabbatical to stave off some burnout? Most managers would rather an inactive nurse on the roster for 3-6 than have to hire & train a new employee. ... If you’re in the US I would not just quit with what is currently happening in the industry. Tons of VA nur

    r/nursing on Reddit: Leaving without a job lined up? reddit

  • They aren't typically looking to see if you worked somewhere you haven't claimed. ... The answer is move, and also be realistic about maintaining "my non-nursing" job while working full time as a new grad.

    r/nursing on Reddit: Is there any way to get a blacklist lifted from a hospital system or reddit

  • Try jobs that tend to pay more...corrections, hospice, agency (with or without travel), contract employment. I'm currently working as a detox nurse in a small facility for a smallish for profit company and am making good money and have a 20-minute commute. I'm very content, but it took qui

    r/nursing on Reddit: Nurses who significantly increased their income without traveling - h reddit

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