Besides the signing bonus why would you want to thread that needle? Did you buy a house and have to sell and relocate? I don't understand why you are trying so hard to stay when it clearly isn't going to happen--you are still in the denial stage but you need to hurry up to acceptance...
Yeah I mean to be fair, if a house is tied up in all this, at least trying to put it off without a reportable action, even by a couple months, is understandable.
Most PIPs have a certain timeframe "for you to improve" before you get "reassessed" and generally unless you do something in that time that justifies immediate termination (which if they wanted to do that, you would think they would have done it already), then they will wait until then to let you know they are firing you. As part of the "box-checking" "but we gave you a fair chance."
I would look at this timetable they set out. Because if you are looking at a signing bonus that is up in the air, I bet your employer is too. Meaning it sounds like they are trying to push you out so you lose the bonus.
If that's their goal and the PIP timeline will achieve that for them... then consider it gone already.
That said, you know, if the timetable is 2 months let's say, I can understand how 2 months salary and to sell your house could be important.
So the question about looking the PIP over, dragging this out, and can you still resign then cleanly, does make sense.
I agree with others, everything in your planning has to assume the end goal of the hospital is to fire you and this job should be assumed 100% toast. This isn't like a residency PIP where there is a *tiny* chance they still want your cheap slave labor if the issues they have with you are legitimate AND you can solve them to their satisfaction in tiny window, while under the microscope, against all bias, and they just want the door open to fire you but don't have their heart set on it quite yet.
This is a different game, you cost full price and finding more like you to slot in is easier.
So it's very easy for everyone to tell you to go down there tomorrow and ask to resign, but I think it's worth discussing reportability, what your barriers to relocation and a new job are, your financials, and if there is a narrow path you can tread between now and your inevitable break with this place, that is better than alternatives assuming more than one path can even be carved.
Without all the details, it's hard to advise you of anything but the fact no matter what they say, this is not salvageable as far as keeping the job, and there is a good chance if possible the timing is purposefully being done to take away the signing bonus. So there is likely nothing you can do there as well. And that resigning is always cleaner than other paths.
Also your resignation means less to them than it would if you were a resident. Residents there is more red tape and appeals in the firing process, so the desire for a resignation and a waiver of various rights and dragging it out is more appealing to the hospital. This gives your resignation more value as a negotiating chip.
I'm really bringing that up, because these things come up on the board all the time, and the people to whom it applies are typically reading all they can on the site about it all. So it's important to distinguish how the two situations with a PIP are different.
One thing that can give more value to a resignation, is if you are in a position to make noise or sue for discrimination of some sort. But it doesn't sound like you have any case for that or you would have already brought that up. And it really depends on a lot of factors I'm not familiar with, if that would even be a good idea or not in such a case as this, or not. It does make things go nuclear though, and in this situation I doubt it gets you anywhere.
Having an experienced attorney that represents physicians in employment contracts advise you can't hurt, except your pocketbook and it sounds like you might need the money more.
I'm guessing the nursing union is quite strong here or nurses are harder to keep on staff? Because it seems absurd to let a physician go over this otherwise. But that would change the equation. You also have to wonder if she has her own case to cause pain to the hospital. Which could explain a lot.
I wonder if there is any way to negotiate a resignation in exchange for keeping the signing bonus? This is a question I have for others.