here's cynthia mcfadden >> reporter: jacqui rum was excited to start a career as a registered nurse at an hca hospital in california but soon she says her job was making her sick. >> yeah. my hair was falling out. i was losing weight. >> reporter: jackie, you're almost shaking as you're talking about this you're a little traumatized. >> maybe i wasn't made to be a nurse. well, in these conditions i don't think anybody was made to be a nurse. >> reporter: the conditions she is talking about relate to understaffing, which nbc news has investigated at hca hospitals in five states where some nurses and doctors say hca's focus on profits, $5.6 billion last year, can put patients at risk >> the quality of care that we give is not what we want to give >> reporter: she says the hospital refused to let her work fewer hours. so after 13 months, she quit but she had a problem. she'd signed a contract saying if she didn't work two years full time, she'd have to pay back some of the $4,000 they said it cost to train her rum believes it wasn't training but an 11-week orientation which included basic