Forced to resign after 7 weeks

Nurses New Nurse

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I desperately need advice. I was forced to resign my first new grad RN position after 7 weeks, and it's been almost Impossible getting another position. I've used sources on now to articulating my failed experience in a positive light. How I have grown from it, and why I am a better candidate because of it. I used the whole the whole positive, negative, positive formula.

I've even been told by recruiters that I interviewed so well, but the manager probably won't hire me because of it... and I've not gotten a call back yet.

Do I actually NEED to disclose this at all?!

But here is why I was forced to resign:

I was hired as a new grad RN to a med/surg unit. Orientation was 4 weeks in class, and 4 weeks bedside. Week 5, my first week bedside I was not precepted on the unit I was hired for. When I got to my unit I had a different preceptor every day, and it became evident that I did not fit in with the culture of the unit.

How I learn, is by asking (appropriate) questions. I always understood that it was good to ask questions (appropriate), it shows you are interested and actively engaged. Unfortunately on this unit, my inquisitive learning style was constantly misinterpreted as a potential error/mistake and NOT a method learning.

Some examples of my "potential errors" are:

A) Bringing an order for 75 units of lantus to my preceptors attention, (THAT'S A LOT!) questioning the order, and asking her what 75 units of lantus looked like.

-I have never seen 75 units of insulin, and an insulin syringe only holds 30 units of humalog. I couldn't fathom what 75 units of lantus looked like.

**viewed as potential medication error

B) I was in the process hanging Zosyn when my patient told me he was in pain. He had an order for prn dilaudid he could get now.

I know Zosyn runs for 4 hours. I also know give the dilaudid I needed to document a pain assessment, go to the Pyxis, get a vitals machine, document vitals, flush, push over 2-3mins,and flush. All that could take me 15mins.

I know some meds can't be given close together, So I asked my preceptor if I should stop hanging the zosyn and get the dilaudid. She didn't answer me, so I just finished hanging the zosyn then took care of the dilaudid. I did not want to make a medication error by stopping the zosyn in 15 mins to give the dilaudid, but since she didn't answer me I just finished what I was already doing.

******My preceptor told my manager I WAS NOT ASSESSING MY PATIENTS PAIN!!! I NEVER intended on holding the dilaudid for 4 hours, and that is NOT what I DID. I just wanted to know if the zosyn drip could be stopped to give the dilaudid.

When being forced to resign, what the had documented as "ISSUES" were my situation appropriate learning questions. I never DID anything wrong or made ANY errors!! I was beyond floored while being confronted with LEARNING as reason for me being forced to resign.

So- once again, here are my question.. any anyone could answer them:

A) do I need to disclose this 7 week employment on my best job interview(s)?

B) will this job show up on a background check?

I can't imagine how hard it would be to start out in acute care today, I was fortunate to have graduated in a much different climate. In my area of nursing it is evident that school prep doesn't always reconcile with today's acuities and responsibilities.

But what I'm gleaning from your explanation is a lack of understanding why you didn't succeed where others have. It is very hard to look at ourselves objectively but that can remain a constant barrier to success if we don't.

I agree with Jules A and suspect that your idea of appropriate questioning was outside the norm, possibly in terms of both quantity and content. It might have given away your level of judgment and resourcefulness, an essential in nursing where we don't have the luxury to provide the length snd concentration of one on one mentoring that you might have appeared to need.

For pursuing a new job, I think you need to be prepared to demonstrate that you've learned that and have already applied a solution.

Specializes in PCCN.

I'd also say your precepter and you were certainly not a good fit. I would think a preceptor should expect "dumb questions" in the beginning, and not go crying to the manager everytime.

The pain thing gets me- you werent assessing their pain??? so why the hell would you be giving them dilaudid? duh.

The insulin thing, well I have seen higher doses.

As a learning point- when you have med questions, it sometimes helps to see what the pt's PTA( prior to admission meds) is- do they take this at home? Or you could always clarify with pharmacist. This stuff may add 5 mins to your work, but it wouldnt involve another nurse.

I really think you had a crappy precepter too. Total conflict.Sorry. some people should not be precepters

I don't think I would...

Orientation is a trial period for employer and employee, not an actual job. I do have to be honest though, telling me that you don't know what xx units of insulin looks like would scare me. If you can read the syringe and know how to draw up insulin...Hope it works out for you.

Sounds like it will be your benefit getting a different job. So don't sweat it. Don't be discouraged. Hospital nursing can be fairly brutal. I have a saying: the hospital is a toxic work environment (and I've done all the hard hospital jobs). However, do ask you previous employer if there was something 'else' that made them get rid of you. Because I wouldn't think either of those things would merit any disciplinary action. I'm just wondering if they had other reasons and the two you listed were just the excuses. By the way, you don't ever stop what your doing in nursing to go do something else (unless it is an emergency). That is, hang/start infusing zosyn, then return and given dilaudid (you can pause the zosyn if it is only one line, or give it through another line). Multi-task then worry about your charting later. As far as the insulin thing, insulin syringes come in small and large sizes (30 units and 100units) and you typically use the larger one for long acting since doses tend to be higher (i.e., you might given someone 50 units of lantus, but you're not going to give them 50 units of novolog). Of course most hospitals use insulin pens now a days because they are considered 'safer.'

Specializes in SICU, trauma, neuro.

Excellent advice from nutella (others too, but I just read nutella's post).

One bit I would take an exception to is "long term acute care" in the list of less acute environments.

I have worked both LTAC and med-surg, and found LTAC to be exceedingly more difficult. The patients are more complex, sicker, and require care that floors cannot provide (such as ventilators actively being weaned -- NOT long-term home vents; burn pts; septic pts; sometimes even LVADs.)

I would never recommend it to someone who struggled in med-surg. Actually I was given five shifts for orientation, plus half shifts shadowing the RRTs and WOCNs. But five shifts on the floor. I was able to continue asking questions, but overall expected to function independently.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
To be brutally honest my guess is you tend to talk too much, I do also so not picking on you, just pointing out that you may need to temper your presentation. To me a new RN who is so anxious that she is rattling off stupid questions every 5 seconds puts me on alert. Yes there are imo stupid questions, just like here are winners and losers, so be careful in the future especially about justifying this as "my inquisitive learning style". You may feel the questions were appropriate but it is clear your preceptors and it sounds like there were several did not.

You may need to research some questions on your own and only bring the ones you can't figure out to your preceptor. Good luck and no worries you will get another job.

I have to second this. There are stupid questions, there are stupid ways to ask legitimate questions that makes them sound like stupid questions. Defending this as "my inquisitive learning style" is bound to make some preceptors roll their eyes. In the future, try thinking things through or doing a bit of research before you ask the question.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Id leave that off and not mention it at all.

Or you could put it on there and say it was not a good fit.

Id try leaving stuff off first and see if that gets you anywhere.

I wouldnt offer info unless i was asked to elaborate.

You could say you wanted to look into a different opportunity , I guess,

Good luck, I hope you get something soon

I think saying you wanted to look for a different opportunity after seven weeks is going to make the OP look somewhat unstable. Not what management is looking for, I'd think.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I'd also say your precepter and you were certainly not a good fit. I would think a preceptor should expect "dumb questions" in the beginning, and not go crying to the manager everytime.

The pain thing gets me- you werent assessing their pain??? so why the hell would you be giving them dilaudid? duh.

The insulin thing, well I have seen higher doses.

As a learning point- when you have med questions, it sometimes helps to see what the pt's PTA( prior to admission meds) is- do they take this at home? Or you could always clarify with pharmacist. This stuff may add 5 mins to your work, but it wouldnt involve another nurse.

I really think you had a crappy precepter too. Total conflict.Sorry. some people should not be precepters

I suspect the preceptor was looking for evidence that the orientee had assessed the location, duration, intensity of the pain as well as any exacerbating or mitigating factors. "My throat feels like it's burning when I'm lying down, but it feels better when I sit up." or "I've had this pain right here (pointing) for about an hour. It gets worse when I cough or move around, but since I've just been sitting here still, it's kind of going away." Does she need Dilaudid or an antacid?

The OP says she had several preceptors, which unfortunately is common these days when we don't have enough good, experienced preceptors to go around. The preceptors may have been inexperienced nurses, brand new preceptors or burned out preceptors with no interest in taking on another new grad until they've had a chance to decompress from the last five or six. A preceptor whom you've just met today and who isn't going to be following you during your orientation is going to report her experiences with the orientee to the manager or to the chair of the precepting committee or to the educator after the end of every shift for two reasons: because that's what they are supposed to do, and because if they don't do so, the proper people aren't going to get ANY feedback. If the orientee can be assigned 1-2 main preceptors, that would be different because those preceptors would be following the orientee over time and would have the luxury of waiting to see if the incessant questioning goes away.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Orientation is a trial period for employer and employee, not an actual job. I do have to be honest though, telling me that you don't know what xx units of insulin looks like would scare me. If you can read the syringe and know how to draw up insulin...Hope it works out for you.

Although I've never thought of it in this way, you're right. Although I suspect both parties are fervently hoping it will work out.

Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

We've all heard the phrase, "The only stupid question is the one that isn't asked." We say this to encourage people to ask rather than pretend to know.

Nonetheless, there is such a thing as a poorly thought-out question. For instance, a question with an answer that can be located with a few minutes of research should be answered by researching it first. Googling "Lantus 75 units" would have revealed that this dosage is definitely not outside the realm of possibilities. Asking what 75 units of Lantus looks like is a redundant question.

Also, a smart question could seem utterly stupid due to the way you ask. Asking if Zosyn could be paused to administer Dilaudid was a great question. Thus, it could have been asked differently to elicit a better response: "When a patient complains of pain, what's the hospital's policy on the length of time we have to address the request? My patient is in pain, but his Zosyn drip is running."

There are several questions you should silently ask yourself in an on-the-job training experience before you start questioning coworkers:

1. Has the question been asked/answered multiple times?

2. Are you presenting the question poorly? (read: do you seem bumbling?)

3. Is your question one that could have been answered through a couple of minutes of quick research?

If the answer to any of the aforementioned questions is "yes," think twice before asking your coworkers. Good luck to you!

Martymoose- I agree with you! I do not go out of my way to volunteer this, but when asked I haven't lied or omitted. I've had several interviews since and an explanation like "not a good fit" just hasn't been enough for the person interviewing me. They want specific examples, do I tell them about the two I mentioned, I wish they would just accept "not a good fit." Thank you, I would really like to get something soon also, this whole situation has made me really sad.

Libby- thank you, and you are right. I would love to write more of a response, but It was extremely difficult for me to read both responses from you and Jules. Thank you both for taking to bring this perspective to my attention. Definitely a bitter pill for me to swallow.

Conqueror- thank you so much! I love your unique and rational way of thinking! I really appreciate your post! Thank you! :) but to be fair, it was my first time on nights so it was my first time administering lantus. I had only ever drawn up and administered humalog. ALL syringes I had ever used/seen only held 30units.

What I didn't know was lantus came from pharmacy in pre-filled larger syringe, so I didn't actually draw it up. That's why I had never seen an insulin syringe that held they many units.

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