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 have to agree. There are a few too many humanities-based nursing courses in the BScN program I attended. I believe this is at the expense of emphasizing more basic and practical nursing knowledge. Of course, this is where the whole "stupid question" discussion begins, but really, if you don't know (and there is no time or way to look it up) you HAVE to ask. This is contributing to the drain on experienced nurses who are already working to capacity.

I wish the new nurse in your story had asked. I'm glad you caught that insulin!!!

I don't know why people think that nursing school teaches you everything. NOBODY "gets to do" everything a nurse does while they're in school. This is why NCLEX isn't based on the totality of nursing education; it looks at errors that new grads make in their first year to see if they're minimally safe enough to go out there and continue their education.

There's no use in castigating a BScN program for teaching humanities because you think it's "at the expense of more basic and practical nursing knowledge." All new nurses will have near-infinite opportunities to pick those up in their first year+ of work. But most of the people who never took those much-mocked liberal arts courses will never learn the concepts in them, and (yeah, don't shoot the messenger) be less effective because of that lack.

Flameproofies on.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
You shouldn't have to disclose it. Nurses eat their young. I'm sorry you went through that. You might have to find a "buddy" as well as your preceptor in your next job. Some preceptors tend to be hard. The buddy can be your logic person. There is no way you can learn everything in 4 weeks. 75 units is a lot, but the needles are small. That was a good question.Later you might look back on this and feel bad. That's why I hate they did that to you. Remember this for later and help someone else. I'm a nursing instructor now. Trust and believe, the world of medicine really needs you.

If you are an instructor and are telling your students that nurses eat their young, you are a big part of the problem new nurses are having acclimating to their new jobs these days. New nurses spend so much time looking for all of those bullies that you and your fellow instructors have convinced them that they're going to find that they're blaming ALL their problems on these (usually nonexistent) bullies.

Nurses do not eat their young. The workplace is not full of mean old bullies looking to target sensitive young nurses and ruin their careers. The question the OP asked was not a good question; the way it was worded came across as a stupid question. (Or so say the majority of nurses working at the bedside and potentially precepting the OP.)

The OP needs to learn how to ask thoughtful, intelligent questions and to keep her mouth shut until she has at least attempted to figure out her on her own the answers to some of the silly questions she blurts out. Or to figure out how to formulate the question in a manner that makes her look more thoughtful.

I hate that nursing instructors are convincing students that the majority of nurses in the workplace are out to get them. Perhaps if you instead spent your time convincing your students that the majority of nurses are happy to see them, anxious to have them on the team and ready to mentor them, students would FIND those helpful, welcoming nurses instead of all those bullies they keep running across.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Are you saying that questioning a suspicious med order is a stupid question? This kind of advice is exactly what causes errors for new nurses- a culture in which they are afraid to ensure the safety of their patients for fear of reprisal.

We only have the questions the OP has listed, which were brought to him/her as reasons for forced resignation. I fear you are extrapolating too far.

If the nurse was questioning a suspicious med order, it is not a stupid question. Asking "what does 75 units of insulin look like?" is one of those silly questions that borders on stupid. If the OP asked many questions like this (and it seems that she did), one would find it difficult to disagree with the nurse who thought she was asking stupid questions.

^There is no such thing as a stupid question. :no:

There are lazy questions - questions that one can figure out on one's own, and has the time to do so, but one opts to ask someone else for the answer.

I agree with Johsonmichelle. Keep it off. There is no reason to mention it especially since it was during your orientation period. I am so sorry to hear about your experience. I had a similar experience and it sucks but, you'll be fine. Just keep moving forward.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
^There is no such thing as a stupid question. :no:

There are lazy questions - questions that one can figure out on one's own, and has the time to do so, but one opts to ask someone else for the answer.

There are STUPID questions, too. They could be the questions that the poster bursts out with before having considered the questions thoroughly -- such as "there are three holes down there! Where does the Foley go?" It could be something like "What's the number to the blood bank again?" Third time in the last hour it's been asked, and the answer is taped to your name tag. I can give LOTs of examples, but it's 5am.

There are STUPID questions, too. They could be the questions that the poster bursts out with before having considered the questions thoroughly -- such as "there are three holes down there! Where does the Foley go?" It could be something like "What's the number to the blood bank again?" Third time in the last hour it's been asked, and the answer is taped to your name tag. I can give LOTs of examples, but it's 5am.

Those are lazy questions. Though, they could be reasonable questions, depending on who ask them. For instance, I would not fault, say, a male nurse who never had the opportunity to look down there, even during his personal life, and he does not have the time to look it up. As for "What's the number to the blood bank again?" - the nurse in question could be new and be having a really bad day (i.e. all the patients are abusing their call lights).

Could we at least agree that it depends on the person and the situation (i.e. in the moment)?

Those are lazy questions. Though, they could be reasonable questions, depending on who ask them. For instance, I would not fault, say, a male nurse who never had the opportunity to look down there, even during his personal life, and he does not have the time to look it up. As for "What's the number to the blood bank again?" - the nurse in question could be new and be having a really bad day (i.e. all the patients are abusing their call lights).

Could we at least agree that it depends on the person and the situation (i.e. in the moment)?

A male layperson maybe, but not a male nurse who should have passed both A&P and his OB/GYN rotation.

"I'm having trouble visualizing the urethra, do you have any tips?" Or even, "omg I can't find the urethra, can you help me?" are reasonable questions.

A male layperson maybe, but not a male nurse who should have passed both A&P and his OB/GYN rotation.

"I'm having trouble visualizing the urethra, do you have any tips?" Or even, "omg I can't find the urethra, can you help me?" are reasonable questions.

Agree, but with education nowadays...

(Yeah, yeah... It is up to the new nurse to fill in the gaps (i.e attend courses to review and practice nursing skills))

One way I found to keep myself from talking was to take notes throughout orientation. You also look smart and conscientious, and have a reference to refer back to.

It seems like we're damned if we do and damned if we don't (referring to asking the right questions in the right way after researching them on our own). If a nursing student or new nurse tries to learn by researching before asking, and by writing things down in front of other more experienced nurses, it may be looked down upon. But, if they just ask the question without trying to learn on their own first, that is also looked down on. This seems unfortunate to me (in the context of trying to learn effectively and to one's full potential in order to be a safe, skilled, efficient nurse). I could be wrong, but this makes nursing look like a distrusting culture. I understand that safety is vital and we need to be safe practitioners while being aware of those who may not be practicing safely. I have many more questions in my last semester of nursing school than I did in my first, but only because I'm too afraid of how I'll be judged if I try to learn things that I'm unable to understand after researching on my own. At times, nursing school has definitely made me feel like a shell of my previously "enthusiastic about learning" self. I think it's beneficial to be free to ask even "stupid questions" (in the beginning) and at times, as this can help students and new nurses get the confidence needed to be independent, assured, and clinically skilled. One has to be strong (in many different ways) to be a nurse. But, strength needs to be built and promoted from the beginning and I don't see this happening much. I wonder in what ways we could equate the values of lifelong learning WITH patient safety in order to not negate or discourage either one.

Specializes in Critical Care; Cardiac; Professional Development.

As a preceptor, here are a few things I noticed with some orienting nurses that made precepting them difficult. First, some of them seem to use asking tons of questions as a method of self-soothing. There is a LOT of anxiety that comes with starting a new job or a new nursing career and it will be tempting to "lean" on the preceptor for reassurance. A certain amount of this is probably unavoidable, but if it is constant, it becomes concerning. Second, even though the new grad is training on the job to care for the patient, actual responsibility for caring for the patient falls mostly on the preceptor. Incessant inane questions like "What does 75u of Lantus look like?" would make me bat shiza crazy, partially because if you wait a second you are going to find out as you draw it up and, more importantly, it interrupts my own thought process that needs to incorporate what is going on with the patient, what the orienting nurse should be able to answer about the patient as we prepare to give this med, where we are in our day, what comes next after we give this med, where in the land of prioritizing does the call light request from another patient we are caring for fall, when will we chart, what will we chart, etc etc etc. You get the picture. Silly questions DO exist and in nursing not only are they an irritation...they can be dangerous, as they represent an interruption in the flow of care, which is already interrupted by having an orientee in the first place.

An "inquisitive learning style" is fine....be inquisitive...nothing wrong with that. Temper it, however, with wisdom and professional etiquette....WHAT to ask...HOW to ask it...WHEN to ask it...WHERE to ask it...and WHY you are asking instead of finding the answer yourself. I would hate to make any new nurse afraid to ask questions, but definitely would encourage them to be certain of those things before asking and to do all he or she can to get the answer for themselves as much as possible. Remember, that preceptor is having to do much more than just teach you. Being flip about your "inquisitive learning style" is putting a lot of stress on your preceptor, who has plenty in his or her head to manage on a day without you in it. Adding you on top of that is significant and another thing that has to be juggled. Try to work into their flow rather than dropping barriers into it, which could potentially compromise patient safety should the constant interruptions lead to something being forgotten or delayed.

I think it is fine to leave that position off your resume and I believe you are ultimately going to do just fine. Best of luck and come back and tell us when you have secured another position. This will just be a little hiccup in your past soon. Hang in there.

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