Got terminated from first job cant find new one, still a newgrad

Lynette,

I have been a nurse for 10 years. I got fired/quit a couple of times. Some of it was a personality clash, and some because I just couldn't cope. Sometimes, it's the hospital, sometimes it was me not fitting in. As a student, I gave the meds to the wrong patient because the nurse was rushing me and I didn't stop and check everything. I freaked. I started to cry and I was brought into a quiet room and I continued to freak for hours. I came back the next week and they still had my incident report and I overheard the nurses talking about the "idiot student". I yelled at them and left. I failed that clinical. But I learned from that. I now listen to my little voice when it starts the stress alerts.

Take a deep breath, hold it for 10 seconds and breath out slowly.

I worked the slave shops of nursing for 6 years. Then by accident, I was offered a job in psych. I didn't want it, but there was nothing available at the time as I had burnt some big bridges. And I love it. It is hard to see how sick people can get, but because of the med/surg, onc, tele, LTC, retirement home nursing that I have done, I can spot stuff before it gets out of hand.

So it does get better. I still miss stuff on occassion, but it doesn't make me feel less of a person/nurse if I miss something. It really is about the setting and the environment you work best in. It isn't always you that is the problem.

And to the poster that said that she has "termination" on your resume, my advice would be to change it. Don't go shotting yourself in the foot before you even get a chance to make an impression. If they see 50 resumes in a day, and see terminated, your resume will wind up in the garbage. I'm not kidding. Put start date and end date. No explanation is required on your resume. You don't need to appologise for the rest of your life.

Good luck to all. It certainly is a difficult trip, especially in the first couple of years. One suggestion would be to work agency. Yah, it's tough, but you don't get sucked into the politics of a unit, and you work somewhere else the next night. It also gives you the chance to get a feel for different setitngs and units. After a while, you get a better understanding of what you want out of nursing, instead of nursing bleeding you dry.

All the best.