"Fired for NO Reason"

Well, it's not necessarily about them being mean and hateful, though some are.

It's about them being sneaky, cut-throat, playing games, distorting truth in order to acheive whatever agenda/s they have in mind. It's very sad and makes for an unnecessarily stressful and non-supportive environment.

It's not that nurses simply eat their young--whether that phrase is warn out or not.

It's that nurses eat each other, period!!!!

B/c of these games and mentalities, nursing has a tough time building itself up to be a true professions. There's too much of the ole "Every man/woman for himself/herself" going on in the field.

The sad thing is that more and more nurses are just giving up hope that there will ever be significant change in this regard.

I do know one thing, and I sware I've lived to see it over again many times.

Be very careful b/c what you give out WILL COME BACK TO YOU. It might take some time, but you can take it to the bank. NO ONE is EXEMPT from this--though they may seem like they are Teflon and nothing sticks. Sure as the sun rising, it will return to them.

Whenever I am screwed over, I don't hope for this for those that are unfair and screw others or me over. But I take a breath and just absolutely KNOW they just marked themselves for the return hit.

So don't say or do the right thing or "act" like you will do the right thing b/c of what it looks like to certain others.

Do it because it is right AND built into the universe are all kinds of laws and checks and balances. Sure as there is gravity, whatever you do and how you do it, you WILL reap. And no excuse or rationalization will change it's return to you.

Maybe she just was not cut out to be a nurse , some people just DON'T get it all people have an issue with this at some point in there life. Unfortunately it was too late for her to realize that about herself. Maybe it took her to be fired for her to get awake up call if she even did but it sounds like she still doesn't understand.

Do you mean that due to some factor not relating to yourself you were assigned 6 preceptors? I've seen 2 or 3 due to staffing. 6 can really screw up a NG's head!

I had seven and had absolutely no say over it--due to scheduling . . .

No wonder why there was lack of consistent feedback and evaluation and documentation.

The actual sad truth is that we will never know about this particular person. What I do know is capriciousness, lack of continuity and objective instruction and evaluation along with consistency is a huge problem and Magnet or not, many hospitals do not see to care about it. I've seen things get distorted. Sure maybe what you are saying about this nurse is true, but I've seen more bad and inconsistent treatment, and a general lack of true support in nursing be a bigger, more ubiquitous problem

Nursing and administrations just refuse to deal with this. Personality and likeability is what rules. If you got that going for you, people can spin a nurse's mistakes in a more understanding way--amazing how likeability aids the tolerance factor. If on the other than one does not have enough personality and likeability factor, the least little thing can be spun in a hugely bad way. I had a nurse tell me about this with her. I said look, if it truly is as they are making it out, then they would need to notify the state board of nursing. Now when they are making mountains out of molehills in order to eliiminate someone, they aren't going to go through the trouble or the potential law suit of defamation, etc.

So I am wondering if the supposed errors, which could be a true as presented, I really don't known, were presented to the Board of Nursing for investigation. ????


Nursing over the last 3 or so decades has become more of a dog-eat-dog, cut throat field. While we have been exposed to more reasons for greater overall support of each other, we really have simply decided to stick with cliques and factions and have no idea what truly open collaboration and building coalitions is all about. And because of this sad reality, nursing continues to have trouble being valued and empowered to be a true profession. People say "nursing profession," but it is really often half-hearted.

Unification, respect for each other openly, resisting cliques, personal or spot-group agendas, resisting factions and then learning and implementing coalitions--these are the only way nursing will ever truly hold legitimate standing as a profession. It is not the amount of doctorates and graduate degrees nurses get either--though there is nothing wrong with that. What WILL make the difference is in learning how to do the former things I stated above--forget agendas, games, every nurse for him/herself, and cliques, and learn how to form openness coalitions.


I like many aspects of primary care nursing, but I remember my mom as a nurse back in the 70's. Many places were still using the team nursing approach. There was often more unity then. It was more like an effective platoon. Any cut throat behaviors were eliminated--dealt with immediately. Generally there was more support for new nurses and those from the outside coming in--not means to try to eliminate them--dispose of them--and go try out the next nurse victim (new grad or new to the institution).

And that's what is essentially unhealthy today so often in nursing. The need to victimize or step on someone out of feeling threatened, or stepping on them to make themselves look better--or trying to form the perfect mold for the perfect "team" member. It's utter rubbish, and it's unhealthy, unprofessional, costly, and destructive.
But it goes on all the time. It won't stop until nurses start getting that the must protect and support their fellow nurses and the nursing as a whole. It means nurses have to put their own agendas aside for the greater good.

My orientation consisted of taking up to 7 patients a day while the preceptor played computer games, sucked up, and humiliated me in front of everyone else when I had questions. There was never an evaluation or even a "go over" of how I did. I got up the nerve to ask her one day how she thought I was doing, and the answer was: Great!! Wonderful!! Fantastic!!
So how constructive is that?
A person must definitely swim or he/she will sink.

We use a combination of team and primary nursing - patients are allocated geographically, with two nurses carring for eight patients between them. They both listen to hand over and create a shift plan, but take responsibility for half the patients (depending on acuity) - do obs, give meds, liaise with other members of the team, write notes etc, while acting as a support and resource for the other team member.

The grads share a preceptor - for the first six weeks they all work the same shifts, with the preceptor a supernumerary member of the team. In addition to the preceptor they have a clinical support nurse (one per ward) and a grad coordinator/educator (one per two-ward floor), and study days.

Despite this integrated, consistent approach, we still have nurses who just don't get it, who focus on the tasks and don't recognise the underlying stuff exists (let alone know any of it), who don't understand that they need to check the blood work before calling for an IV flask or warfarin order, do obs before giving meds etc, and who won't be told. Nurses who believe that any kind of individualised goal setting, criticism, concern or reprimand is personal rather than professional, an example of being picked on (fortunately the phrase "nurses eat their young" doesn't have a firm foothold in Australia).

Which brings me to the point of the OP - sometimes it is because there isn't enough suypport, but sometimes nurses who believe they were fired for NO reason are plain incompetent and unteachable.

Emphasis sometimes. What I have observed is there are a lot of nurses who want to do well, yet the games never end--and those that run them have bought into them--regardless of how the particular culture refers to nurses eating nurses or cut throat. I'll say it again. Nurses don't eat their young; they eat each other. The form cliques and factions. Again very POOR team formation, and it ultimately will be problematic. The idea of forming coalitions totally escapes certain folks in nursing, b/c what they really care about are their own little agendas--NOT THE BIG PICTURE. Hence the many problems in the field.

I have taken people that could barely multiply, taught them things, they grew in confidence, and then they were able to do greater things. The investment in the nurses, whether new grads or experienced nurses that are new to the unit or the institution MUST BE THEIR. OFTEN IT JUST REALLLY ISN'T. Agendas, games, evaluating nurses by way of the Stepford Wife approach gets in the way.

Sure there are some people that may be unteachable. But they are rarer than rare. The reality is many aren't trained and supported well enough, there is templating of an approach, little to no understanding in how to educate and direct adult learners, and just a general lack of respect to many that are new--whether experienced nurses or new grads. Invest yourself in those that are to be "precepted." Truly learn what the word precept means, and the learn about effective coaching. As they may need to take their ego out of their new learning situation, you also may need to take yours out. Don't be so quick to get your backs up or take offense over every little thing. Some people just have straightforward personalities. So what? My preceptor got wiggy siimply b/c I stated, "Fine. We'll do it your way." He miscommunicated/interpreted something I said about someone waiting for pending orders--telling the NM I intentionally made that person wait just to show her a thing or two. That was utter nonsense, and bearing false witness. I believe God deals with such things. If the NM mistook what he shared, he should have jumped in and clarified it--and should have shown more commitment to his orientee. But its all about personality and personal agendas, and frankly it's quite sad.

I have no idea what goes on in Australia, but I have worked long and hard enough as a nurse to know what goes on in places here in the US. Nurses eat other nurses---sure, they may smile when they put the knife in and pull it out, but the results are the same. I am continuing my education, I hope to change this problem with more effective precepting and orienting of nurses after I complete my masters. I might not be able to change it everywhere; but I can try to effect change and bloom where I am planted.

In the meantime I feel sorry for these institutions that allow things to look Magnet status quo, but at the end of the day, underneath the fascade, the antics are the same. You have no idea how many nurses this institution has hired, "precepted," and let go over the past several years in their critical care units. And you can blame it all on episodes of things from three years ago. The institution isn't really looking at what they are doing, or there is some way they can hire nurses, use them in orientation for 90 days, re-hire new nurses, and then let others go when the 90 days are done. I haven't figured it out yet, but even with orientation expenses, somehow they are making out on this deal. Bottom line, they want their new hires to make a commitment and act in due diligence, but they don't really believe that they should reciprocate. I won't disrespect the place to to others, b/c I believe all sides of a story should be represented before we try to influence folks. But now I understand the negative feedback I got from fellow nurses when they heard I accepted a position at this place. It really is a shame. Letting someone move through the 90 days and then eliminating them b/c some don't like the personality or style of someone is just ridiculous, and it really isn't doing due diligence in the process of orientation, precepting, and making the same kind of commitment that they ask of the new hire. That's also part of the problem in America--the capricious use of At-Will-Employment. See the employers see it totally from a one-sided perspective, and all the benefits of the doctrine tend to work in their favor. That's one of the reasons nurses have pushed more in the last 15-20 years for unionization. Many of us had mixed feelings over it. And in some ways I still have mixed feelings over it. But I have seen too many imbalanced, unfair antics over the last two decades. Nurses need proper representation--primarily b/c the employers often enough don't feel a sense of commitment to due diligence and truly fair play. The only folks that get any extra protection outside a decent union are those that have a strong EEOC case. For everyone else, come on board, but bring your K-Y. Not every place I've worked for was like that thank God. But many are.

Meanwhile my automechanic makes >$70/hour and doesn't have to have an extended academic education or put up with 1/8 of the nonsense most nurses do.

BTW, in my orientation I repeated asked for individualized goal setting, etc. All of what you describe. It was blown off time and time again. sigh

Mama_D:
Was there a preceptor assigned to the new grad? If there was, then she must take some of the responsibility for the errors.......

You were brave to ask your coworkers what they saw about you, and learn from it.