"Fired for NO Reason"

We often see threads with the title "Fired for no reason," or "New Grad Harassed and Fired" or something to that effect. And I always feel at least a little sympathy for the individual involved, if only because I can clearly see by reading between the lines of their self-justifying post that there WAS a reason for their termination, even if they just don't get it. (There are always a few posts every year from a new grad who is convinced that the reason she's not getting along with her co-workers is that she's just so beautiful they're all jealous, that crowds of mean people are following her around, that she's so wonderful she's going to rock the ER or ICU or NICU or OR and no one sees her wonderfulness clearly, or that some mean, tired, old nurse who ought to retire and get out of the way is targeting her for no good reason.)

I worked with a new grad who was recently terminated for, as she puts it, totally bogus reasons. Evidently seeing mine as a sympathetic ear, she went on and on and on about how unfair it was that management expected her to get her act together and actually understand what was going on with her patients. "I've got the time management thing down pat," she said. "I don't know what ELSE they want. They're just picking on me for no good reason." I liked Sal, I really did. She was interesting and entertaining and really, really NICE. She was also smart, hard-working (when she was at work) and well-educated. But she didn't study outside of work, and really didn't understand what was going on with her patients. I participated in several meetings with her in which it was pointed out that it's not enough to do the tasks, you have to understand why you're doing them. It's not enough to draw the labs. You have to understand what the results mean and then address them. For instance, if the INR is 9, it might explain the nosebleed, the cherry red urine and the fact that the hemoglobin is now 6. Giving the Coumadin at 6PM as scheduled is not a good thing, even if you gave it right on time and were able to explain to the patient that "it's a blood thinner." I could go on and on.

I got a call from Sal today, complaining that she knows she's blackballed for no good reason because she just can't get another job. She wanted me to give her a reference. Did she just not GET IT?

All you new grads out there who are convinced that you're being picked on for no reason, that your more experienced colleagues are just out to get you, and that you're being unfairly targeting, harassed, or picked on, hear this: It may be something you're doing (or not doing) and all those "mean people" are trying to explain it to you so you catch on, learn your job and succeed. We all tried over and over with Sal, and she still doesn't get it. Are you guilty of the same thing? If your preceptor says you lack critical thinking skills, do you take it to heart, think about it and learn from it? Or are you convinced that the entire issue is that she's jealous of your extreme good looks? If your charge nurse charges you with a deficit in your time management skills do you spend time figuring out where you could speed things up a bit? Or do you dismiss her as a tired old dog who can't learn a new trick and ought to retire anyway? Are you taking to heart and benefitting from any negative feedback you're getting, however poorly given it is? Or are you obsessing about how "mean" that nurse was to you and totally overlooking the message?

I wish Sal would have "gotten it." She would have been delightful to work with if she had. But right now she's focused on badmouthing her preceptors and the charge nurse, and she still doesn't understand what she did wrong. Don't make the same mistakes.

See, you tell your story and, the lesson some may take from it is that the quality of GNs coming out of schools needs to improve, or that GNs just need to buckle up and get with the program. Me, I see GNs like the one you describe failing and I take it as a loss, a missed opportunity for us experienced RNs. Yes, you are right, there are GNs who "just dont get it". From my point of view, there are just as many preceptors who "just dont get it".