Do nurses get fired often?

[queenjulie]

It seems like I see people talking on here constantly about how they were fired from their first job, or their last job, or know several people who were fired. Do nurses get fired a lot, especially for relatively minor errors? Is it a career ender? It just seems so odd to me, but I'm coming from a career in publishing where I only saw maybe five people fired in twelve years at several companies, and three of them were either stealing or using Media on their work computers. It's just really, really rare, so it seems totally bizarre to me to think that nurses get fired on a regular basis. Can you still get a job after that (assuming it was for something like a med error, not for stealing narcotics or violently abusing a patient or something like that)?

[lkulmann]

I got fired...

[lkulmann]

I am a whistleblower and I got fired. It was a nightmare. I had concerns about safety and infection protocols so I went up the ladder within and went to the Public Health Dept. Within a week I was toast

[PacesFerryBSN]

right to work state......same here in Wyoming. Your employment is 'at will.' There are very few labor laws here. Nurses getting fired is common here but it appears they get another job quickly - as long as nothing is attached to license. Cases I have seen recently are for basicallly just getting on the DON's bad side in one way or another. And just like the first post states - many work environments are so disorganized that no one can succeed in them. Retaliation is another issue - they can give u a schedule that u just can't be successful at working, so then they can 'run you off.' Needless to say, I am strongly considering moving to another state.

Welcome to Wyoming:(

[PacesFerryBSN]

I got fired for missing too many days, I was pregnant and very, very sick but they didn't care. They had the nerve to tell me good luck with your baby as I walked out.

[PacesFerryBSN]

I have noticed a disturbing pattern of new nurses getting fired. I attribute this to 2 things.

1. As soon as a nurse is eligible for medical benefits, days off and all of the other BS that is advertised, they are booted, usually at exactly 3 months.

2. The new nurse thinks she is being hired permanently, but is in fact a replacement nurse for someone out on medical leave, workers comp, etc. The employer does not want to pay for a staffing agency nurse which runs at about $65.00/hour, so they hire someone cheap, then kick them out when the other nurse returns.

I have also noticed that, in the past, hospitals will hire as many new grads as possible, also cheap, to ward off the need for agency staffing. They hire people on, when there is no actual job vacancy. They roll the dice that someone will give notice while the new nurses are in training. If that happens, a new nurse becomes permanent, and transitions off orientation. If no one leaves, the new nurse is let go at the end of orientation, and they start the process ll over again. This allows hospitals to avoid using costly agency personnel.

It sucks, really

I was at a hospital that did this, we had rapid responses every day in a few particular depts. cuz of poor orientation of new grads.....

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

It is true. Keeping quiet and a low profile can prevent a nurse being fired. A squeaky wheel in this profession does not work.

[SouthernPoint]

Help! I just got fired because patient said I was rude! Not so. My supervisor got 3 calls w/in a month re: my rudeness & putting pts down. I've been a nurse for over 30 yrs & know this didn't happen. I asked my boss if she ever got calls from pts & she said "No". When I asked her if this seemed strange, she said, "Yes". HR also said I wouldn't be able to collect unemployment. I guess that's what happens when one gets fired. Anyone have experience w/ this?[/quote']

I am not sure what state your in, but if this was me I would still file for unemployement. Keep the money off to the side as an employer has time to try and fight it. Unemployment would be the one who tells you if you are able to claim benefits or not.

I am sorry about your issue's. I have seen this trend more and more these days.

Wishing you the best.

SP

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

Well..I had turned in my two weeks notice at a job and got fired on my last day because we had to call the cops to the private clinic I worked at because a patient called me a ****** stupid **** and tried to hit me with her cane because I told her that the triage room was too small for her entire family to fit in and asked if I could bring them back after triage.

She called and complained about me, not the doc, the medical tech or the MR that all told her to leave as well. So, I got fired.

So sad that there is no one to support nurses. I will keep my license active but will try to leave this profession soon because of the lack of support. After 20 years in the business i am beyond hurt and discouraged.

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

I've been employed as an RN in PA (Philadelphia) for approx 25 years, and have seen many nurses get fired. A good proportion of them were fired because they brought attention to the deficiencies of the employer's system or policies or how they were enforced. When the powers that be want corrective action, rather than fix the problem, they fire the nurse, often the one that brought the problem to their attention, and then they can say, "Look we took action on the problem!" Which , of course, they didn't. Also, when someone gets fired because the deserved to get fired, the other workers are left to speculate why they were fires, but the management stays mute because of "confidentiality". The morale generally goes down as a result. I have also found that punitive policies just tend to make the nurses not report problems for fear of getting disciplined, and things just get worse until major systems breakdown occurs. Sorry if I'm ranting. By the way, isn't what's happening in Wisconsin another reason why all RN's should be unionized?

Sorry to say this but twice unions were unable to help me. The large hospitals have a way of making the union see only their side of things. I've seen the only difference between union and no union is with union the pay is better.

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

Can a nurse get fired for entering a relationship with a doctor? We both work at the same hospital. He's been separated from his wife for 6 months and getting a divorce. We spend most of our weekends together when we're off and my son likes him. No one knows about this. Don't want some of the other nurses to know who might think it's wrong. Just want to make sure I don't get in trouble. I heard that a nurse can get in bigger trouble for this thing than a doctor. Is that true?

Trust me on this one: If ANY, and i mean ANY female you work with finds out about the relationship you have with the doctor their jealousy will get the better of them, they will report it to management and you will get fired. Women are like that. They will not think twice before gossiping about it. They are snakes.

[enchantmentdis, BSN, RN]

Help! I just got fired because patient said I was rude! Not so. My supervisor got 3 calls w/in a month re: my rudeness & putting pts down. I've been a nurse for over 30 yrs & know this didn't happen. I asked my boss if she ever got calls from pts & she said, "No". When I asked her if this seemed strange, she said, "Yes". HR also said I wouldn't be able to collect unemployment. I guess that's what happens when one gets fired. Anyone have experience w/ this?

Yes, regarding the inability to collect unemployment part. While in the hospital fighting a life-threatening illness my employer fired me. Then i tried to apply for unemployment and was prevented from collecting that because the employer said i was fired for "employee misconduct". Because of that i could not stay home and recuperate and was unable to get disability due to this employer. So, sick as i was, had to obtain an RN job lickety split and pretend i was not sick, yet went to work sick for months on end. No one cared or asked why i looked so ill and moved like a sloth. Mainly because my job entailed traveling from home to home as a hospice nurse. Nursing is a very punitive profession. Most likely it stems from the inequities of being female. We do a lot of the work doctors used to do but i notice doctors are thanked in obituary articles, but rarely the nurse is. Also on television who really wants to watch nurses at work. Those who watch the medical shows are blinded by doctor's power and wealth. And male nurses are able to move up the ladder more quickly in this profession, possibly because they don't partake in gossip and drama the way females do. I have despised this profession from day one due to the lack of support for nurses and the double standard that exists.

[losbozos]

I feel so embarrassed for being fired; not sure how to handle this. I feel mgt's claims are bogus & they went out of their way to "find" something. And since when does the word of a pt/family carry so much wt that a nurse can be fired? I'm not saying we shouldn't listen but there's a big difference between being rude & not liking what is said. I practice good manners & have always been known to get along w/ almost everyone.

I feel there has been a huge shift in the attitudes in our pt population in the past 10 yrs or so. There is an overwhelming sense of entitlement, bad manners, & lack of decency. I suppose it isn't just our pts but all of society including nurses & other occupations. But, when did "popularity" out weigh safe practice? I've seen some outrageous, down right dangerous things just in this past year & it scares me to think this is acceptable but being an agent of change isn't.

I'm just sayin'.......