Addressing previous DO NOT REHIRE status at job interviews

[LLM114]

I am a nurse of 23 years- I have always been hailed as an excellent nurse. Back in 1996-1999 I was an ER manager for a small rural hospital (Hospital A). I had worked at this hospital for 10 years and had never had anything but excellent evaluations. Then I got crosswise with the DON--- not sure how or why--- During my time as a manager, she constantly underminded me with my staff, took credit for things that I did...lied to staff and administration about things I did not do.... even told the night house supervisors to keep me out of the loop and not report departmental incidents to me... fired employees in my department and told them that I was too scared to do it when that was not even the case or the decision that I had made about the employee........(She ended up getting fired AFTER I decided to leave my position) At the end of my time there, I was approached by the hospital board and several physicians.... they wanted me to tell them about things at hospital A..... I was intrumental in getting the CEO fired, several other administrators disciplined and the DON was given a slap on the hand and instructed to set up a nurse advisory committee to deal with nursing staff issues.

BUT..... Before the DON got fired she made me a do not rehire. This has haunted me for the last 11 years. When I left Hospital A, I was shell shocked, paranoid and more than a little angry. I had reference letters from physicians and other peers extolling my virtues as a manager and nurse. I was sabotaged and have had other nurses/managers/physicians that were there during this time agree. Some have even tried to indicate so in their letters of recommendation. To no avail.

When I left hospital A I found myself constantly looking over my shoulder and so paranoid that I really flubbed up the job that I went to at Hospital B. I ended up walking out of that position without notice due to stress and I truly feel PTSD type symptoms. I left acute care/hospital nursing for 9 years and just last year felt like I was ready to return. I contacted hospital A recently and was told by the new DON with whom I have worked with closely in the past that she would hire me but it would be on a probationary basis. This was frustrating because she knows my work ethic and even commented that the pattern in my evaluations at Hospital A does not make any sense. I did not apply for a position because I still feel paranoid after that comment but mostly because they offered me 8 dollars less an hour than what I am currently making.

I now have a year plus of recent ER experience and am wanting to move on to a larger hospital-- I interviewed and was all but told I had a position with a large ER but then got a no thank you letter two weeks after the interview. I was and still am upset.

I take responsibility for messing up at hospital B----I didn't do things right there. I was so paranoid that I did not know how to lead without second guessing myself. It was a very difficult position in a large ER with a lot of staff vacancies and other issues that were very stressful-- such as lead nurses that had applied for the position, trauma surgeons that did not want to take part in the trauma system, ER docs that told me that their ER was not perfect but was not broken so don't fix it and I was told that my only job was to keep the drug reps from bothering them........ Combine this with a divorce and my kids hating the area and wanting to relocate back to their hometown with their dad..... =D I S A S T E R!!!! However, I think I could explain this situation to a prospective employer if it came up without it sounding like I was bad mouthing hospital B-- but I am sure that it adds to their reservations about hiring me in combination with hospital A's DNR status. Hospital B was a great place and my direct Supervisor was just amazing!!!! -- I was the one that failed there.

My question..... how do I deal with the first position at hospital A where I feel I was treated very unfairly by the DON? How do I let prospective employers know about this situation BEFORE they run checks without breaking the rule about not bad mouthing a previous employer? And how do I address the failure at the second position which was in deed all mine? or can I?

Thank you!

[DennRN]

It really seems like you have been having a hard time.

I can't tell you what you should do since I have never been there before, but I can tell you that some of the information you shared would be a little too much information during an interview. If you know that it will come up, I think that the way you introduced the conflict with your DON was good, but too much detail in what was happening, if I were interviewing you I'd like to know what you did to try and fix it, what you have learned from it, and other things to make this negative experience a positive one. My initial impression is that I want to like you as a person, please help me to do so =)

- Dennis

[LLM114]

Dennis-- thank you- I provided the detail in the thread -- I don't provide the detail in interviews as it never comes up-- it apparently comes up AFTER the interview when I do not have the opportunity to address it. I want to know how to address it without it sounding like I am bad mouthing..... I have many years as a manager and have sat through hundreds of interviews-- interviewing and being interviewed-- I know that I like the interviewee to be up front and blunt --- I can pick through the garbage-- but that's MY style/preference----- I am paranoid enough about the situation that I don't want to waive the red flag but I don't want it to blindside them either. And I assure you,,,,,, I am a very likeable person. (LOL) I interview very well (have been told that many times)--- it's the post interview ref checks that get me. My letters of recommendation and numerous character references don't seem to neutralize the situation. thanks again!