Advice regarding termination

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Specializes in ltc,hospice.

I have been a nurse for 14 yrs, working in ltc for about 9 years. I was terminated from my last position because of an incident where the count was off by one but not noticed until the next shift. The error was found and accounted for within 24 hrs. The nurse I counted off with had noted it in the MAR and not in the narc book. This has never happened before. It was particularly noisy at the nurses station when we were counting. Nevertheless, the other nurse was written up and I was terminated. Lousy blow to the ego.I truly believe that this was related to internal politics. A year prior I had to report a nurse who was allowing her CNA to draw up insulin, do accuchecks, and give injections without her supervision. She thought it was fine because the CNA was a graduate nurse though she hadnt even taken her boards yet!!! Prior to my termination, they had downsized us, and instead of 20 residents we now had 30 with a nurse floating between the 2 floors (not good). I had an excellent rapport with staff, many who called me and supported me. I am still in touch with some. Well, sorry about the post...but now I am job searching ...what to say on an interview when asked why terminated...??? I am an RN in good standing, not under investigation, etc....I went above and beyond in this position...mentored many..any suggestions? And also I am considering going into Staff Development ..any ideas thoughts..Thank you

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Specializes in ED, CTSurg, IVTeam, Oncology.

go to your union, and if you're one of the unlucky nurses to not have one, hire a lawyer. miscounted narcotics happen with such regularity that if they used that as the standard for firing nurses, there would be no one working. hence, i suspect that your termination reason was really is a smokescreen for something else. they were looking for a reason to get rid of you.

good luck!

support your nursing unions!

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That's an incredibly bogus reason for termination.

Don't tell them you were fired. Don't lie, but say that the ratios had become dangerous and you were no longer happy.

And good luck!

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Get an Attorney.

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Get an Attorney.

To do what? In my state, NY, it is "at will" and one can be fired because they don't like your nail polish.

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Specializes in ltc,hospice.

Yes, extremely bogus reason and I know it was a smokescreen. They were downsizing,etc. However, i cant lie on an application. I work in a right to work state, Florida. Unions I wish. Thank you for your support, but explaining the reason to prospective employers is my dilemna. I was at that facility more than 2 yrs and its sister facility 2 yrs.

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Specializes in LTC, Acute Care.

If your state is like mine (and we are an at-will state too), we have facilities around here that routinely fire people and then hire them back. It's like they are playing games. Being fired in nursing is so not like other careers, and sometimes I think a firing is not taken as seriously in nursing as in other jobs if a future potential employer of yours has been around the block in nursing. I say be honest but don't dis your firing facility, even though it is a well-deserved dis.

I don't know about FL in this regard, but consider filing for unemployment. In my state you can receive benefits if you're fired, if you didn't do anything really messed up.

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Specializes in Gerontology, Med surg, Home Health.

If we continue to punish nurses for errors like this one which resulted in no harm to any patient, we will find ourselves without any nurses willing to step if if they do make an error. UMASS Med School just did a survey on reporting medication errors in LTC. We all make errors...most of the time it's a systems problem. The same thing happens in every facility....you're tired after a long shift and you hurry through the count. Technically, whoever accepts the count as correct and holds the keys is responsible for the narcotics, but to get fired for something as trivial as this when it obviously wasn't a case of diversion? Good luck with your search. I hope your next job has reasonable managers.

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Specializes in Substance abuse, hospice.

Tell potential employers exactly what you told us. Don't fudge the truth. People do check references, and they appreciate honesty.

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well before you tell the truth....get a friend to check and see what they say first. I tried the truth and it put me back some

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Since you say they were downsizing, say you were downsized.

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these folks that don't live/work in an "at will" state don't have a clue.

my advice, when you get another job, also get another job pt/prn. you'll basically never be without a job/references even if you lose one of the jobs, much easier to get another job when you already have a job.

nursing is just a job (they come and go), treat it as such.

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