how to answere qestion in a interview when you have a probation period on your license

[clgannon1]

I have a probation period on my license from a hospital that i worked at yrs ago. Their were 3 girls that called themselves the decade girls, which means one was in her 20s, one in 30s other one 40s. The one in her 20s not a good nurse patients complained alot, but she befriended the other 2 that were good nurse and had been at this hospital for a long time. The problem did not start right away, but when it did it started like a snowball effect. I unfortunitly happened to be working with her when she made her mistakes. 1 example was she approached me when my husband came in and brought me a salad and she came up to me and said she forgot to follow a doctors order and he was upset and she did not want to write herself up. I was the charge nurse asked her what she forgot to do and she told me not a hugh problem told her not to write herself up make it a lesson learn and to go and take care of it. Then not even 2 weeks later she wrote me up for the same circumstance, though i never knew it was her. So the write up began, I got called to the DON's office quite often though she did not sign any of them and i did not sign any of them. Still not knowing it was these girls doing this, most people that get wrote up is from the next shift not the shift you are working with. In the end i got let go but for a different reason. Then the DON left the oldest decade girl got to be acting DON. Losts more to this story, but was let go for a different reason, was told to come in and talk to human resources about cobra and she was there and told me she was terminating my employment for med errors. I got laughed and left, I went and applied for unemployment. They fought me on it, when the judge got us on the phone is when she found out about the being let go before she did it. whew talk about mad, henceforce she turned me in to the state. I could have fought it according to the lady who came to my home, but she said the hospital had more money than i did and my license would be suspended untill it went to court. I was put on probation and had to do 3 different CEU's. Never lost any of my priveleges to practice. I never had problems getting a job untill now the state said i have a unemcombered license. The minute they hear med errors they shut down. I do not know how to explain it without going on and on does anyone know how to go about this without me have to go on and on because it does not help.

[schnookimz]

I am sorry but I found this story extremely confusing.

Someone accused you of making med errors that you did not make and they fired you for it?

[pedspnp]

I'm completely confused .

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Try preparing a straight forward answer for example; I was let go from my previous employer due to a medication error, the patient was not harmed and I learned a valuable lesson. My license was put on probation while I completed three CEUs, the CEUS were 1 (list) 2 (list) and 3 (list). My license has been in good standing since completing the CEUs (date). I can assure you the error never happened prior to this one incident and it will never happen again.

[Gooselady, BSN, RN]

It sounds like you got terminated for a different reason than the multiple med errors (that were fabricated by the Decade girls).

Then the oldest Decade nurse became DON, so when you went into HR for your COBRA, the new DON Decade girl told you you WERE terminated because of med errors? So you got terminated 'twice', but the new DON was unaware of the first termination.

Because she was so angry with you (you don't state why), this DON Decade girl then reported you to the state. Your license was suspended pending a court appearance.

The BON put you on probation and had you take CEUs because of your medication errors. And it sounds like you are still on probation and wondering how to present this to a potential employer. Your license is 'unencumbered', there are no restrictions as such, but so far potential employers are turning you down for jobs once they realize your probation is due to medication errors.

Have you considered working in an environment without medications, or with few medications?

Did you have some trouble at all with medication errors? Some nurses do.

I am going to guess about a few things, just from your OP. When you were explaining this situation to us, it WAS difficult to follow your train of thought. If your explanation to a new employer is as hard to follow as your post, I don't think they are turning you away JUST for medication errors, it could be a trouble you have communicating, critically thinking (logical thinking), or that you become so anxious you panic and lose track of what you are trying to say. Some people get so panicked and anxious at work they make mistakes they'd never make if they were calmer. Just a guess here, I'd love to hear more about this.

A huge part of nursing is how you speak, how you conduct yourself, your 'social skills'. These alone can make an interview go badly ESPECIALLY if you are on probation. Your new employer most wants to know how you addressed this situation (the med errors and whatever). Did you address it with self-responsibility or did you blame the Decade girls? Even if the Decade girls are complete liars and threw you under the bus -- you should NEVER tell a new employer something like that. They will turn you down for being irresponsible (the MOST important thing a nurse can be).

Even a total lie has to be handled this way. No one will 'believe' you, it's a sad fact of life.

I suggest you find a job where there is little emphasis on medications until your probation is over and off your record. Telephone triage, utilization review, some clinical work . . . there are some examples. You are kind of 'stuck', which isn't fair if you did nothing to deserve it. But there IS a problem, and I think all reading this can see it, and it has to do with your communication skills, maybe some anxiety, and getting your priorities straight in your mind. These are things an EAP can help with, or just a regular counselor. No doubt this issue causes other problems in your life that you'd like to not have! Good luck, and everything I'm saying is with concern, no judgment :)

[roser13, ASN, RN]

Whaaaaaa??

[Luckyyou, BSN, RN]

People give their group of friends a name? like the Pink Ladies? Is this Grease???

[roser13, ASN, RN]

"...my employment for med errors. I got laughed and left, I went and applied for unemployment. They fought me on it, when the judge got us on the phone is when she found out about the being let go before she did it. whew talk about mad, henceforce she turned me in to the state. I could have fought it according to the lady who came to my home, but she said the hospital had more money than i did and my license would be suspended untill it went to court. I was put on probation and had to do 3 different CEU's. Never lost any of my priveleges to practice. I never had problems getting a job untill now the state said i have a unemcombered license.

Exactly what type of license do you hold?

[tyvin, BSN, RN]

Be honest...

[jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B]

Ok, first off, it was highly inappropriate for the nurse who came to you, whilst your husband was bringing you supper to discuss a work concern. That you should have directed elsewhere. And that you chose to give advice to the tune of the nurse should cover up such error is a poor choice of ethical responsibility. You can only imagine that when said nurse got caught, the conversation ended in

" wellll, nurse clgannon1 advised me to not report it" and then the problems began. In your role as a charge nurse, you need to give direction within the confines of policy. Doesn't matter if you feel badly, are part of a clique, or just feel for the nurse who is learning. Policy is policy, and a newer nurse who is known as a "bad nurse" is going to use whatever means necessary to be able to swim and not sink--including throwing you under the bus. That you had knowledge that an error was made, and advised your subordinate to not report it, you are responsible for that decision. And that you were not charge at the time, and that you were in the facility for a personal reason, makes that even worse.

That incident in itself could be considered a patient safety risk, and grounds for termination. Not to mention a HIPAA and/or patient privacy violation, discussing all of this in front of your husband. As nurse leader, you are held to a standard.

Moving on, seems that the medication errors may have been trumped up in an attempt to make it difficult for you to receive unemployment benefits, as patient safety issues require a great deal of work to receive benefits in most states.

It also sounds as if you used extremely poor judgment attempting to befriend this group, and in exchange, the expectation that you would protect them from errors. (and thank goodness that they didn't decide to start stealing narcs or something...or is this what this is really all about?)

At this point in time, the only advice I could give is to consult an attorney. If you had a malpractice carrier, consult them. In order for you to move forward, you need to be clear on what exactly your "record" at the BON contains. I believe there is far, far more to this story--and I say that as I have not heard of the BON just sorta showing up at one's house for a visit (and I could be wrong about that, however...)You need solid advice on how to move forward in your career, and in my opinion, that needs to come from a legal standpoint.

Best wishes going forward.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

Try preparing a straight forward answer for example; I was let go from my previous employer due to a medication error, the patient was not harmed and I learned a valuable lesson. My license was put on probation while I completed three CEUs, the CEUS were 1 (list) 2 (list) and 3 (list). My license has been in good standing since completing the CEUs (date). I can assure you the error never happened prior to this one incident and it will never happen again.

THIS.

Take this as a lesson learned:

Report any and all errors; if anything being dishonest and not reporting it made you very culpable in this situation; the other nurses who you even admit in this pretty confusing story had solid nursing practice and integrity; the errs had to be found out and the nurse that didn't want you to report it eventually ended up self reporting or whatever took place; you landed in hot water by not reporting it initially, which is a reasonable ground for termination and a reportable offense to the BON.

You not admitting your misstep is also making this a barrier to gaining employment; from your post, the wording and syntax that you write in makes it where you do not accept the responsibility of what you did; and you blame them instead of atoning that you did not work in YOUR best nursing practice, which is probably coming up in your interviews, and making you look like a liability and a risk to even be employed.

You have the power to turn this around.

Best wishes.

[clgannon1]

no, the girls that wrote me up for med errors worked the same shift that i worked. The DON called me to her office about the med errors but never showed them to me, she told me to watch my back. I assumed the med errors came from the shift that came on after me. I did not find out that it was the nurses that worked the same shift till the state came to my house after they turned me in. I feel they are also at fault for the simple fact that why would you not tell me so i could give the patient the medication. Are the patients not are primary concern anymore?