Any advice on Finding a Nursing Job When Most Recent Experience Was Short after Resigning because of Nurse Bullying?

[HummingBrd323]

Hi All,

I'm currently trying to find a nursing job but so far not having any luck.  I have over 11 years of ER/Recovery experience, but took over a year off (decided to move to a different state to reduce my overall stress and take what was supposed to be a shorter break), before had to move AGAIN to another state to help my elderly mom. The initial move/break was around April 2021, with my last "real" experience was a travel assignment that ended in March of 2021. When I moved to this new state roughly 7 months ago where my mom is, I finally was hired at a facility on a unit within my specialty after a great interview. I was exciting to finally be in scrubs again and have a steady income. I was slightly nervous about learning a different charting system and assumed that would be my biggest obstacle.

It was a traumatizing, terrible experience and I can now say I've experienced lateral violence/bullying in healthcare. The unit manager who interviewed/hired me, went in to work my second week on the floor, and told her role was eliminated and she was let go that day after 20 something years (and yes, I know there are two sides to every story). I was initially paired with a nurse to help orient me to the unit, but I felt she did not care about whether or not I was successful, talked down to me in front of patients, co-workers and often ignored me or any questions I asked. This nurse even tried to make me feel dumb for being left handed, walking around to every other co-worker on the unit that day asking if they were left handed so she could make some joke she wanted to make about left handed people. I left work every shift feeling dejected, dumb and wondering if it was me. I finally went to one of the two clinical coordinators and expressed that I wanted to succeed but didn't feel I was, hoping to be paired with someone else who might be a little more attentive and less condescending (though I didn't say those words nor did I want to say anything bad about anyone). 

My confidence and moral began to get worse along with the gossip about me on the unit. I was getting nit picked at and told things (that I already knew) before I even had a chance to do them. I was made to feel dumbed down and like I didn't know how to take care of a patient. I was told a couple of weeks before my new hire probationary period was up by the unit director who had never seen me work or had met me before that, that I would be "let go". I wasn't given the opportunity to respond to the things that she had heard I had done or never did. She said the word "resign" during this meeting and I decided it was better to resign than to be fired. So I submitted my resignation to HR and requested an exit interview via email. The next day, I got a call from one of the clinical coordinators on the unit (NOT HR), that I had an appointment with HR the following day. 

The HR person had NO CLUE why I submitted my resignation and that's when I knew for a fact I had just been bullied out of a job. I have worked at different hospitals in different units, went to NYC during the pandemic and worked in the ED to help....and I have NEVER experienced that kind of negative culture in nursing before. 

So here I am, unsure of whether or not it would be beneficial or harmful to list 2.5 months of employment at a facility that I have no references from and essentially, would have been fired if I had not resigned. And if so, would it be better to just list it on my resume or briefly mention it in a cover letter?

 OR don't list it on my resume at all and have an almost two year gap of unemployment, when job listings have a requirement of one year, RECENT experience??

I already knew taking too long of a time period off from working would make it more difficult to find a job, but WOW what is happening with the culture of nursing in some of these facilities?? I know there's a lot of toxic places and people in healthcare out there, but after experiencing it for myself, it's something I'm still trying to process.  Unsure how to proceed from here for finding a nursing job ?. 

Any advice or insight is much appreciated.

Thanks