Bad reference?

[Nurse35150]

Hello fellow nurses,

I am newly graduated in May having received my license in June. I really wanted to land an acute care job but live in an area where those are really in demand. I was offered a position at a SNF which I took because I thought some experience is better than no experience. 5 months into working and I was offered a position at a hospital that I am really excited for.

As I have been training my replacement, a lot of concerns have come up. My replacement states they have been actively working as a nurse for 20 years but little things such as not knowing that there are different types of insulin’s and not knowing the difference between 325mg Tylenol and 500mg Tylenol have become a bit worrisome. As well as safety issues such as frequently leaving syringes in patients briefs. I brought this up to my unit manager and nothing was done so I spoke with the administrator as similar events continued to happen.

My administrator became very hostile and called me a bad nurse for not training my replacement better. They also accused me of trying to ruin someone’s livelihood and to ruin their license. This was not my intention at all. I am at the end of my two weeks and the end of my training and just wanted to express concern for patient safety.

I am now worried to be leaving on bad terms and to lose my first nursing reference.

Will this have an impact on my future endeavors?

Thank you so much for reading.

tl;dr: dealt with hostile management over patient safety concerns, now worried about future references.

[Nurse SMS, MSN, RN]

I doubt this is going to have much impact on your career at all. A five month position at the beginning of your nursing career is unlikely to be weighed very heavily and potentially not even checked. Try to stay a couple of years at your new employer at a minimum.

You did the right thing. If they do not do the right thing with the information you gave, then that is on them at this point. Well done.

[meanmaryjean, DNP, RN]

I'm sorry- leaving syringes in briefs? How does that even happen?

[RenaissanceNurse]

I had a CMA -- of 20 years -- that left a note on my cart: "I need you to come down asap, I don't know how to calculate 1mg."

Concentration: 2mg/mL.

I've had my share of dosing calculation "brain freeze," but that was startling! I'm just glad she asked instead of guessing or miscalculating.

But Nurse SMS is right. You did the right thing, and you will come across many more that will leave you sleepless, as you wonder what to do.

My suggestion: document, document, document. And memorize policy, or least study, and keep on hand. I keep a work diary...some days are filled from top to bottom and others, hardly anything! BUT it's come in useful so many times.

Also, keep in mind, "former employers" are different than "professional references." "Former employers" can only give factual, objective information. Long gone are the days they could share their unfair, biased tirade that wouldn't get you hired at McDonalds.

Happy New Year, hope your new job is going well!