Coworker quit/fired! Should we know what happened or not?

Nurses General Nursing

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  1. Do coworkers have a right to know why a coworker was terminated or quit?

    • 29
      Yes. After all, people are going to talk anyway. It's the nature of the beast.
    • 175
      No. Especially if someone's fired. Their privacy is at stake.
    • 59
      Yes, but only in some cases.
    • 8
      Other

205 members have participated

Recently a longtime coworker nurse whom I greatly admired and respected quit without notice. Or she was terminated.

We don't know. But the rumors are flying.

It got me thinking: Do coworkers have a right to know why a beloved coworker is suddenly "no longer employed" at a facility?

I know that all facilities have a "no talk" rule. But should they?

Does a policy like that really stop the rumor mill? Or does it just make the stories wilder?

Answer the poll, then tell us what you think.

Here's what's at stake- if co-workers know for a fact that someone has been terminated/fired/whatever-euphemism-we-want-to-use, that person's future employment prospects are at risk. Rumors will fly whenever information cannot be confirmed, which might just be as harmful to the person's reputation, but the mystique of it will at least help save face. I would worry about landing a new job and someone with a set of loose lips will go blabbing about the past. Though the team on the new unit may have formed a positive image of the newbie, knowledge of the past is sure to taint her/his reputation. How do you know who's really your friend?

I agree with midwife2b- reach out to a friend who may be in her/his darkest moment. She/he will tell you what she/he wants you to know. It goes without saying that if you are lucky enough to be held in confidence that you will not go around spreading rumors or discussing a private matter with others.

And for those of you older nurses, I am sorry to hear of what you have been through... As a new grad, I always felt like I had been thrown out to sea without a paddle. I would ask many questions, but I would get so many different answers that I didn't know whom I could trust. The charge/resource nurses were frequently nurses with less than 5 years of experience; there couldn't have been more than 4 or 5 nurses in total on our unit with more than 5 years of experience, to tell you the truth. I really appreciated the nurses that were willing to teach and help out. I avoided the younger nurses because I didn't want to be a part of the "sorority" and I didn't want to participate in the gossip. Let's face it, experience in life will teach you how to interact as a team. I was careful to navigate my relationships on the unit and sometimes the politics in nursing are more exhausting than the job itself. And we all know what a tough job nursing is already! It's frightening to know that there are seasoned nurses who are being let go! We need you!

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No, and thank GOD for at-will employment which gives the employer AND the employee the right to quit/leave/terminate without notice.

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I worked in a community where a group of nurses left a facility around the same time, all under suspicious circumstances, (basically the facility was going to hell long before the DON and administrator left at virtually the same time). There was nothing secret about these people leaving, as none of them were able to get work anywhere in the community. Very discussed. At all levels. Imagine going to a panel job interview where the entire interview revolved around specifics about your previous employment. "Specifics" that no one should know anything about. So, to believe that management does not discuss topics like this out of school, is a myth. After all, how else does the nursing community blacklist its own?

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I worked in a community where a group of nurses left a facility around the same time, all under suspicious circumstances, (basically the facility was going to hell long before the DON and administrator left at virtually the same time). There was nothing secret about these people leaving, as none of them were able to get work anywhere in the community. Very discussed. At all levels. Imagine going to a panel job interview where the entire interview revolved around specifics about your previous employment. "Specifics" that no one should know anything about. So, to believe that management does not discuss topics like this out of school, is a myth. After all, how else does the nursing community blacklist its own?

Theoretically speaking, couldn't someone find a good lawyer and sue the tar out of the previous employer for doing something like this? I mean we're talking about all sorts of confidentiality laws, privacy issues, etc.

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Absolutely no right to know this extermely private information. Our culture has gone way too far in thinking exveryone's private life is within thier shere of 'right to know'. Just because we can know what Lindsey Lohan's favourite sexual perversion is and what she cried out in her sleep in jail does not mean we actually have a right to that knowledge. s nurses we stradle the line even closer. We often know intimate details of our patient's lives as part of our work. As a result of this intimacy there can be a sharing of our personal selves with co-workers that is inappropriate. Just because you admire and respect someone at work and get along well with them as a co-worker does not make you a close personal friend and privy to private information that can be gossiped about a break time.

Besides, if she wants you to know, she will tell you. When I started my most recent job the unit manager quit, was fired or let go (I don't know the story) shortly after I was hired. Only she told all her friends on the unit she was terminated for no reason. She told her friends on the unit that it was all the new director's fault and whipped them into a fury of indignation. The physicians got involved, staff were in an uproar about this beloved individual who was terminated unjustly. Meetings were held, people were crying and yelling and acting very unprofessionally. Comments came out during patient care...truly it was awful. The Director finally quit as she din't have the support of the medical director any longer and I was frequently targeted by the old guard of the nurses as part of the problem (I was hired to provide guidance and direction on patient safety and quality care initiatives). It has taken two years to recover from the damage she created by sharing why she was terminated/fired/quit. And of course, management could never even respond to her accusations or the questions of her outraged co-workers. If she and her friends had just kept their mouths shut it would have blown over and done less damage.

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Nooo, nurses are a small community. If it was safety related, have a refresher in service (people will figure it out) If it was drug/alcohol related, she is going to rehab and will likely try to rebuild her life. No need to gossip that to someone who might not hire her after she pulls it together. If it was a personality conflict...who doesn't have those once in awhile. It doesn't matter, especially if she comes back and everyone knows her business.

Plus, if she wanted you to know, you would know...in my exp, a couple weeks will go by and someone will get the real story...it just takes awhile for everything to cool down.

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