Failed My Orientation-was it my age?

RNKPCE · Jun 7, 2006

I doubt they wanted you to resign due to your age. It sounds like the pace of the unit you were on was very fast and you couldn't keep up with the pace. That may or maynot be due to your age. However it sounds like they think you are a safe nurse or they wouldn't encourage you to apply to their long term care unit. HOpefully your got some idea of this before they asked you to resign so that you were given the chance to safely pick up the pace. Usually hospitals want you to succeed and will work on some remedial plan to get you where they want you to be. If they use the same charting on the LTC unit maybe you could work there a year become more familiar with the software and hospital system and try to move back onto an acute unit.

Goldenhare · Jun 7, 2006

Here is something to think about!

I am 44. Last year when I graduated, I got a job in L&D. I LOVED it! I was there about 6 weeks when I was told that I was being transferred to a med surg floor where the pace was slower-(HA! SLOWER? not in THIS particular hospital!) and I could practice my skills and maybe transfer back. I was DEVASTATED! Nothing was ever said to me about my performance. No reviews, no chats, nothing! Now I have been on the med surg floor about 5 months, feel respected and supported. And-This is what you should consider-I have heard my story repeated SEVERAL times by several other nurses and a unit secretary who all said the exact same thing happened to them. In other words, in our hospital, the L&D department has a reputation for being cliquey and if they don't think you fit in, then they will get rid of you. I wish I had known this when I first got transferred, then maybe I would have not felt so so rotten, thinking it was my fault somehow when it wasn't. Maybe it isn't YOUR fault either!! Hang in there!:icon_hug: OH! I was told that I was well liked and a hard worker too, and I hadn't made any mistakes either!

MrsMommaRN · Jun 7, 2006

kathy,

so sorry about what happened. i hope you decided to take the position they offered you. don't beat yourself up over what happened. i think they saw your strengths and wanted to offer you a spot in a position that would better suit you. i think you will be a successful rn chin up. hugs!!

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Jun 9, 2006

kathy. . .(sigh) i'm so sorry for what has happened to you. i'm sure you're feeling really bummed right now. i have a couple of comments to offer to you. i'll save the best for last. first, your current manager and proctor are spineless weasels. both of them within those months of your orientation were obligated to give you frequent feedback and constructive criticism on your development so you knew exactly what your future with their department was. you, very unfortunately, have been the victim of some very bad management and guidance. second, trauma step unit, is that similar to some kind of a step down or transitional care unit? i'm not a fan of any new grads going into intensive care, specialty care or stepdown units unless they are getting superior orientation. i worked a medical stepdown unit for a number of years and am very familiar with what goes on in them. these transitional units have high turnovers and problems retaining seasoned, experienced nurses, let alone new grads. a lot of it, i'm sure is due to the stress of the unit itself, but also to the poor orientation that the nurses working on them get. they just don't get the attention to orientation that a new grad working in icu would get.

you are much better off away from these two boobs. i have no tolerance for bosses who cannot be honest and forthright with employees. your age had nothing to do with what has happened. if you want to stay in hospital nursing you'll have to take the position in ltc for now. there is always the possibility of transferring to another unit within the hospital at a later time, i suppose. an alternative might be to talk to other nurse managers and see if you can transfer to another nursing unit that is willing to take you on. you can always go looking for another job if you like, but i wouldn't quit until i had been hired at another job first.

i worked on a new grad orientation committee in a large teaching hospital where i was a nurse manager. i believe that a good place for a new grad to start out is a general surgical unit. things tend to get very routine on general surgical units. you have time to learn when you are working the same routines every day and not having to deal with a lot of different kinds of emergencies and crises being thrown at you all the time. also, a good number of surgical patients start out in good condition and go home in pretty good condition.

the most likely reason you were asked to resign is because if they fire you, you can go to your state human resources office and file for unemployment benefits. you would probably get it too because they would be firing you without enough paperwork to justify your termination. when i read you had been asked to resign red flags went up in my mind. they didn't say they didn't want you to have a forced termination on your record. nope, they goofed something up and they're trying to cover their butts. guess who ultimately has to foot the bill for any unemployment benefits that get paid to someone? the previous employer (that would be the hospital in your case)! that is why they need you to resign. you resign and they're off the hook. you don't get unemployment benefits if you resign voluntarily. i'm sure the hospital's human resources department advised your manager of this when she told them she wanted you out of her department. i'm betting all the paperwork on your orientation was reviewed and found deficient in counseling and assessment of your progress. you are otherwise correct. people who fail orientation are usually fired and usually given notice and very aware it is going to happen way before it happens.

to answer your question. . .yes, you can go on to have a successful career. first, you need to work for a manager who will be patient, fair, honest and straight-forward with you.

kathylorr · Jun 9, 2006

Dear Batmik, Alongbella, Mom2bears, Daytonite,

Thank you for your thoughtfull replies to my post. I will go in this afternoon and have the interview for the LTC position and hopefully walk out re-employed.

Yes D., the thought that if I resigned I wouldn't be able to collect unemployment did cross my mind at the time, but I think that I could show I was coerced (sp) into resigning to get a good letter of recomendation might still enable me to collect.

The floor I was on was called a trauma step down unit. We'd get folks right from surgery for things like GSW, MVA, ortho, etc. We were also a telemetry unit and took some overflow from cardiac and those coming from the cath lab for example. The turnover was pretty fast and if I started the morning with 5 patients, at the end of the shift there would still be 5 but with 2 or 3 d/c and admits during the shift. When anyone asked me what floor I was on and I told them 7so, the usual response would be a grimmace and a comment such as "that is the hardest floor in the hospital" Or worse!

Probably one thing that also ran against me was that I was the only new hire for April so they had to improvise abit to get me the class time needed or put it off till later. For May they had 8 new hires for my floor alone and they seem to have much more cohesivness in their orientation-I was often sent to other floors and had 5 different proctors just in May alone as I bounced about and vacation schedules came into play. It sure did expose me to a vaiety of methods and ways used by a variety of seasoned nurses-some contrary to the others.

Thanks again for all of your thoughts,

Kathy, RN

jenrninmi, MSN, RN · Jun 10, 2006

Did they give you no inclination as to your progress along the way?

lannisz · Jun 10, 2006

I have heard of similar orientation scenarios and here is mine: I was hired as a new grad into the CCU. I had done a 1 year internship in the ICU in addition to my required studies during my senior of nursing school at a different hospital. In my interview I had told the CCU that I was concerned because I had no cardiac experience and they used different equipment and medications. They said "we don't expect you to know any of that, it will probably take you 6 months to get up to speed." So, I took the position. For three months I worked my butt off and in addition to 12 hour shifts I was sent to numerous trainings AND expected to do online modules during my off hours for my CCRN. I had two glowing evals during that 3 month period. My preceptor was kind of odd, was hardly ever there and I found out later, trying to wean herself off long term antidepressants. Anyway, for my third evaluation, after I'd been there 3 months, I was called in to the super's office and without warning told I wasn't making it and given the option to go to med/surg instead. I was shocked. I felt I had failed and didn't understand why, If I wasn't making it, had I been given two evaluations saying I was doing great? Then I came to the conclusion that I was being given a gift. If I could basically have given my all and still be told it wasn't good enough, I decided that maybe that wasn't the place for me. I quit. Not just the CCU but that hospital! I called another hospital that had offered me a job before graduation that I had turned down for the CCU position. They hired me the next day into their med/surg. I was not going to work anymore for the other hospital, I felt betrayed and owed them nothing. I was not the only new grad they did this to. they promised sign on bonuses and "star" positions to us and then within a couple months would move us all to med surg. That's how they were able to get all the new grads instead of the other hospitals. Anyway, I've never regretted my decision to leave them.