Fifty Ways to Leave Your....

mamason · Sep 30, 2006

REAL REASON: Unsafe, Unsafe, Unsafe.............

STATED REASON: I wanted to be a stay at home mom where I was currently needed the most at this time. (new baby):wink2:

humglum, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2006

REAL REASON: Staff cuts coupled with an increased patient load. I was working in an inpatient hospice with a patient ratio that was increasing upward. When I left it was 1:9, when I started it was 1:6. I never had the drugs I needed, I had very little respect for the physician who rarely branched out of his methadone-haldol-versed trifecta, I had ethical issues with palliative sedation. We were taking more and more people with full code status and didn't have the capacity to attempt a resuscitation. Oh, and the entire time I was there we were without a clinical manager. And the benefits sucked.

STATED REASON: Hospice just wasn't a good fit for me although I loved the connection I was able to make with patients and their families.

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Sep 30, 2006

Oh, that reminds me....

Real reason:

I left one short-lived job because all the "favorites" got their breaks--all of them--plus smoke breaks. Which threw me behind because I was busy answering all their call lights and my own. So I not only never got a break, I was accused of being "slow."

Stated reason:

I wanted something a little closer to home.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Sep 30, 2006

STATED REASON: I feel stymied in my career and need a change.

REAL REASON: The assistant department manager is a brass-plated @$#%& who for some reason is bent on running me into the ground, the NM is too busy picking out furniture for the hospital remodel to pay attention to what's going on, the work loads are getting harder every day and are so unsafe I fear for my license, there are too many petty rules and nowhere near enough respect, my back is killing me, and no one gives a rat's behind about the older nurses or how to adapt the workplace to help us stay healthy and on the job........... :madface:

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2006

Real reason: Two DONs and 3 ADONs later, I am working twice as hard with less support staff and at least 50% more patients most of the time. I have worked as a supervisor, staff nurse, reference nurse, oriented numerous superviors and charge nurses and staff nurses and I still am not getting the teaching opportunities I have told you I wanted and have written about in my yearly self evaluations for the last 4 years.

written reason: I have accepted another position.

when asked: I am going back to school and this new position will give me reimbursement monies and support me with scheduling plus they pay more and have a career ladder.

what they offered 2 weeks after I put my 4 week notice in: pretty close to what I would be getting financially at the new position along with the support to continue my education. Could not match the career ladder or the school reimbursement or the much better health benefits.

What I said at the 'try to make me feel guilty meeting": Sorry but I have already accepted the new position, and I am not leaving you unattended. I gave 4 weeks notice (instead of the 2 required) and agreed to continue with the orientee I am working with which is why the longer notice. I am also staying per-diem.

6 months later: resignation to the old place, NO MORE per-diem 'work me to death shifts', supervise and cover a unit or two, work a unit with not enough nurse aids or work a unit and help a struggling supervisor.

chevswife · Sep 30, 2006

Reason for Leaving:

Basically I was forced out because I was not willing to lower my standards in the care of the elderly. I spoke up to my Don several times, I was bullied with no results. I was loved by the girls I taught (students learning) & hated by the ones who didnt like having to work as my partner because I did thing correctly. Like using machines to lift instead of throwing them over my shoulder. Or actually taking the time to wash and treat people correctly instead of just a quick slap over the groin & face. What did my Don say when I asked why she allowed her residents to be treated so poorly in such an exspensive establishment, she said " maybe your in the wrong industry & shouldnt be a nurse, thier are no points for good nursing".

As a result of that meeting & due to a heavy study load to become an RN I asked for two months off to complete my course. I handed in my licence two months later & after 3 years of working for them over 40 hours a week. I was told they had nothing available for them. (I got them 6 girls trained for free by the govt & that was the thanks I got).

I thought that was the end of it.. Until I went job hunting.

I had great marks and good reports yet failed to be accepted for the next 3 job interviews. Eventually I was told. you may want to change your reference as your previous DON .. has nothing nice to say about you.

WHERE AM I NOW.... Un employed and heartbroken.

Anyone got any clues as to how I get around this one??

UM Review RN, ASN, RN · Sep 30, 2006

Reason for Leaving:
Basically I was forced out because I was not willing to lower my standards in the care of the elderly. I spoke up to my Don several times, I was bullied with no results. I was loved by the girls I taught (students learning) & hated by the ones who didnt like having to work as my partner because I did thing correctly. Like using machines to lift instead of throwing them over my shoulder. Or actually taking the time to wash and treat people correctly instead of just a quick slap over the groin & face. What did my Don say when I asked why she allowed her residents to be treated so poorly in such an exspensive establishment, she said " maybe your in the wrong industry & shouldnt be a nurse, thier are no points for good nursing".
As a result of that meeting & due to a heavy study load to become an RN I asked for two months off to complete my course. I handed in my licence two months later & after 3 years of working for them over 40 hours a week. I was told they had nothing available for them. (I got them 6 girls trained for free by the govt & that was the thanks I got).
I thought that was the end of it.. Until I went job hunting.
I had great marks and good reports yet failed to be accepted for the next 3 job interviews. Eventually I was told. you may want to change your reference as your previous DON .. has nothing nice to say about you.
WHERE AM I NOW.... Un employed and heartbroken.
Anyone got any clues as to how I get around this one??

This is exactly why I started this thread.

I've seen too many good nurses blackballed on a whim. It stinks because one person should simply not have that much power, and it stinks because another person gives it to them by believing that person and acting on that belief.

Honey, think about it. Do you want to work for people who would believe that stuff without investigating it themselves? Do you want to work for people who would not know that the DON simply doesn't like you and has given you a bad reference due to a personality conflict, not bad job performance?

Trust me: No, you don't.

Thank God for the Internet and for this nursing board where we can share experiences and ideas. I've never felt so alone sometimes as when I began nursing; never felt so relieved to find that I'm not alone, that these situations are quite commonplace.

My suggestion: don't use that job for a reference at all.

And why should you? You were not an RN while you worked there; you were in school. You would like a job now as a new grad RN, and you are looking to broaden your clinical base.

There are many positives that you bring as a new RN--you can say that you're very detail-oriented clinically, you feel responsible for your patients and to your professional ethic, you have a strong desire to be that excellent RN, but you need training. You need experience.

You can say that you are willing to learn new skills, you are able to come to work each day and be on time, professional, well-groomed, courteous and respectful to your co-workers, your bosses, your patients and their families.

I think you could emphasize those strong points, and also be willing to bend on your shift preferences. Just get your foot in the door to prove what you can do.

The trick to being successful is to turn a negative on its ear and keep moving forward. It might sound like a cliche, but I personally think that leaving that LTC job might be a real blessing in disguise for you.

I hope I've given you some ideas about how to handle what you say in the next job interview. Let us know what happens.

SaderNurse05, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2006

Excellent thread!!!

reason I gave: better schedule, 8-5 in community health

real reason: 14 hour days, way too many really sick patients, management that planned a new unit designed to increase pt load from 6 to 8 on a telemetry/cardiac floor, 3 new prescriptions for stress related problems for me in 6 months and the very real fear someone would die because I made a mistake. :(

augigi, CNS · Sep 30, 2006

Reason stated: A new challenge in a corporate position was a great opportunity.

Real reason: As above, as well as having to constantly precept new students who then left as soon as they were competent for other things, our unit amalgamating into trauma/burns/surgical instead of the pure cardiothoracics I loved and started in.

CseMgr1, ASN, RN · Sep 30, 2006

Stated reason: In order to return to my "roots" in case management.

Real reason?: The constant undermining of my and the Director's authority by the Corporate office.

The moral is: Don't put someone in charge, if you have no intention of backing us up! :madface:

NurseyBaby'05, BSN, RN · Sep 30, 2006

I've accessed this board @ work, so I'm not going to go there. Let's just say the stated reason was far more diplomatic than the actual one.