Finding work after termination?

[Corpsman2OncRN, BSN, RN]

I'm not sure if this is the best forum for this topic (incident is unrelated to drugs/alcohol) but I didn't really know where else to post it.

Before I get into this story, a disclaimer: This is not about my own personal experience, rather the story of a friend who works in the medical field with patients (non-nurse). I am posting here because I am desperately trying to help her through this hard time but I just don't know what to tell her because I've never gone through this myself and don't have any experience to draw from.

A very close friend of mine who had been working full time at a hospital (outpatient and inpatient) for several years recently lost her job. She was great at what she did and very frequently received compliments from doctors for her quality work with patients and the insight she showed numerous times by catching critical issues and informing the on-call doctor. She even had one patient write a letter to the upper level administrative staff of the hospital praising her (people so far above her own managers that they even told her they'd never personally had contact with these administrators before this letter was sent & positive feedback was sent back down through them to her). She has had patients send cards and gifts to her and is the kind of person who can put even the most nervous patient at ease to get them through a procedure.

Anyway, about a year ago things started to change when she switched into a new position and was put into a situation where her coworkers were basically bullying her for no reason. The details over this last year are too long to get into properly here, but suffice it to say that she was under a microscope in her new work area because she didn't fit into the "clique" and any and everything she did was reported to management, right or wrong. These people wanted to get her in trouble and were clearly out to get her, and she later found out that they actually bullied the last woman to have her job so bad that she, too, left. She had only switched into this new position because the hours worked better for her family and was depressed that she had left such a great work environment where everyone loved her to be treated with disrespect or simply ignored every time she walked into work for no apparent reason.

Just as another position at her hospital opened up and she applied for it in order to hopefully get out of this toxic environment, yet another coworker reported her for an incident that her management took as the last straw and ultimately they let her go. I don't want to get into the specifics due to this being a public forum and also it's not my story to tell, but I can say that no harm came to any patient or staff member, no near-misses, and there had been no complaints from any patients. It was a situation where they claimed she made a bad judgment call and because of a previous issue a coworker raised with her, they decided to simply let her go rather than counsel or provide corrective training. I truly believe this is a case of wrongful termination and that she should speak with a lawyer, but that is a separate issue.

The problem is that now she is at a loss for how to proceed in terms of finding a new job in her field. An old coworker from the position she had before the new position which led to all of this drama reached out to her and put in a good word at another hospital where she knew hiring managers. She said they were eagerly awaiting her application to pull for review. So my friend applied and was ultimately rejected without an interview as soon as they learned she had been terminated.

My question is: How does one move on in the medical field once they've been terminated from a position? Is there any way to properly word this on an application to avoid an automatic rejection? I think if she could at least get a job interview her personality and work ethic would speak for itself and she could properly explain or quell any concerns regarding this incident but the problem is actually GETTING an interview at this point.

She does have another on-call job at a different hospital doing the same type of work so she could use those managers as references, but her main experience has been at this hospital where she was let go and she can't possibly just leave it off of a resume because this was her longest held position in this field where she learned everything about her field after graduation. She also fears leaving it out of an application and having it come back to bite her if someone learns about this and feels she was purposefully withholding information.

I'm sorry for the lack of details but I am very worried about her and how she will manage her family and finances through this hard time. I've never had any experience with this before so I'm at a loss for how to help which is why I am reaching out here.

If anyone has any advice or insight it would be so greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[noctanol]

I totally miss your point. Nurses get terminated everyday for a number of "stupid" reasons. If she doesn't have a board order then she can apply to another job with no issue. Maybe she needs to "omit" the termination part unless it's asked in an interview, and even then, she can say she is looking for something better, schedule conflicts blah blah blah.

As far as wrongful termination, does she really want to go head on with a hospital that has 5 or 6 lawyer's on standby and per your statement, nurses who really don't like her and we're bullying her? That process may take years and if the hospital staff don't like her for whatever reason then she's in real trouble because it will be her word vs 6 nurse, manager, hospital administration and lawyers.

Sometimes it's better to let the past be the past. My advice, let it be, let it go. But I'm not a lawyer, it's up to her.

[Lisacar130]

Most hospitals have a policy where they do not say a nurse was fired. They only confirm the dates of employment. I wouldn't even admit to being fired if it was me. I would say I left for some other reason.

[Corpsman2OncRN, BSN, RN]

For the specific job I mentioned in my post, there was an application question asking if the applicant had ever been terminated which makes it impossible to avoid bringing up. Maybe it's a dumb question but like I said I've really never gone through this or known anyone who lost a job for a "punitive" reason as opposed to being laid off due to downsizing or what have you. She also works in a small community where everyone has a connection to everyone else and word spreads so she is worried to get caught in a loop where she applies somewhere and downplays what happened only to have someone discover that she didn't mention being terminated, etc.

Anyway it might all be a moot point because she told me today her manager from the on-call job may be able to take her on full-time so I hope it all works out for her. Thanks for the responses.

And as for the legal aspect I wouldn't have really encouraged it if it weren't for knowing that there have been a few other staff members pursuing legal action against this hospital for similar incidents. It's probably *not* worth the stress and I'm sure you're right and they'd have a way to cover their asses no matter what/put a spin on what happened that makes them come away looking in the right but if she were able to find representation that didn't charge unless she won, maybe. But it's true about leaving things in the past and honestly even though this has been very stressful personally and financially I think it might be a blessing in disguise for getting her out of that negative environment and hopefully a new door will open to better things.

[caliotter3]

Time and distance. If she can move out of the area, preferably to a large urban area, it will be easier to get hired. The passage of time also helps. A person can't be effectively blacklisted forever.

[Big Blondie, ASN, BSN, MSN, APRN]

Ok. This is a recovery forum for nurses. Your post has nothing to do with either.

[Wuzzie]

Ok. This is a recovery forum for nurses. Your post has nothing to do with either.

It looks like she admitted this in the very first line of her post and also mentioned she did not know where it should go. I think she should get a pass on this as even the mods have not seen fit to move it.

[Corpsman2OncRN, BSN, RN]

If it's not appropriate I have no problem with it being moved or deleted. I've just seen some threads here about people looking for work after losing their jobs and although this situation isn't the same I didn't know where else to ask.

ETA: I do appreciate the responses though. This thread was me grasping at straws trying to find some advice for a friend and I know it probably seems trivial in the grand scheme of things but a loss of income for someone raising a family is all the more unsettling when it feels like there's this giant roadblock in the way of future job prospects.

[Recovering_RN]

Nope, does NOT seem trivial to me! Loss of income is huge, as is the embarrassment and humiliation in these types of situations. Even though it's not recovery related, I think you were correct in that most of us have dealt with that aspect, the embarrassment, loss of reputation, gossip, etc.

I live in a fairly large urban area geographically, however the ER community is amazingly small! After I was terminated I was positive everyone I had ever known was talking about it, and actually I may have been right! I applied for a few jobs where the application also had that question asking specifically if I had ever been terminated. On the multiple choice questions, I did not get a call back. On the ones where it allowed me to explain, without a yes or no check box, I put that I would prefer to speak about it in person, I did get interviews...but did not get the job! In the end, I think I quit filling out applications that asked that question! Believe it or not there are some that don't have it. Also, as to the question of why she left her previous job, she can say "it was a mutual decision. We agreed it would be better for everyone if I left, there was a difference of opinion on ?????policies/whatever???? that we were not going to be able to resolve.

And believe it or not, time really does help. It sounds like her PRN job may end up offering her full time work so that's great. But if in a couple years she is out there looking for a job again, you would be surprised at how the details of whatever happened have faded. People will say "yeah I remember it being a big deal, but I don't remember what it was all about". At that point she would also be more likely to get away with that "mutual decision" angle! Also, she may think that everyone knows the details of what happened, however really only a few people do. Everyone else got it second and third hand, so their memories of the situation will fade even more quickly.

[Corpsman2OncRN, BSN, RN]

Thank you Recovering_RN; your response really means a lot. It has definitely been hard on her emotionally and the feelings of letting everyone down, etc. I really appreciate the advice and will share with her. Things are looking good right now in terms of the PRN job turning into something more; she was asked to come in to discuss setting up additional training on their systems & schedule availability so, fingers crossed!

[InnocentRN]

I think as nurses we all need to research potential employers before there is a problem. Some places foster a culture of bullying and some do not. I lost my job of almost eight years med/surg due to purely personal conflicts with my horrible Rumplestiltskin of a boss. I chose not to file a suit, but took a job as a travel nurse where I met a woman who told a story almost exactly like mine EXCEPT she was not "fired for cause" like I was, because her company had an ombudsman who mediated cases like ours. They ruled that her boss could not fire her "for cause" without legitimate reasons. I wish I had cared about looking into that sort of thing when I was a new nurse.

[lfarleyfisher]

Asking for help should be okay. Nurses are great Problem-Solvers!