Fired but asked to resign!

allnurses Guide · Feb 2, 2010

After reading some of these responses as well as others....makes me that much more relieved I don't do nursing for a living. :)It's really no point in arguing. My points are pretty much proven. I just feel for the nurses out there who still have a good heart.

This forum accepts at face value, for the most part, that people who come here to post about an issue have personal experience with that issue. Your various comments in your posts imply that you have some basis for your statements, but wacky as they were, I at least had to acknowledge that, as a nurse, or maybe even a nursing student with a decent amount of clinical experience, you had the right to your opinion.

The fact that you felt your opinion should be shared, even though you are not a nurse, shows the same lack of insight displayed by those people who think they were "fired because they were beautiful and everyone is jealous". My personal feeling- stick to what you know. It's the right thing to do.

HeatwaveRN · Feb 2, 2010

Was it your fault that you were 2 minutes late? Did you call someone ahead of time to let them know you'll be coming in late? Did you get to work on time but clocked-in late? Are you late 2 minutes repeatedly?

Your posts sound like you're blaming everyone around you but yourself.

Take a look at yourself and see if you need some improvement.

Hope your next job will work better for you.

fungez · Feb 2, 2010

If I was in your situation, I would not resign. You'll need unemployment for your job search. Yes, you may have to tell your next employer, but it's not like you were going to get a good reference anyway. And you will find another job, even in this climate. I know someone who got fired from FIVE consecutive jobs and still managed to find a sixth.

If you REALLY want to know why you were let go, in a week or so call a coworker that you respect and felt close to and ask her to give you some honest feedback. It is possible you totally got the shaft, or perhaps there was some of your own behavior that contributed to this situation.

tewdles, RN · Feb 2, 2010

general statement...if your employer no longer wants you in their employ, do not resign - let them terminate you. to resign forfeits your unemployment benefits. on the other hand, the employer may contest the unemployment, and if they can demonstrate that you violated policy and that the termination was for cause you may not be eligible for those benefits anyway.

a termination from one employer does not mean that you are not employable, IMHO.

silas2642 · Feb 2, 2010

Hello fellow nurses,
Its been a while since posting on ALLNURSES.COM, however I feel compelled to post at this time.
Just recently (last Friday the 29th of Jan ) I was FIRED or better yet asked to resign from my position as a PEDS RN at a local hospital where I had been employed at for 2 years.
They fired me on the grounds that I had disregarded the attendance policy.
What baffles me is that I have seen several nurses and staff disobeying our attendance policy numerous times, by clocking in late or even calling out.
I feel that I was terminated more so for personality conflicts with staff in upper management. I am young and attractive, I get lots of compliments from patients and family.
They fired me and said Im a great nurse but hospital policy, blah blah blah on attendance.
I really feel discriminated against. Either because of race or maybe because of politics. All I know was I was terminated unjustly.
There was a nurse who even hooked up old IV tubing to a new patient thinking it was that patients tubing. Then come to find out that old tubing belonged to a patient who had HIV....
This RN is still working there!!!! Im hurt and feel as if I was wronged....
Can anyone give me any insite?
Maybe an opinion?
Thanks
Maria

Look did you violate the attendance policy or not? It doesn't matter what other people did, it matters what YOU did... if you don't show up to work, that's an enormous problem. You're no good to anyone if you're not reliable.

Jules A, MSN · Feb 2, 2010

It is unfortunate when someone gets fired but even more unfortunate when they won't do some reflection and accept their part in it. I don't think that not offering cyberhugs and flowers for a multitude of excuses without any ownership is helpeful at all. As easy as it is for some to throw out the Nurses Eating Their Young mantra what about feeding into the Codependent Nurse reputation? Sorry but I'm not going to do it. I'll offer suggestions and support when someone is seeking insight but I'm not going to play into denial, not even with my friends or family. It doesn't do anyone any good.

P.S. fwiw I've worked with many really pretty, happy young nurses and they haven't been fired or treated badly not saying it hasn't ever happened but I do not believe it is an epidemic.

Conqueror+, BSN, RN · Feb 2, 2010

While I believe that the OP somehow contributed to her situation, that does not negate everything that she said. I graduated from nursing school at the age of 20. I was #1 in my class, passed boards with minimum questions, no studying blah blah blah. My point is that I was young, happy, smart, attractive, outgoing, and nice. NEWSFLASH. That is enough to make people hate you. "Oh here comes pollyanna" or "Oh great its supernurse" because I offered to help my coworkers. And YES it was always the fat, burnt out, saddled with kids and husbands, broke, angry nurses that were on my behind daily. Funny, the content attractive nurses appreciated my help and got along with me fine. I was once told that I was not a "good fit" with the other nurses on the floor and should transfer. I looked around at the wrinkled uniforms of the scab eating mouth breathers on my unit and said "I agree" with a smile. That was over 15 years ago and I still see it happening. I am not 20 but I am still attractive, outgoing, nice, happy, and smart. Sometimes that just ticks people off. Examine yourself and hang in there.

rn4ever? · Feb 2, 2010

Sorry you’re going though all these but the bottomline is: If your boss really wants to fire you, he will find a reason to do so. While I don’t really know if you have attendance issues, the point is, if he wants you out, he can use any excuse to fire you. Perhaps he used your absences/tardiness because that is objective. Why he wants to fire you? You know the REAL answer to it. Just be honest with yourself.

MissCharlieRN · Feb 2, 2010

If you have 1 time card that says you punched in 2 minutes late and that's the only thing they have, maybe you should speak to someone higher up. You could probably have some sort of wrongful termination suit or something if you were not previously written up or spoken to about this. When you were terminated, did your boss cite other reasons in addition to this? I've been at jobs (not in nursing) where people were just overall poor employees that had been written up or spoken to about numerous things numerous times, and coming in late or calling off was just the topper that lead to the termination.

heron, ASN, RN · Feb 2, 2010

It is unfortunate when someone gets fired but even more unfortunate when they won't do some reflection and accept their part in it. I don't think that not offering cyberhugs and flowers for a multitude of excuses without any ownership is helpeful at all. As easy as it is for some to throw out the Nurses Eating Their Young mantra what about feeding into the Codependent Nurse reputation? Sorry but I'm not going to do it. I'll offer suggestions and support when someone is seeking insight but I'm not going to play into denial, not even with my friends or family. It doesn't do anyone any good.
P.S. fwiw I've worked with many really pretty, happy young nurses and they haven't been fired or treated badly not saying it hasn't ever happened but I do not believe it is an epidemic.

:yeah: :yeah: :yeah:

hope3456, ASN, RN · Feb 2, 2010

I also was recently 'asked to resign.' Except I was asked to 'find other employment, then give a resignation notice.' This was after the 'senior nurse manager' called me and personally attacked me, telling me that no one likes to work with me, I pick my patients, physicians question my competency, I do things my own way, ect.

I went and found another job, and did give a 2 week resignation. When my coworkers found out, they seemed surprised and disappointed (except for 1, who complains about EVERYONE and EVERYTHING and seems to be a 'favorite'. I had a minor conflict with her recently - long story.) Also, I had had a conflict about a pt assignment a week earlier d/t the fact I am pregnant and didn't take a pt who had swine flu and was 'very' symptomatic. The nurse who did take this pt, I know, did not like peds pts so she may have made the 'picking pts' allegation - i'm not sure. I have no idea what mistake I made to make the 'physicians question my competency' and I know I can accept constructive criticism so it there was something I needed to change I would have done it. Yes I have made minor mistakes - so have other nurses. I never harmed anyone.

I did ask what I could do to correct this situation and she said 'well it is too late.'

Last year, I didn't chart (aka charge for) some respiratory tx's that i had given, I got called into the office over it - however I was not 'written up.' Long story, but they since have got a RT to work nights so that wouldn't even be an issue anymore. The unit nurse mgr, who also has since been fired aka 'asked to resign' warned me that the sr mgr would try to get rid of me. I didn't believe her, and asked why, she really didn't answer me and told me not to tell the sr mgr, but sure enough.

My question - if I was as horrible as the sr. mgr told me I was, why was I told to go find other employment, THEN give resignation?? If I was that unsafe/incompetent why was I allowed to come back to work? I don't think she really had that much to use against me. I went to HR and asked what was in my file. She told me if I have never signed anything -then I have no write ups/disciplinary action against me.

My new job is working out better, anyway. I do feel guilty for not fighting for my rights, however and it seems this 'asking to resign' is just a new tactic to assault the working person. I need to look into this more, but it seems anyone could be 'asked to resign' - you really aren't being fired.

Oh, and how nice of me to even give a resignation. The same RN who may have accused me of 'picking pts' had a conflict with the 'tattle RN' not long after I quit. She simply called the sr. mgr and told her she wasn't coming back to work there anymore. However, she must like me well enough to call me/ email me even though we no longer work together.

AlabamaBelle · Feb 2, 2010

Attendance policies are black and white. The time clock is difficult to impossible to manipulate. We are expected to be in the report room with our behinds in the chairs at 0645 or 1845. Anything else is late and noted. We must follow call out procedures. As other posters have said, there is a procedure in place for dealing with absences/tardies: verbal, written, and final warnings. After the final warning - an occurence results in termination. I have been with the same manager for nearly 15 years and I've gotten 2 verbals for attendance issues. I expected that would happen, I own my issues.

Your coworkers who are calling out - maybe they have FMLA? You might or might not know that they have this job protection. I've had it before and while I didn't get paid, I at least had job protection.

As for the I'm so pretty/racist thing - get over it (I'll except flames for that one). In our unit, we have pretty, drop dead gorgeous, plain, overweight, skinny, and a racially diverse group of RNs.In age, I am one of the oldest. We really don't care about the above, just that you show up and give your patients the care they need and deserve. If we note that you are a slack a@@, no respect for you, plain and simple. Chatting up the docs instead of caring for your patients? No tolerance. Are we glad when some of our co-workers leave sometimes? You betcha - and it has nothing to do with looks, just the way you performed (or really, you didn't).

Examine yourself, try to learn from this experience. If you haven't resigned, don't. The hospital is trying to save itself from the uneployment dollars it is going to incur.