Fired from first CNA job

Starletta, CNA · Aug 1, 2011

No, you're not done :)... Did they cite a specific incident? Were you not given a warning when this incident happened?

cnagatz · Aug 1, 2011

During my first week, I received a warning from a nurse while working a different hall, but since being on a new hall and working with different nurses, I never had that issue and never repeated that mistake.

I was still on a 90 day probationary period, which is why they were able to so quickly dispose of me.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Aug 1, 2011

Maybe you rubbed somebody the wrong way. There's a lot of immature drama and clique-iness in nursing homes and usually the people that create this drama are the same people that suck up to supervisors. When I first started this nurse decided she didn't like me. I never even worked with her and I don't know why she had it out for me other than the fact that she could tell that my being shy and quiet made me an easy target. She's that type of person- very bitter and always needs to stir up trouble, even in her personal life, if you listen to what she talks about at the desk. Even though I never worked the same unit as her, she would waste her time following me around on MY unit checking up on me and finding fault with my work (which of course was not perfect, especially as a new CNA). She would yell at me and then she would tattle. It was ridiculous. It finally became less of a problem after I got better at my job and other people started to notice that I was a good worker. I decided I wasn't going to act afraid of her and started giving her cranky looks and refusing to grovel at her feet if she had something to say to me. If she criticized me I would just be like, "Oh. Sorry!" and walk away. And when she actually tried to make a civil comment once in a while I would give a noncommittal response and find some work to do. She eventually got bored of picking on me, I guess.

ANYWAY... it could be that someone with influence didn't like you... maybe the nurse that gave you a warning? I really haven't seen anyone get fired before their 90 days were up just for being a lousy CNA because even the best CNAs started off lousy and made at least a couple mistakes. I've only seen them get fired over attendance issues. And if you have any medical issues, I've seen that too. The facility hires someone, then realizes the person has an illness or a family member with an illness that will legally allow them to call off a lot without penalty, and the facility finds a loophole and gets rid of them before the paperwork is submitted.

I would just apply to another facility, start over, and maybe leave that one off your history.

cnagatz · Aug 1, 2011

Well, I guess I was the unlucky exception. My attendance has been perfect and my health was great.

I always thought I was pretty good about making sure nobody had any problems with me, though I also didn't go out of my way in making sure everybody loved me. Either way, I don't know who got me in the end, so it won't do to dwell on it much anyway.

Would it really be a good idea to not include my brief history with them? Is there any way future employers could look up that history if I don't volunteer it to them?

Starletta, CNA · Aug 2, 2011

Look at it this way.... If someone was purposely causing problems behind your back in the first month, would you really have wanted to work at this place long term? :twocents:

I don't see any reason to include them on your resume. As far as I know, unless someone can correct me, I don't think a potential employer would find out. If you were there long term? Yes, but a month, no.

Getting To Great · Aug 2, 2011

I know that it can be a bit heartbreaking to be fired from a job. Don’t worry too much about it because it’s not the end of the world, people make mistakes; we just have to learn and grow from them. Just move on to the next and focus on doing the best that you can. Remember that you were just fired, that being said, your certification is good to get another job. Good Luck.

FYI: LTC are revolving doors.

WKredz5 · Aug 3, 2011

Oh come on get some confidence in your self, go outside and sprint for 30 minutes and curse your lungs out!

After that however we settle down, close the shelf and open up a new door.

Get to it! No looking back!

CNA1991, CNA · May 23, 2012

I feel like I am in the same boat as you, I feel like I am going to get fired from my new LTC job. It's really frustrating because of the few mistakes I made, there were reported immediatly and I feel like some discriptions of my work as told to my manager from my trainers were inaccurate.....I was also cut down and another CNA asked how I even passed my state boards in front of some residents who then started complaining themselves about how easy the job must be (I would like to see you get out of bed and lift your own 500 pound ass to the side for a changing)....right in front of my manager. It's really painful to be fired but I do think you can recover as long as you don't list this job on a resume. Being a CNA is hard physcially and there's so many little things you have to remember when you're new. I hope things go better for you in the future!

funtimes · May 23, 2012

Why would they hire a new aide if they werent going to work with you and help you develope into a competent CNA? If a new aide gets fired, A lot of the time the other aides and management share some of the blame. They probably forgot how hard the job is starting out, didnt give you a proper orientation and set you up for failure. Some places see CNAs as disposable and will just hire and fire some until they find ones they like. I worked in a LTC facility that was like this. Getting hired was more like a try out than an actual job. We were never quite sure if we were doing a good job or not, and our status felt like it was day to day until we hit that 90 day mark, then it was a big relief.

Its probably a good thing you got fired so early rather than having it drawn out. As long as you didnt do anything abusive I would just look at it as a learning experience. Im not sure if you could just leave it off a resume or job application. If so no real harm done.

JDZ344 · May 23, 2012

You are not done! Whatever you tell any potential new employer is up to you, but someone from your previous place might follow you to there. It's better to be honest, admit you learnt a hard lesson and have learned from it than to hide the fact you were fired.

I hope you find a better place that values you and your contributions soon.

Merced · May 23, 2012

You are definitely not done! I'd be willing to bet that it wasn't related to you specifically, but to TIMING.

At a different time, they would have given you the attention you needed with your first job. Everyone knows that even for experienced CNAs, the work is not easy!

The main thing, is you really like the work - that to me, & the fact that you are not too down on yourself, says that you will be good, given time.

When I was beginning, I was so afraid of not being good enough, but over the years, I changed. Occasionally, I have taken a job as a learning experience. Once or twice, I have been "let go" (it sounds better than fired) because I didn't learn fast enough LOL.

Sometimes that adventure (job=learning experience) works, & sometimes it doesn't, & I think it has a lot to do with timing. You will gain more self-confidence with each job, or you might be lucky enough to find a great fit, & stay there a long time.

It's a valuable skill you have, & there is plenty of work!