Fired!! long

[Shoeshinerae]

:angryfire

Hello everyone: I was fired from the job I held as a staff RN at a

dialysis center! I believe I was fired because I gave notice. I

think the clinical manager was being vindictive she is mad at me for

giving notice and wants to ensure that I will not receive my earned

Paid Time Off pay. (are her actions a common practice that is

encouraged by Companies?) I had worked at the center for one year

after I transfered from another center. Both centers were with the

same company. I worked at the first center for two years. I had a

total of three years with the company.

I'd like to get some input from you who have had similar

experiences. I need advice on how to handle this blot on my work

record. How will I handle this in a job interview and my resume? I

am sure I will get some good advise from the recruiters who are

members of the group or with any of you who have dealt with the same

type situation. I would appreciate getting any feedback, negative or

positive.

To give some back ground I will explain that there has been a recent

change in management at the center. Until the change in

administation I had all good evaluations and no written

corrections. I had one verbal reprimand early in my career at the

first center because of a medication error. I had drawn

medications from a 20,000unit epogen bottle when the doses were

calculated to be drawn from a 10,000 unit dose vial. I had also

gotten an award last year for not missing a days work. Since

management changed I got a written correction. The written correction was written by the last DON (not the one that fired me) immediately after she got her notice that she would be transfered to a smaller center to work. The incident in which I had received a written correction had occurred four weeks be fore

and the incident involved a patient, another nurse and a technician. There isn't documentation that backs up the DON's

charge so the write up was my word against hers

and in my mind it may or maynot have been justified. At best the

wording of the correction was too general not specific enough to the event and could have covered any thing also the write up stated that I would not follow policy and procedure thereby endangering the lives of the patients. The write up included no clause indicating that I might sign, but I did not have to agree with the write-up so I refused to sign the write up. I asked her what would

happen if I didn't sign it and she told me that I would be very sorry 'later' if I didn't sign it. I gave a notice of resignation at the time I got the written correction, but I rescinded the notice when the new DON took her job. When the new DON came to the center to work I talked with her and asked her if she would like for me to stay or honor the resignation and she ask me to stay. I thought things might improve with a new DON.

This past Thursday I turn in a resignation again stating that I plan

to go take college classes full time. I left the notices in the

mail boxes in the door of the Clinical Manager and the

Administrator. I got fired the next day on Friday. The DON's

reasoning was that I didn't show up or call in to work

on that day and I was schedule to. Another nurse did not come to work on Friday. I had a voice message from the nurse who was working. In the voice mail she said the other nurse had called in and she asked me to come in to work. I called the center the nurse working wasn't available for me to talk with so I left a message with the tech thatI talked with asking her to have the nurse call me to let me know if she still needed for me to come in to work. I also found out that she was not alone that the Clinical manager who is also a registered nurse was there. In the past I had worked the floor by myself because the Clinical Director had been there in the building to make the ratio and I figured she would probably let the nurse working do the same since overtime is such a big issue and she, had after all, made me stay out the day

before to prevent me getting overtime. The nurse that was working

never returned my call. Later when I checked my voice mail I had a

message from the clinical manager indicating that I had been fired

because I was a no call no show. I called the Clinical Manager and

she confirmed her voice mail message, in fact she even hung up on me

without giving me an opportunity to discuss the issue with her.(In

the work schedule available to me I had been scheduled to be off on

a Wednesday, work on a Thursday and be off on Friday. The clinical

manager was afraid that I was going to have overtime. She told me

to be off on Thursday also. Before I left work I double checked the

schedule on the board next to the time clock and the schedule had me penciled out on Thursday but I still had Wednesday and Friday off. My schedule a home reflected the same thing.) Yesterday I called the

administrator to make sure he was aware that I had been fired. I

explained my side of the issue. He sided with his Director of

Nursing, standing behind her and her decision 100%. I ask him to

please make a copy of my personnel file available for me to pick

up. I also asked him to provide me with a letter of separation. He

indicated that he would provide me with the information that I

requested.

Frankly, I am glad to be out of that center. The ethics of the present administration are questionable. My most valued asset is my RN license and I am lucky to get out while I still have the license. Even at the cost of the Paid Time Off my RN license is much to valuable to risk losing by working there even one more day. I am wondering though if this is common in Dialysis Centers. I am considering a change it may be better for me to attempt to find a nursing job in some other field.

Any advice questions or comments from the group members would be

appreciated.

Thank you,

Jackie, RN in Georgia

[BETSRN]

I think it's good that you are out of there. I would suggest that you write up this complaint and submit it to the nursng board of the state. is that where complaints go? I would make sure that you also inform the president of the hospital about this woman's practices. I would also be above board where ever you go to work (as you have been here) and let them be aware of what happened. Yoyu were screwed over.

[EastCoast]

in our state if you've been fired you can file for unemployment compensation. often it will be approved. i know that doesn't help how you must feel inside but if you don't have income unemployement helps.

i agree with the previous posters. good that you don't work there anymore.

i got fired once and though i was stunned it was something i learned from. still stings to think about.

good luck to you . sometimes things like this do bring you to a better place.

[Shoeshinerae]

Hello:

Thanks for the imput.

Yesterday I made a trip to the GA Employment office. It was the first time I had ever applied for unemployment compensation. I may have a case. Thats good. Even though I may have a case the experience restored my self confidence and I am ready to do some serious job hunting. The interviewer at the employment office said I didn't have to take a job unless it paid as much as the job I left. She also cautioned me to not accept a jobs unless it was a job I really wanted.

It may be time to try a different kind of nursing.

My supervisor put down that I had resigned. In researching the materials I received at the Employment office I learned that there are many reasons that I would be eligible for compensation. Examples were: being laid off due to lack of work. 2. Still working but hours have been reduced due to a lack of work.

3. Fired without work-related misconduct. 4. Quit job for a good work-related reason.

I am sure that my case might fall into one of those categories. Especially because the termination letter my supervisor sent me is ambiguous. She said I resigned one day but didn't come the next so she considers me a no show who voluntarily resigned.

Yes, I believe I might be able to draw the compensation. At least I have everything in place. Today I am going to research other fields of nursing. Pick the fields inwhich I am most interested and start getting resumes and applications out there.

Thanks again for your comments.

Jackie RN in Georgia

[BucklandRN]

okay this may be a silly ? but if an md gets "fired" from a facility (which probably rarely happens) like does he give a damn about whats on his work history? i mean who wouldnt hire a doctor because he made a mistake or because someone didnt like him? and why would he even have to fight that battle? There are so many nursing, and md demands that noone cares probably that this lady was a jerk, or you made a human mistake. Isnt it the same for nurses? I thought as long as you hold that degree and you can do the task, who cares about the other stuff? So I guess having that "paper" doesnt exempt you from workforce politics. i thought only people who work at mcdonalds dealt with that kinda stuff. furthermore, what about other things? like are you always late? do you make frequent mistakes?(which may require a drug test), is your attitude toward tha patients less than professional? thats the stuff that matters!!!

[jwBSN]

:angryfire

Hello everyone: I was fired from the job I held as a staff RN at a

dialysis center! I believe I was fired because I gave notice. I

think the clinical manager was being vindictive she is mad at me for

giving notice and wants to ensure that I will not receive my earned

Paid Time Off pay. (are her actions a common practice that is

encouraged by Companies?) I had worked at the center for one year

after I transfered from another center. Both centers were with the

same company. I worked at the first center for two years. I had a

total of three years with the company.

I'd like to get some input from you who have had similar

experiences. I need advice on how to handle this blot on my work

record. How will I handle this in a job interview and my resume? I

am sure I will get some good advise from the recruiters who are

members of the group or with any of you who have dealt with the same

type situation. I would appreciate getting any feedback, negative or

positive.

To give some back ground I will explain that there has been a recent

change in management at the center. Until the change in

administation I had all good evaluations and no written

corrections. I had one verbal reprimand early in my career at the

first center because of a medication error. I had drawn

medications from a 20,000unit epogen bottle when the doses were

calculated to be drawn from a 10,000 unit dose vial. I had also

gotten an award last year for not missing a days work. Since

management changed I got a written correction. The written correction was written by the last DON (not the one that fired me) immediately after she got her notice that she would be transfered to a smaller center to work. The incident in which I had received a written correction had occurred four weeks be fore

and the incident involved a patient, another nurse and a technician. There isn't documentation that backs up the DON's

charge so the write up was my word against hers

and in my mind it may or maynot have been justified. At best the

wording of the correction was too general not specific enough to the event and could have covered any thing also the write up stated that I would not follow policy and procedure thereby endangering the lives of the patients. The write up included no clause indicating that I might sign, but I did not have to agree with the write-up so I refused to sign the write up. I asked her what would

happen if I didn't sign it and she told me that I would be very sorry 'later' if I didn't sign it. I gave a notice of resignation at the time I got the written correction, but I rescinded the notice when the new DON took her job. When the new DON came to the center to work I talked with her and asked her if she would like for me to stay or honor the resignation and she ask me to stay. I thought things might improve with a new DON.

This past Thursday I turn in a resignation again stating that I plan

to go take college classes full time. I left the notices in the

mail boxes in the door of the Clinical Manager and the

Administrator. I got fired the next day on Friday. The DON's

reasoning was that I didn't show up or call in to work

on that day and I was schedule to. Another nurse did not come to work on Friday. I had a voice message from the nurse who was working. In the voice mail she said the other nurse had called in and she asked me to come in to work. I called the center the nurse working wasn't available for me to talk with so I left a message with the tech thatI talked with asking her to have the nurse call me to let me know if she still needed for me to come in to work. I also found out that she was not alone that the Clinical manager who is also a registered nurse was there. In the past I had worked the floor by myself because the Clinical Director had been there in the building to make the ratio and I figured she would probably let the nurse working do the same since overtime is such a big issue and she, had after all, made me stay out the day

before to prevent me getting overtime. The nurse that was working

never returned my call. Later when I checked my voice mail I had a

message from the clinical manager indicating that I had been fired

because I was a no call no show. I called the Clinical Manager and

she confirmed her voice mail message, in fact she even hung up on me

without giving me an opportunity to discuss the issue with her.(In

the work schedule available to me I had been scheduled to be off on

a Wednesday, work on a Thursday and be off on Friday. The clinical

manager was afraid that I was going to have overtime. She told me

to be off on Thursday also. Before I left work I double checked the

schedule on the board next to the time clock and the schedule had me penciled out on Thursday but I still had Wednesday and Friday off. My schedule a home reflected the same thing.) Yesterday I called the

administrator to make sure he was aware that I had been fired. I

explained my side of the issue. He sided with his Director of

Nursing, standing behind her and her decision 100%. I ask him to

please make a copy of my personnel file available for me to pick

up. I also asked him to provide me with a letter of separation. He

indicated that he would provide me with the information that I

requested.

Frankly, I am glad to be out of that center. The ethics of the present administration are questionable. My most valued asset is my RN license and I am lucky to get out while I still have the license. Even at the cost of the Paid Time Off my RN license is much to valuable to risk losing by working there even one more day. I am wondering though if this is common in Dialysis Centers. I am considering a change it may be better for me to attempt to find a nursing job in some other field.

Any advice questions or comments from the group members would be

appreciated.

Thank you,

Jackie, RN in Georgia

I was going to ask if you had a union there...you could go to them or perhaps the Dept. of Labor...

[EastCoast]

okay this may be a silly ? but if an md gets "fired" from a facility (which probably rarely happens) like does he give a damn about whats on his work history? i mean who wouldnt hire a doctor because he made a mistake or because someone didnt like him? and why would he even have to fight that battle? There are so many nursing, and md demands that noone cares probably that this lady was a jerk, or you made a human mistake. Isnt it the same for nurses? I thought as long as you hold that degree and you can do the task, who cares about the other stuff? So I guess having that "paper" doesnt exempt you from workforce politics. i thought only people who work at mcdonalds dealt with that kinda stuff. furthermore, what about other things? like are you always late? do you make frequent mistakes?(which may require a drug test), is your attitude toward tha patients less than professional? thats the stuff that matters!!!

'Having that paper' puts you in the position where undesirable or questionable behavior is reportable to the state board of Nursing or Medicine. This includes DUI, narcotic diversion, as well as being a danger to patients, sexual misconduct, or having an event where a patient was harmed from your actions. This also applys to doctors. Doctors who have any sexual offense against them makes puts them before their own licensing board and may put them on suspension or revoke their license. With that may come a hospital who then suspends privledges...(your patients suddenly cancel their appointments...or perhaps in your contract with your partners there are stipulations so in fact docs are forced to leave a partnership...i.e., maybe it's a contractual thing).

I was hired as an NP to replace a Doc who was erratic and was somewhat verbally abusive to staff. I just got a call for a reference for him ( 7 months post firing...and he still doesn't have a job). AT our hospital We also have a doc who had inappropriate pt. contact and he was suspended for one year, counseling, and has to be supervised. It's a small place and no one really looks at hime the same.

A piece of paper should never be interpretted as 'protective'. To care for people is a privledge. Unfortunatley some people who never meant to do wrong can end up at the wrong end of the supervisor and "employment at will" rules so anyone can get fired. In a small state or region this can be a scarlet letter.