Fired: Now what?

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jun 29, 2012

i find myself in a place i never though i would be. due to politics at my facility i was fired. someone decided they had it out for me and everything i did was micro-scrutinized. everything i did was put under a microscope. i missed initialling a few places in a treatment book and put a completely harmless post on facebook mentioning no names or other identifying factors. i didn't even have on my profile where i worked. i was dragged into the don's office and told that the next mistake i made i would be terminated. needless to say i was not at my best from then on. i was so nervous about making a mistake that i couldn't help making mistakes. i was grumpy with my co-workers and my patients and it wasn't long before they had me once again. they had a representative from their pharmacy follow me on a med pass to supposedly help us improve and correct mistakes. this woman talked to me the entire time i was trying to work despite my asking her to stop and needless to say i made mistakes, ie: forgetting to take a bp, forgetting to administer eye drops. i was toast. the don tore at me for a good 30 minutes going on and on about what a bad nurse i was. i know it's not true. most of my co-workers and supervisors told me they thought was done to me was wrong that i didn't do anything other nurses had done before and i was told by one person who was actually out to get me and i believe it.
anyway do i tell prospective employers? as this happened to anyone else? i'm feeling disillusioned about nursing in general. this was my first position out of school and i thought i was doing a really good job. in my heart i know i'm a good nurse who was put in a very bad position. i love my patients and they loved me. i've been told they miss me terribly but i haven't had the nerve to go back to visit them. i've been questioning if i should even continue my education and my career.
help!!

the first step is to start taking responsibility for your errors. it is easy to dismiss the whole experience as being "politics" or "someone out to get you," but the fact of the matter is that you made mistakes. take full responsibility for the mistakes you made.

the "completely harmless post on facebook" is a red flag to me. how does anyone at work know about this? did you post using a work computer on work time? big no-no. posting anything at all about work is a no-no if there's any possibility that anyone from your work can read it. we have lots of threads here about people who've lost their jobs by being stupid on facebook.

getting grumpy with patients and colleagues is another mistake. we all get grumpy from time to time, and sometimes we can't help it. how grumpy were you? how often did it happen? with patients? really? i've seen post after post here about how one should never bring problems to work with them, and it's always all about the patient . . . and i think they're a little overcompensatory. no one is perfect. but still, when you add getting grumpy with patients to errors on treatment sheets, posting on facebook at work and medication errors, it doesn't look good.

everyone makes mistakes. we all make medication errors, errors initially treatment sheets and everyone gets grumpy from time to time. your "completely harmless post on facebook" is a red flag i cannot overlook. and taking it all together indicates a pattern.

i'm sorry that you lost your job, but you've indicated a pattern of mistakes that may have done more to cost you your job than simple "politics" or "someone out to get you." and as long as you hold on to the idea that you did nothing wrong and it was all someone else's fault, you cannot move forward. so take responsibility for your errors and figure out how to avoid them in the future. and then you'll be in a position to move on.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jun 29, 2012

whatever the little mistakes you made...i don't think the way you were let go was in any way respectful. getting fired is already a tough life lesson for anyone to go through but when you have someone sitting across a desk from you telling you how unworthy you are they are trying to shake you up and get thier own gratificication out before they dismiss you. that to me is so sick. i have seen it happen before and even people that i felt were not doing thier best at the job never deserved to be treated like that.
you didn't go into nursing for a don, so you certainly have no reason to leave because of one.
take some time to yourself and get your confidence back. thank god you left a place like that, look forward to a better one. never doubt yourself or your abilities. you're a human, and when you are put to the test with people looking over your shoulder constantly it is basic psychology that this type of stess will cause you to mess up and fail. shouldn't all the nurses on this board know that?? they got the reaction they planned on, but don't give them any credit.

i'm not so sure that the op was let go in a disrespectful way. it seems that there was a process the manager went through before letting the op go. she was counseled, attempts at re-education were made, there was documentation. as far as trying to shake up the op for their own gratification before dismissing her . . . not sure it really happened that way. anyway, it appears that the op hasn't let it make her doubt her abilities as she knows in her heart she's a good nurse. (how come no one ever "knows in their heart" that they're an ok nurse or a good enough nurse or a nurse that is learning to become a good nurse? everyone is convinced that they're already a good nurse. except the ones who are sure that they're great nurses.)

veggie530 · Jun 30, 2012

I don't now what the deal is with this thread, but take responsibility for your mistakes and use it as fuel to make yourself a better nurse. Make them sorry they lost you instead of being sorry.

That being said, don't forget that you can only control YOURSELF, so fix what you can and move on.

patty377 · Jun 30, 2012

I believe I said I was willing to take responsibility for the mistakes I had made. I just wanted to be treated fairly and that did not happen. Others had made the same mistakes and more serious mistakes and nothing was done. As far as the Facebook post I did not post it at work i did not have internet access at work and did not use my phone at work. A good friend of mine who unfortunately had not been as careful as I was with choosing who to friend on FB commented on my post agreeing with me. By the way her post had more info on it than mine and she was not disciplined at all. That made my post visible to people I would not have chosen to be friends with. As I said I have definitely learned lessons from this experience. Like how to speak up when I'm feeling overwhelmed and standing my ground when I'm asked to do more than I think I can handle. Others had the nerve to complain and were not given the same workload.

I was NEVER grumpy with my patients but I admit that after I was threatened with being fired and began to understand that people were actively throwing me under the bus, I was not the most pleasant person to work with but that was only the last week that I was there. And some of the things they lumped together to justify firing me were things that had happened over a year ago, when I was a new grad still finding my way. I had already been disciplined for them and my probation had been over for well over 9 months. You can think I'm trying to pass the buck but the turnover at this facility is huge. There were actually only a handful of nurses who had been there longer than I. My direct supervisors were always happy with my work and when my last supervisor left about a month before I was fired she told me they were gunning for me and she didn't understand why.

I want to thank everyone for their support. I was actually offered 2 jobs today and have to decide which direction I want to go. I guess there is life after being let go.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jun 30, 2012

i find myself in a place i never though i would be. due to politics at my facility i was fired. someone decided they had it out for me and everything i did was micro-scrutinized. everything i did was put under a microscope. i missed initialling a few places in a treatment book and put a completely harmless post on facebook mentioning no names or other identifying factors. i didn't even have on my profile where i worked. i was dragged into the don's office and told that the next mistake i made i would be terminated. needless to say i was not at my best from then on. i was so nervous about making a mistake that i couldn't help making mistakes. [color=#b22222]i was grumpy with my co-workers and my patients and it wasn't long before they had me once again. they had a representative from their pharmacy follow me on a med pass to supposedly help us improve and correct mistakes. this woman talked to me the entire time i was trying to work despite my asking her to stop and needless to say i made mistakes, ie: forgetting to take a bp, forgetting to administer eye drops. i was toast. the don tore at me for a good 30 minutes going on and on about what a bad nurse i was. i know it's not true. most of my co-workers and supervisors told me they thought was done to me was wrong that i didn't do anything other nurses had done before and i was told by one person who was actually out to get me and i believe it.
anyway do i tell prospective employers? as this happened to anyone else? i'm feeling disillusioned about nursing in general. this was my first position out of school and i thought i was doing a really good job. in my heart i know i'm a good nurse who was put in a very bad position. i love my patients and they loved me. i've been told they miss me terribly but i haven't had the nerve to go back to visit them. i've been questioning if i should even continue my education and my career.
help!!

first you say you were grumpy with your patients, then you say you weren't. which was it?

patty377 · Jun 30, 2012

Seriously???

patty377 · Jun 30, 2012

@PattiRN, I tried to respond to your message but apparently I haven't been on here long enough. Anyway thank you for your kind words and encouragement

RNHURT · Jul 1, 2012

patty377

You can hide that you are fired if your last hospital has neutral reference policy but how would you answer the question in job application where it asks you to reply whether u were terminated or involuntarily resigned from last job. It would help you if you can have some average reference too from anybody with whom you had worked.

Yes, as others have suggested you cannot start the blame game because recruiters or managers don't like that. You can say given correct guidance and orientation you would be better nurse as your employer wants you to be. hope this helps.

good luck