Fired after orientation-advice?

ckh23, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2013

I landed my first nursing job out of school on a cardiac stepdown unit in a hospital. I thought I was doing well overall as I was efficiently working assignments and handling a four patient load. I made my first medication "error" a couple weeks into orientation when a family made a complaint that I didn't know what the patient's IV steroids were for. I was very briefly told by my manager that it is unacceptable to go into a patient's room without knowing all meds and what they are for. She asked me if I was having a problem with anything, to which I replied no because I wasn't. I didn't recieve much feedback at all for the next month or so until I made another medication error and gave a whole tab instead of a half tab of midodrine. Two days later I was called into the office and fired, citing these errors and a concern for patient safety. I am working on being more careful and meticulous with medications, but I don't think I am a threat to patient safety. I was told to try LTC or med-surg instead of intensive care. I'm worried that I won't be able to get hired with a firing on my record. How much can my employer disclose or potential employers? Also, I was fired 4 days after the 90 day introductory period. I never signed any papers acknowledging the errors or when I was fired-just was asked to hand my badge in. Therefore, I'm not sure that proper procedure for terminating an employee was followed. Is this worth looking into and fighting so that I could potentially get a firing off of my record? Thank you for any advice, I don't want my first three months as a nurse to be my last!

I wouldn't consider the first one an error because you gave the right med, dose, etc. You should know why you are giving a medication, but I'm not going to lecture you on it because someone will surely come along and do it.

You are not going to be able to get the firing off of your "record" and you will find another job. The best thing to do is learn from your mistakes and own up to it. Your former employer is not allowed to bad mouth you when you are trying to get a job, but keep in mind a red flag will be raised when they say "Yes so and so worked here from January 2012 to March 2012."

As far as fighting them, unless you are part of a union, you don't have a fight. They can fire you for any reason that isn't covered by federal law. So just move on and start looking for a new job and file for unemployment in the mean time until you secure a new job.

Good Luck.

SionainnRN · Mar 12, 2013

I"m sorry about your firing, it can be heartbreaking, I know from experience. I think when applying to your next job you need to be upfront and tell them that there were times when your were overwhelmed as a new grad and hence the mistakes, that you've looked at your behavior and have come up with a plan to make sure these mistakes don't happen again. Were you on days or nights? While most people dislike nights the pace is much better suited to new grads as you generally have more time to look up meds and other things. A good tip for meds in the future is if you don't have a scanning med delivery is to make notes when the meds aren't given as packaged, ie the half tab vs whole tab. Good luck and hang in there.

hiddencatRN, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2013

How much can my employer disclose or potential employers?

They can disclose anything truthful, but many employers will opt to stick to dates employed, salary, and if you are eligible for rehire.

As far as whether they followed the "proper firing procedure" I'm a little curious what you think of as the proper procedure. I think it's harsh to fire a new nurse (or even an experienced one for that matter) for what really amounts to one med error without trying to work with the individual first, but employers have a lot of leeway in what they fire for and how they do it.

I would just be upfront with future employers about what happened when you interview. Explain the errors, explain what you've been doing to prevent them from happening again, and explain what you learned from it.

netglow, ASN, RN · Mar 12, 2013

Since nobody has mentioned this yet. OP, could you ask your NM about the possibility she HELP YOU to transition to another floor in your hospital... her idea suggesting you go to medsurg - take her up on it! see where that gets you, it's worth a try, thing is you can't wait a few weeks and then ask, you have to do it quickly.

SionainnRN · Mar 12, 2013

Since nobody has mentioned this yet. OP, could you ask your NM about the possibility she HELP YOU to transition to another floor in your hospital... her idea suggesting you go to medsurg - take her up on it! see where that gets you, it's worth a try, thing is you can't wait a few weeks and then ask, you have to do it quickly.

If she's been fired, why would they hire her for another floor? Where I've worked if you quit or are fired you are permanently on their DNR (do not rehire) list.

netglow, ASN, RN · Mar 12, 2013

It is possible, I've read here on AN of several cases where it's worked out this way. Remember OP, she mentioned it. It can do you absolutely no harm to ask.

ontheway84 · Mar 12, 2013

Thanks everyone for your posts and advice. I did ask my NM if I could transition to med-surg and she said no. I'm guessing I'm on the no-rehire list. The handbook says that proper procedure must be followed for firing an employee after the 90 day introductory period, so that's why I'm thinking maybe I have some bargaining power to change my file to "eligible to rehire" status.

proud nurse, BSN, RN · Mar 12, 2013

I was terminated from my 1st nursing job, also. Was told I wasn't a good fit for the unit. I went through my emotions for a few weeks, then pulled myself together and lined up some interviews.

I went to an interview in which I decided to disclose that I had been terminated, so I was prepared to discuss in the interview why I would be a good fit "there". All she wanted to do was talk about why I was terminated. That is not how I wanted to spend my interview. I ended up getting offered the job.

The next interview I went on, I decided not to tell them I even worked at that hospital. I took a risk, interview went great, and I was offered the job. I accepted that one.

Everyone makes mistakes. You learn from your mistakes and move on. You will find another job. Good luck, hang in there.

ontheway84 · Mar 12, 2013

thanks for sharing!

lilaclover6984 · Mar 13, 2013

You only worked there three months. I wouldn't even bother putting it on my resume.

They sound pretty harsh

ontheway84 · Mar 13, 2013

Are there any repurcussions if I leave it off my resume and the potential employer finds out that I did work there?