Fired- Reason for leaving?

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I am a newly licensed RN and have a phone interview tomorrow. My last job was as an LPN at an outpatient clinic of a large hospital and I was fired after working there about a year and a half. When applying for jobs at the other large hospital in my city I left all "reasons for leaving"'s blank in my employment history. I am worried about what to say if they ask my reason for leaving my last job. Do I straight up say that I was fired? Or do I say it's because I was starting RN school? What if they then ask me about me being fired??

-My manager and I really butted heads. She had only been a manager a few months before I started working there. Before this she was a check in staff at a different location. She had no clinical experience yet tried to tell me how to care for my patients. There were times I was uncomfortable with this, and we would have disagreements. Despite this we did get along overall. There was all new staff (clerical and clinical) working there when I first started (this should have been a warning sign to me). The manager would pick a staff member to blame as to why the clinic was running poorly until that staff member would leave (either voluntarily or involuntarily). Eventually I was the only staff member left in a pool of brand new staff. Things that could be in my file...

-At my 6 month eval I was put on probation for not being an effective lead nurse in the clinic. This was the first time I was ever told that I was expected to be the lead nurse. Out of the four staff members that got their eval the same week, 3 of us got put on probation. Our manager had been on maternity leave for a month so her manager is the one that put us on probation (even though she never saw me working).

-I was taken off of probation at my 1 year eval by my manager. Things were going good.

-I was written up for not effectively working during a day that I was covering phone triage due to the phone triage nurse being out. This was something I had only done a couple of times and I was not properly trained on it. Despite this, I completed everything I was asked to. I even had email proof of this.

-I disputed this write up and climbed the ladder all the way up to the president of the hospital. He essentially didn't listen to a thing I said and his reasoning for siding with my manager was because "your boss was hired because somebody thought she was capable and qualified to do her job" (even though the same person that hired her also hired me because they thought I was capable of doing my job).

-A couple weeks after the dispute I turned in my 2 weeks notice because I was started Registered Nursing School, I was SO glad I was about to be free of this exhausting job. Then I was fired- three days after submitting my 2 weeks. The reason was for being late/missing punches (they count as they same thing). I apparently didn't clock out for lunch, even though I did clock in. I could have been suspended, but I was fired instead.

Anyways. What do I say?? I know I can't talk badly about my manager. Do I just say that I chose to leave in order to go to school full time? Since I was ultimately fired for being late do I say that I didn't have a reliable car and I lived 40 minutes ago? Do I say that my previous boss and I had different views on patient care and I was ultimately fired 3 days after giving my two weeks?

Help???

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You submitted your letter of resignation and was told that you do not need to work out that two weeks notice.

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You submitted your letter of resignation and was told that you do not need to work out that two weeks notice.

Because this is ultimately what happened. They only took that action to hurt you and you should be able to circumvent this.

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Was her termination done maliciously? It appears so. However, what needs to be remembered is this; an employer is under no obligation to accept a resignation if they believe they have grounds for, and choose to persue a termination.

OP, in my opinion, you should disclose the fact that you were terminated. You could include some of what you posted as background, but be careful how you word it. Some of what you wrote comes across as defensive, although I realize that tone is lost when written, and never speak I'll of a previous employer.

You should also consider what your previous employer will provide if called for a work history. Remember, contrary to popular belief they are free to provide any factual information the wish to.

Best wishes with the job search

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Specializes in Critical Care and ED.

How can you be fired if you already resigned? You resigned...that's it. They chose to not let you work out your resignation but the bottom line is you resigned.

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Specializes in ICU/community health/school nursing.

You should also consider what your previous employer will provide if called for a work history. Remember, contrary to popular belief they are free to provide any factual information the wish to.

Best wishes with the job search

You need to find out if you are considered rehireable or not. Because the person who calls from the potential new employer is only calling HR, not the manager with whom you had difficulty.

On the application, write "going back to school." In an interview, if directly asked have you ever been terminated, your response can be along the lines of "I gave notice to go to RN school, and they said I did not need to continue my two week notice" should be sufficient. From what I read on here, that happens a lot. Good luck!

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How can you be fired if you already resigned? You resigned...that's it. They chose to not let you work out your resignation but the bottom line is you resigned.

How can she be fired? Very easily. As I previously wrote, the fact that she had submitted her resignation does not prevent the employer from subsequently firing her. Having said that, if what the OP wrote is truly all that happened, then this was most definitely petty and spiteful.

For those suggesting that she wasn't required to work her notice, this is not the situation as the OP clearly stated that she had been fired. Of course, she is free to portray her leaving as such, but she should be prepared for the consequences if they call her previous employer and they report that she had been terminated.

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OK here is what you do. Do an online search for companies that do employment background checks on your behalf. Such as:

CheckMyReference.com

Or

CheckYourReference.com

Etc. I haven't used these services so I can't recommend any particular company, but just giving you examples.

You'll have to pay for it, but it should be worth it. It's something like $30-$70 ($70 is for an executive). Most hospitals have a policy where they only disclose dates on employment and title held (unless you are also applying to another entity within the same system... then they will say if you are rehireable or not). I do not recommend applying for anything within the same organization as you are probably blacklisted. But anything outside of there I think is fine. I bet they only verify dates and title held. But you'll know for sure if you do your own reference check.

Let us know what happens!

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Oops this is a duplicated post

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Well what I thought would be a phone interview was really just us scheduling to meet in person tomorrow. I have decided that when asked to "tell me about yourself" I would include that "My most recent job was as an LPN at so and so hospital. I worked there for about a year and a half- from january of 2015 to June of 2016, which is when I started the Registered Nursing Program." Hoping the interviewer will assume that that is why I left and therefor won't ask me anything else about it. If I'm asked more about it I think I'll just say something along the lines of

"Honestly my boss was a great office manager but we had different views on patient care and sometimes it caused us to butt heads. After a year and a half of working there I was let go 3 days after giving my 2 week notice. Since leaving I've realized that I should have done things differently. The job was definitely a learning experience and I think I'm wiser from it and I'd like the chance to prove that to you."

I should have fought the termination but honestly I was so exhausted that at the time it was sort of a relief for it to be over. Based on what I know about my boss I don't think she ever put my letter of resignation on file. I know at least one time that a patient and doctor filled out a positive evaluation of me and she was supposed to submit it and she never did. I also know that when a doctor got mad that there weren't enough people rooming patients my boss asked a co-worker of mine (who was eating in the cafeteria with her) if she could say that she was helping, even though it was just me. My boss went back and changed my co-workers clock out time to make it look like she was working. So I wouldn't be surprised if my letter of resignation isn't on file. Also, I'm not sure if I would have been successful fighting it because I did break hospital policy, which says action can be taken if late more than 2 times in one pay period. I was more than 3 minutes late twice in one pay period and then apparently (because who knows if she changed it) forgot to clock out for lunch. Missed punches count as being late.

I was under the assumption that I wouldn't be able to work at that hospital for a year. I did my transitional clinical rotation at the hospital and they offered me a job. Later someone from HR called to let me know that I wasn't eligible for rehire until I worked somewhere else full time for a year. I have tried to figure out Equifax Verification Services | Instant Online Verifications to see what my status would say, but I couldn't figure it out.

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