Fired

Published

Just got fired with in my 90 day probation periord. have been nursing for 7+ years with a couple years break....how in the world do i get another job in nursing?

Thanks

i was always an ICU/ER RN, went to home care, quit for a couple years to do something i always wanted to do but need to return for financial reasons. i returned with the plan (idea of dir of nursing) to do 5-6 months in Med/Surg and then transfer back into the unit. but i didn't make it through probation. the supervisor thought i lied about giving a patient a med. I truley thought i had given the med but it was found in the room (after 10 hours!) I'll admit i messed up but she fired me cuz she says she thinks i lied..because i said i really though i gave it. Of course i said i must have screwwed up because the meds were handed to me the next day.

How does one put that on a resume

from California

I don't know that you have to put it on your resume, though you will on an employment application.

This is a situation in which your references can make a big difference. You have one instance in which you were found wanting (whether that's fair or not). Excellent references from former bosses or others can go far to overcome that liability. Make sure you thoroughly brief your references about what happened to you, and what you hope they can emphasize as your qualities, abilities etc.

Best of luck to you.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I am sorry this happened. Personally, I would omit it...not mention it at all. As this economy worsens, they may be even more selective with their choices and seeing this on a resume or admitting to this may decrease your chances of being selected because now, nurses will be a dime a dozen. Instead of being a 'nursing shortage' (a statement that has never been true in the first place), the situation may reverse and become oversaturated with nursing applicants. I can even see them lowering their salary requirements at this time for newcomers. These are the reasons why I would not open my mouth, personally. If they find out, that is one thing. I can't see handing a revolver to someone else to kill me.

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Only sign off meds as given after you have seen the pt take them.

Oh... a bit :offtopic: but I have a question about this.

They are now teaching us, and they also had an inservice about this at my facility, that the nurse/med tech is supposed to get the medicine ready, initial the medicine, then pass it and then continue or if the resident refuses to circle your initials???

Is this common? I always remember being taught, as a med tech, that you don't initial it until you give it...

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Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

How can you sign a legal document that medications are given, if they haven't been? I say the facility should change the paperwork to say it is prepared, checked when given. I wouldn't lose my license on lack of staffing and poor practices. Perhaps you should print the nursing scope of practice for your state and send it to the facility and the state nursing board.

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Specializes in ICU/Critical Care.

I give meds first and then sign off. I don't prepare them beforehand, I prepare them as I'm about to give them.

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How can you sign a legal document that medications are given, if they haven't been? I say the facility should change the paperwork to say it is prepared, checked when given. I wouldn't lose my license on lack of staffing and poor practices. Perhaps you should print the nursing scope of practice for your state and send it to the facility and the state nursing board.

That's what I thought but the school is teaching it as well. The facility got this on there own too.

The Board of Nursing included it in the new Medication Aide curriculum. The staff educator is aware of it as well. She is currently trying to pin down the location in the Nursing Practice Act.

On a side note, there really is no nursing practice Act here. There is just a large collection of unorganized laws and related laws and positions papers all of the the BON website. How exactly is one supposed to be aware of the laws when you can't find them?!?! ROFL...

ETA: When I said prepare, I meant prepare them as you are about to give them. Not beforehand to store. :) Before we prepared, gave and signed. Now we are supposed to prepare, sign and give. It's strange. Just wondering if this is going on anywhere else???

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

Previous posters are correct. In order to maintain compliance with Federal requirements, any healthcare organization that receives Fed $ (Medicare, Medicaid, etc) has to perform full background checks on all prospective employees. This includes all sorts of information, and it will turn up any employers who have been paying your FICA. So, unless you were working for an employer as an 'independent contractor', they will show up on your background check.

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Previous posters are correct. In order to maintain compliance with Federal requirements, any healthcare organization that receives Fed $ (Medicare, Medicaid, etc) has to perform full background checks on all prospective employees. This includes all sorts of information, and it will turn up any employers who have been paying your FICA. So, unless you were working for an employer as an 'independent contractor', they will show up on your background check.

This is incorrect. There are several different forms of a background check.

A Criminal Check will not show ANY of this information. It will only show Past Names/Aliases, Criminal Charges that have not been expunged or sealed and basic information which HR would already know from the application.

A Credit Check MAY show this information. Not all employment information makes it onto credit checks. In fact, employment info is self reportable meaning it only shows up based on credit applications that you have filled out in the past.

The only background checks that turn up ALL the information are Security Clearance checks run by the government.

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Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

I think this is a good question for Brent's Law....I just wouldn't feel comfortable signing off on actions not performed.

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I would not omit it ... but I wouldn't shout it out either. I think you have to show potential employers that you have taken ownership of the mistake and have made an effort to ensure that it would not happen again. I would take a medication refresher course of some sort. If it were me I would be constantly concerned that they would find out I omitted it, which would leave me open for being fired again and open for being told I lied again. Now it looks really bad.

I agree that mistakes happen, and most employers will accept that, but they also want to see what responsibility you took for making that mistake and not having it happen again.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
oh... a bit :offtopic: but i have a question about this.

they are now teaching us, and they also had an inservice about this at my facility, that the nurse/med tech is supposed to get the medicine ready, initial the medicine, then pass it and then continue or if the resident refuses to circle your initials???

is this common? i always remember being taught, as a med tech, that you don't initial it until you give it...

from what i know, it is a common practice if a medication was held or not administered to initial and draw a circle around your initial. there is usually an area on the mar where the nurse/tech can document why this medication was circled, such as off the unit, refused, etc... we used to do this before the computerized mar came about by august of this year to med-surg. now, signing and circling before...nope:no:.

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