FIRED

[rkeating]

I got fired from my first LPN job for medication errors, how am i going to get a job when i got fired after a couple months from my 1st nursing job! Should i consider a new career? Im sick to my stomach thinking about it:cry:

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

You don't put this job down.

And I'm sorry. Have you figured out where you were going wrong?

[rkeating]

I thought i had to put this job down, wont my next employer know what previous jobs i have had?

[SuesquatchRN, BSN, RN]

They will ask. I wouldn't tell them.

[llg, PhD, RN]

Be careful. If you lie on your application -- or omit this job -- and your new employer finds out about it .... you'll probably be fired from your 2nd job, too. Most employers consider lying or concealing requested information to be justification for automatic termination. They can find out if someone from your old job comes to work there, they have friends around town and ask around, etc,.

As far as what to do ... You'll need to be able to discuss your mistakes and what you have done (and will continue to do) to prevent them from happening again. You'll need to take responsibility for those mistakes and show that you have learned from them and will do better in the future.

Is there anyone at your old job who would give you a reference describing your good qualities?

[aromarn]

I agree, you have to be honest and come forward about the situation. After all you are human and humans make mistake. Learning from your mistake and coming on the top is also what we can do.

When they call to check for refrence , thay are going to tell exactly why you are fired. Its better to explain it upfront.

This a bad situation and I am very sorry this happen to you. Its so depressing to lose your job especially med. errors, because its huge. But how come they did not give you a chance???? Is is something you did before? I just hope employers just fire people for first time mistake. Its very scary.

Now that I am going to start working, my first nursing job, this story is very scary.

Good Luck and talk to people who had the same situation as you, ask how they bounce back. I am sure there are a lot of nurses this happend to them. You are not the only one. There has to be some hope!!

[rkeating]

so honesty is the best policy, ok thanks for the advise. Its going to be hard though

[caliotter3]

Well, you can go with honesty and deal with the consequences or you can leave it off and take your chances. You will still deal with the consequences if you are found out. Sounds like the rock and the hard place when the job market is so horrid. Either way, you need to fix the initial problem to make sure it doesn't happen again. Good luck.

[morte, LPN, LVN]

not being nosey, but how many errors and how serious were they?

[traumaRUs, MSN, APRN]

When nurses make mistakes, its important they own up to them, remedy the deficiency and go from there.

Since your issue involved med errors, I would look into taking a remedial pharm course or some CEUs in medication administration/time management. Then....when you go to apply to another job, you say; "I made two (or however many there were) med errors, realized that my pharm/time management was the problem and promptly took this course (insert name here) to remedy this situation. I am now much more confident in my abilities to provide safe care to my patients."

The big thing is to own up to your mistake: leaving this job off your resume leaves you open to the question: what else would you omit?

[elkpark]

Well, once again, I found that llg had posted most everything I was going to say ... :)

Getting fired is not a career-ender in nursing. Lots of nurses have gotten fired, and picked up and gone on with their careers. Finding another job will be harder in this current economic climate than it would have been in easier times, but you'll survive.

As others have said, you need to be able to show in interviews that you take responsibility for your mistakes, you have thought seriously about where you went wrong and what your weaknesses are, and that you have taken concrete steps to improve/correct them. It's important that you not sound defensive or blame your previous employer for the situation, or badmouth your previous employer in any way (always a no-no anyway).

I strongly encourage you to practice talking about these issues and answering the questions you know you're going to get in interviews, out loud, in the bathroom mirror at home, and with friends or family members, just like you would in a real interview, until you are comfortable talking about them and have worked out what you want to say, before you go on interviews for new jobs -- don't wait until you're in an interview and just wait to see what pops into your head at that moment! :) As with anything else, the better prepared you are going in, the better you're likely to come across in the interview.

Best wishes! Similar things have happened to lots of nurses who have gone on to have successful careers in nursing. you can get past this.

[aromarn]

I just want to say traumaRUs raise very excellent suggestion. Taking some course in that area , will make you confident and it shows that you are determined to get it right and better yourself.

Good Job, traumaRUs