Fired again

sistrmoon, BSN, RN · Feb 23, 2015

What were the circumstances?

LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN · Feb 23, 2015

What were the circumstances?

This.

Are you able to tell us, OP???

allnurses Guide · Feb 23, 2015

Not sure if I should. Basically just trying to decide where to go from here. Very tired of nursing but was urged by a now former coworker not to give it up. Have a family to support. That's two firings from LTC and one from home health. Wish I could just take a break.

Libby1987 · Feb 23, 2015

I think you need to determine and correct/manage the reason/s you are being fired. That goes whether you stay in nursing or not.

Libby1987 · Feb 23, 2015

If for whatever reason I couldn't keep my nursing job, with the exception of physical reasons, I would do cleaning/private care/med mgmt as a non nurse caregiver contracted directly with the client. But the underlying reason I was fired multiple times would still affect my marketability and security in those lesser skilled roles as well.

**NICU Guy, BSN, RN** · Feb 23, 2015

If the reasons are pure administrative BS that you feel does not reflect your true competency as a nurse, then look into acute care or clinic instead of LTC and home health. If the reasons were based on true issues in the care of patients, then I would question why you were fired three times in four years and your ability to perform safe care.

allnurses Guide · Feb 23, 2015

This was not a patient care issue... this was, I was told, a compliance issue.

Libby1987 · Feb 23, 2015

All three were compliance issues? Or only in home health?

There are some compliance issues that are part of the learning process and then there are some that would go to integrity.

I can't imagine a good nurse would be fired over forgetting to complete an inspection report, But I can see it if somebody was seeing a patient who is clearly not homebound or wasn't able to complete documentation timely on a regular basis.

caliotter3 · Feb 23, 2015

I have found that the cog that does not fit with the wheel gets crushed in home health. One gets 'fired' for doing what is correct and one gets 'fired' for not doing what is correct, while observing others that literally get away with everything in the book and out of the book. But since you encountered this in other venues more than once, it seems it would be prudent to look at your own responses to work issues and whether or not you need to change your own behavior.

QuietRiot · Feb 24, 2015

Spill the beans! Why were you fired? No one can offer you advice is they don't have the details.

allnurses Guide · Feb 24, 2015

I went to see a patient on a day that I had called in and said that I would not be coming in to the office. I called in because of the cold/wind chill and the roads. However I had a patient that I had spoke to the night before and had said that I would see in the early AM. the patient did not live far from me. He was a newer patient, I hadn't been able to see him all week, I had concerns about him.

When I got there the patients wife presented me with a piece of paper from the hospital with all sorts of things that the nurse who came to the house was supposed to do for the patient... things for which, there were no orders on my face sheet/treatment summary. The patient s staples were supposed to be taken out that day. I didn't know, I had no orders on my treatment summary, hadn't seen orders all week, didn't have anything to take staples out with. He was also supposed to have labs done on Monday... again no orders to be seen.

I told the patient I would likely be back later that afternoon and would take the staples out. I needed to call the doctor's office and did. Well.. apparently after I visited, the patient and wife absolutely freaked out, called the doctor's office, the doctor's office called the hh agency and a huge firestorm ensued. My director sent me a nasty text message later that day stating that she got in big trouble over the whole thing and that the orders were on the original referral. Well... why weren't they on the face sheet and treatment summary??? Furthermore it didn't look to me like there was any intention of sending a nurse out that day to take the staples out.

As for the original orders/referral.... when I went out to see the patient, I couldn't even find a copy of it in my paperwork.... but that isn't anything new, we are always being sent to do soc's on patients that we know nothing about until we walk in the door. This was pretty cut and dry; a fellow who had a few chronic, stable medical problems who had a total knee replacement.

So I was ultimately fired for going and seeing a patient on a day that I had called in.

So I'm going today to look for a new job but I'm really scared now. First of all my marketability is shot all to hell now, but once I get a job how the crap do I keep it? When I become unhappy and frustrated with my job, how do I manage that without starting to do things and make mistakes that will get me fired?????