I also posted this in the MICU/SICU forum but there's more traffic here:
I need some advice. I was terminated from my previous job in Jan 06 for what they deemed "unsafe patient care" I gave a patient xanax and restoril together as they were ordered PRN. My bosses thought that was wrong and I was terminated. Other RN's and physicians that I've spoken to don't seem to think that I did anything wrong and that management was LOOKING for a reason to fire me and used that incident to do so. Let me add that the patient was not harmed from the medications.
I'm an RN of 10 yrs with CCRN certification as well as my BSN. Been in critical care for over 5 yrs now.
Before getting hired in my current facility, I went on three job interviews. I was up front with the managers on the reason I was terminated. One manager basically offered me the job PENDING Human Resources background checks...then I'd get a letter in the mail saying "thanks but no thanks". I know my previous employer has me listed as "DO NOT HIRE". I also know that LEGALLY they are only allowed to tell prospective employers that I worked there from this date to that date. I've been told that legally they are not allowed to tell that I'm not eligible for rehire.
I've been at my current job for 18 months now. Basically, I cannot stand it here any longer. This place has a horrible reputation in the community in which it is located and I can see why. I am frequently left alone in the ICU with a patient. The last time this happened, my patient crashed on me at 6am! I voiced my concerns and was basically told to "put up and shut up". Our staffing policy states there should at least be an LPN or an Nurse Aide with the RN when there is only one patient but this rarely happens.
My boss doesn't even think that critical care is a priority over the med-surg/detox/medical-psych/OB floors. When we get slammed with admits, we are told to "deal with it, it's ICU" And there is NEVER more than 2 Nurses for up to 6 patients. SO if we are full, we have 3 patients each and IF we are lucky, we get to keep our nurse aide (if there's one scheduled). Usually she is pulled to another unit because their need is "greater" according to the nursing supervisors.. Last fall we had at one time FIVE patients on ventilators. I work straight nights and there is NO respiratory therapy on at night so we are responsible to do our own vent checks/ nebulizer treatments/setting up a vent if needed.
Our boss also runs another unit in the facility and spends most of her efforts dealing with their problems so basically the ICU is neglected. There are many issues that need to be dealt with by HER the BOSS but aren't. Too many issues for me to address here. But enough that makes me Not able to stand working there any longer.
Unfortunately for me, since I was fired from the last place I worked, it's basically made me unhireable anywhere else. I work in a small city. So people at my last place know people at the other hospitals in this town. I applied at the other large hospital in town and they won't even return my calls or emails anymore. I also applied at the VA hospital back in February, they sent my current boss a reference letter to fill out on me back in June and yet I still haven't heard anything from the VA. I know that the one nursing sup had an interview with them this past week as she told me so.....so again I am wondering if I've been blackballed at the VA now too!!
I even went an applied at a hospital that I worked at 5yrs ago......just did that this past week.
I don't know what else to do. It's disheartening to think that ONE incident is defining my career! Any advice for me? If you've read this far thanks. I am at my wits end and am very sickened at the fact that I may be stuck at my current place because of that one thing.
the other people I work with don't want to make waves. They've tried and it's done NO good.
That really stinks. Sorry for your dilemma. I'd definitely find a job elsewhere, even if it's mopping floors. (NOT that there's anything wrong with that) Good luck to you
Hire on with an agency and work a few shifts around town, make friends on those shifts and see if you can get hired that way. Or you might decide you like and can live with agency alone and just keep doing that for a while.
That really stinks. Sorry for your dilemma. I'd definitely find a job elsewhere, even if it's mopping floors. (NOT that there's anything wrong with that) Good luck to you
Yeah, if mopping floors paid as well as nursing did, I'd do it in a heartbeat. Heck the jitney drivers at the local GE get paid as much as an RN with my experience and credentials!! Better benefits, no weekends, no hollidays!
Hire on with an agency and work a few shifts around town, make friends on those shifts and see if you can get hired that way. Or you might decide you like and can live with agency alone and just keep doing that for a while.
Thanks. Good idea but I don't know if the agencies are hiring because the hospitals in my area are trying to get away from using agency RN's. Basically the RN's that work agency in my area get sent to local nursing homes........I also need a steady income.
I'm putting my resume out there.....I'll keep doing it. Something HAS to give!!
We have a pt in our ICU who's bladder got nicked during surgery last week. Surgeon told the family that the nurse on the floor nicked it when they put in a foley catheter!!! Family refuses to be placed on that floor and now the pt has to sit in ICU until she's discharged!
Been an RN for 10 yrs and it would be IMPOSSIBLE to nick a bladder during a foley insertion!
Try to find colleagues willing to write a recommendation. Send copies of them with your application. You can't "delete" a job off your resume unless you worked for them and left before the probation period was up - usually 90 days. Is commuting to another town/city an option?
Thanks for reading! Moving is not an option nor is changing careers.
How do I delete the hospital from my CV and explain how I got all my Critical care experience? Where I work now it's more of a glorified med-surg unit as opposed to a true ICU. Small Community hospital....anything complex often gets shipped out.
My references are good but it seems as though prospective employers only check with former nurse managers and very RARELY call on personal references. I've been told this by former managers.
Ok, Clinical based practice, from my understanding you were fired for a perceived drug error, the medical team did not find the drug interaction problematic, therefore leave your CV as is and consider unfair dismissal, take legal action for being fired! This is only a suggestion, another option is to point out to future employers that the Nurse Manager had issues, not of your making and produce the clinical evidence to support this ie "what Drug error"!. Good Luck
Try to find colleagues willing to write a recommendation. Send copies of them with your application. You can't "delete" a job off your resume unless you worked for them and left before the probation period was up - usually 90 days. Is commuting to another town/city an option?
I could try to commute to Cleveland, OH but it is 80 miles from where I live so the commute would be about 90 minutes to two hours.....don't want to drive that far in the winter, kwim?
I got an email from a place where I applied online and it said, thanks but no thanks---excellent credentials...pursuing other applications......BUT I still have an active app for the same position but on night shift?
I haven't heard from the place where I started out my nursing career but another RN I work with who put in an app with them the same day I did has been hounded by them to come in for an interview...
ANd this Am I was reprimanded by an IM resident for TURNING DOWN A PT's O2 since pt was satting 100% on her current setting and pt is a COPDer C02 retainer!!!!!! GIVE ME A BREAK....yet said resident did NOT know what BIPAP was and I had to explain it to him yet I get scolded for adjusting 02! BUT I can titrate levophed, dopamine, nitroprusside which COULD kill someone? But I can't turn down 02??? WHATEVER!! :angryfire YEt ANOTHER reason why I want out of the place I am in!!! If I can't think independently then I KNOW this place is NOT for me to spend the rest of my nursing career!!
Ok, Clinical based practice, from my understanding you were fired for a perceived drug error, the medical team did not find the drug interaction problematic, therefore leave your CV as is and consider unfair dismissal, take legal action for being fired! This is only a suggestion, another option is to point out to future employers that the Nurse Manager had issues, not of your making and produce the clinical evidence to support this ie "what Drug error"!. Good Luck
Thanks....anyplace I've interviewed I have explained the situation that led to me being fired.....all managers seemed OK with it but I don't get hired because once their HR dept calls that employer, they're told I am not eligible for rehire and THAT is where I get screwed.....
If I had thousands of dollars to pursue legal action against that place, believe me I would've sued em last year.....no one will take them on locally, I'd have to look to bigger cities....and even then, I doubt I'd get anywhere....I know of a nurse who was fired by this same place, she pursued legal actions and has spent up to $20,000 of her own money and has gotten NOWHERE!!
Man, you are in a spot. I don't blame you for wanting out. I've driven 2 hours one way to work before so I know how hard it is, especially in winter. I did it because I HATED the jobs that were available to me in the crummy little place that I had moved to.
If you still want/need for $ to do patient care, have you checked out PRN/agency jobs in Cleveland? With the higher pay you might possibly be able to cut down the number of days that you work so that you would not have to commute as often. I have known people that drove 100+ miles to work and just got a $40/night motel room. They would work 2-3 days in a row, sleep at the motel one or two nights then drove back home after their last shift was over. Sometimes with expenses they only made as much as they would have made at a "regular" job at home, but the difference was that they liked the job in the city and hated the "regular" job in the small town that they came from.
It really sounds like you are stuck since circumstances will not allow you to move. Therefore you have more limited options: stay where you hate it; keep trying for another job at the other hospital; commute; get out of acute care. Having been in your situation, I know how hard it is to decide what to do. Sounds like you are at a point that you will either have to suck it up and keep your job or look for different positions that may not be exactly what you want or may require you to do things you don't want to do (like commute). It is so scarey trying to decide which it right. The first time I had to make a decision like this I actually got my courage to leave my job and pursue one as an agency nurse in a city 75 miles away because of a thought provoking cartoon. It made me think that my career and happiness was worth a lot more than staying in a dead end job in a small town, even though I was scared to death. That first time of taking a risk has made it easier for me to take other calculated risks. So far, I have not been disappointed when I have taken such a risk and left the relative comfort of a job. So now it's your turn. Much luck to you. Will be happy to have you bounce ideas off me if you need it.
I've been told this by former managers.
leslie :-D
11,191 Posts
i am really sorry this is happening to you.
do you know of any nurses or md's that would write a letter of recommendation?
i know of someone who did this, and her situation worked out well.
leslie