Forced Resignation, Now What?

[Nurse Beth, MSN]

Dear Nurse Beth,

I started my first nursing job in November. Had some struggles with time management and committed two medical errors, both of which were near misses that were caught. Earlier this month, my supervisor offered me the option to resign rather than be terminated, which I think was forced resignation. I resigned because thought I could find a job on a slower paced unit. Now I am being told that because of my issues with medication, HR department cannot place me in another unit at the hospital. Also, after trying to find outpatient jobs, a lot of them require clinical experience. Can you please tell me where I can look to find a new job?

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Dear Forced Resignation,

You did the right thing to resign because they would have terminated you otherwise. "Resigned" previous employment is better than "Terminated" previous employment on a job application. You can always say "It wasn't a good fit" when asked.

You have less than 6 months of acute care experience and need a slower paced environment. Most all inpatient units are fast paced, and you don't say what unit you were working in.

It's not uncommon for a new grad to start out in ICU and ED, only to find out that it's not a good fit. Some hospitals will wisely try to find a better fit with more support and an extended orientation to help a new grad get a good start and retain their employee.

At only 4-5 months in, it's not always possible to predict if a new grad will be successful given the right environment and support. I have seen new grads in ED transfer to a MedSurg unit and flourish.

In your case, apply to another hospital in a different specialty area. That might be MedSurg, Postpartum, or GI Lab. If you want to work acute care, it's important to land a job as soon as possible as a gap in employment is not to your benefit.

Another alternative is skilled nursing. You would gain your basic nursing skills, have a job, and establish a work history.

Best wishes,

Nurse Beth

Author, "Your Last Nursing Class: How to Land Your First Nursing Job"...and your next!

[RegisterednurseRN02, RN]

I am going through the same thing. I did not last long in the ER as a new grad. I did not get enough training or support and it lead me to leave within 4 weeks of orientation. I did not have a choice. It was not working out and the hospital would not budge or hear me out as to the WHYs...I had terrible preceptor experiences. I tried to stick around but it was not going to happen so I am going to do skilled nursing most likely to get my bearings and experience. I think the hospital is too much for me right now. No one wants to slow it down a notch it seems in that environment. I am just not ready for it.

[SouthernNurse90]

The exact same thing happened to me I was a newly grad in the ER I worked there for two years and it was like they were almost harassing me I was in a bad car accident the beginning of this year and was hospitalized for 14 days and trauma ICU at the hospital that I worked at which counted against me for being absent at work which place me on DML which I could not make any kind of error at all while working in the ER we draw so much blood cultures labsI had one blood culture contamination out of 64 and I was told that either I resigned or either I would be fired if I resigned I could still be on the rehire list in the future it broke my heart