Asked to resign after 6 months

Nurses General Nursing

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I worked in the PICU for 6 months right out of nursing school.

Just as a reference of what it was like...The unit hired 40 new grads within a 4 month period, 10 experienced nurses quit, 3 nurse educators quit. Through my 6 months orientation, I had between 15-19 preceptors; after a while, i stopped counting. I was told that this was due to not having enough preceptors. The whole unit was unhappy that there were so many new grads starting and many were forced to precept. Many made it vehemetly clear to every new nurse that they were a pain. We were talked bad about and treated as such. One preceptor yelled at me in front of the patient and family for recycling a blood pressure that was reading 174/100. Reason given was that I was standing by the patient so I was making the sedated/paralyzed pt anxious and thus giving the elevated BP, but also yelled at me for walking out of the room with a high blood pressure.

As for me, I never did well at standing up for myself and as my rotation of preceptors changed every week, my confidence plummeted since each preceptors did not approve of the prior ways I was taught. Each week, I had to gain the confidence of the new preceptor. I honestly lost complete faith in myself. My focus changed from being patient centered to focusing on making my preceptor like/trust me.

It got to the point where each decision I had to make made me so anxious that I was unsure of which line I should give zolfran. Prior nurses had made me sit down and back up every decision why I wouldnt choose the other line, so choosing the CVL or the Broviac had me frozen. Another instance, my paralyzed/sedated pt BP and HR shot up 30-50 points over 10 min. I had PRN pain meds to give and wanted to use them; my precetor at the time railed me for 30 minutes and had me sit down and make an INRS chart, explain each reason that could cause an elevated HR and BP. In the end, she did not want me to give the PRN pain med, so I didnt. HR and BP remained elevated until next dose of methadone/ativan.

I talked to my educator multiple times regarding feeling stagnant. I asked for an extension of orientation and a stable preceptor. I was told yes for the extended and no for the preceptor. Reason given was that I had to learn to ' trust all the nurses on the unit'. I also discussed how I was treated by some of the nurses. The educator told me I needed to 'get over it' and that 'it's a female domiated unit, and thats just how it is.'

As my orientation continued, my confience hit rock bottom and I made mistakes I should never have made. At the end, the unit decided to not give me an extended orietnation and instead asked me to resign or get fired. I chose to resign hoping I could hold onto my good relations with my educator.- Now, after 2 weeks of me asking her to stand up on my behalf, she has declined.

Now that I'm 1 month out of nursing, I'm having difficulty explaining to new employers my experience and reason why I'm not at the HOSPITAL anymore. Furthermore, my leadership wont act as a reference upon my behalf. I'm feeling scared and trapped as an inexperienced new grad who already practically got fired.

Please help me. I'm feeling lost and desperate. I feel like I've lost my dream career.

Sorry to hear about your situation. My suggestion would be this, as you apply for new positions when the application asks why you left say something like will explain at interview, when you get an interview explain about the unstructured orientation and steps you tried to make it work. In my opinion saying it wasn't a good fit will not fly and quickly come across as insincere. Don't bash your former employer but make the point you were in a difficult situation. Don't feel bad if the educator wont reference you., many cut ties as soon as you're no longer an employee. I would also suggest if you had a clinical instructor or professor you liked to get in touch with them and discuss the situation you found yourself in, so they can hopefully rebuild your confidence and trust again. They can also hopefully guide you in ways to prevent a similar situation from getting so out of control. And just fyi, sadly often health care employers have a nasty habit of making the employee the bad person when there internal systems fall short (I just settled with an employer who did that very thing to me), So hold your head high, in the down time while looking for a new job work on coming up with strategies to make your next orientation successful. Good luck.

Hey! Thank you so much for your response.

I've had a couple interviews already. I'm interviewing with another hopital on a general peds floor next week.

The nurse recruiter asked some tough questions when asking about my last position and I need a really solid answer come the face-to-face interview. On the phone I said that it wasnt a good fit and I prefered non-sedated patients. She asked why I didnt do an internal transfer, and I said that my time at my prior hospital was not a good experience. I'm sure she'll ask more in-depth questions next week.

So next week, I'm interviewing with the nurse manager and I'm not quite sure what to say when they ask "why did you leave your last hospital?" "why did you not do an internal transfer?" or "why go down a step from ICU to general?" I know I'm not supposed to bash my last employer... but how do I say I left the PICU because my orientation was disorganized and basically felt like I was one of those new grads that were "eaten young"?

I would really appreciate any suggestions or help. I really want this job that I'm interviewing for.

Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

OK... just relax now. (((hug))) You are not the first one to go through it, and not the last one. I was right there twice in a row.

1). GET YOURSELF A REST. You went through a lot of stress and need some time to recover. One month may or may not be enough for you. If you still have symptoms like poor sleep, anxiety, etc., seek professional help.

2). It is not anybody's business to know what exactly happened with you and how disfunctional your unit was. I would dare to say that most of RNs were, at one point or another, fired under less than reasonable premices. So, your situation is extremely common and has a(n) (almost official) name of "not being a good fit". Only one thing you need to learn is how to creatively apply this magic phrase and insert things which cannot be tracked down and look harmless enough.

"Why did you leave your last hospital?" - "The athmosphere there was not a good fit for me as a new grad. Perhaps if I had more experience, it would be different. With your hospital (here insert some excellencies you are going to fing on their website, values/schmalues/etc), I hope to find (insert there what you want to see or what you find on the website like above and see as appealing)"

- " Why did you not transfer to..." - no openings (your recruiter cannot easily check this fact, and it very well could happen -no luck, poor you)

Just like that:)

3). Think REALLY hard about what you learned, what your strong sides are (yes, you have them), what you like and and what you do not want to do as a nurse. Then play from there and read specialties forums here. Maybe, hospital is not what you really want, and yes, it is OK. If while you were in PICU you got friendly with other nurse professionals (HD, wound care, etc), it could be a good idea to find these people and speak with them.

(((hug again))) Good luck!

Just popping in here.... I went through something somewhat similar... TWICE. I resigned from both hospitals. It HURT. I was told was not doing well with time management and not making quick enough progress through both orientations (I was not at both hospitals at once). I was heartbroken. I desperately want to work in the hospital, but for some reason, I am not meant to be there right now. I currently work full time in a nursing home, and while I really don't want to be there long term, I do love my coworkers, managers and residents. I really want to go back to the hospital at some point, but I dont know when or where that will be. I pray that I will be able to return after my rocky start. You will figure it out:)

Specializes in ER.

I did six years on a pediatric unit, then transferred to PICU and washed out after a month. It was too intense. Every interview or conversation I've had since when I'm asked why I left, I just say it was too much for me and they nod knowingly. I don't think this will slow you down at all, if you just go with that answer.

Specializes in Nephrology Home Therapies, Wound Care, Foot Care..

Ambersmom gave you some excellent ways to address these issues.

Specializes in ICU.

Sounds to me like they did you a favor by having you resign. I worked PICU for years, and our unit/co-workers were certainly not like that! Good luck.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
Hey! Thank you so much for your response.

I've had a couple interviews already. I'm interviewing with another hopital on a general peds floor next week.

The nurse recruiter asked some tough questions when asking about my last position and I need a really solid answer come the face-to-face interview. On the phone I said that it wasnt a good fit and I prefered non-sedated patients. She asked why I didnt do an internal transfer, and I said that my time at my prior hospital was not a good experience. I'm sure she'll ask more in-depth questions next week.

So next week, I'm interviewing with the nurse manager and I'm not quite sure what to say when they ask "why did you leave your last hospital?" "why did you not do an internal transfer?" or "why go down a step from ICU to general?" I know I'm not supposed to bash my last employer... but how do I say I left the PICU because my orientation was disorganized and basically felt like I was one of those new grads that were "eaten young"?

I would really appreciate any suggestions or help. I really want this job that I'm interviewing for.

Definitely do not refer to nurses eating their young. It is an overworked, over-exaggerated phrase and (to most nurses) a reason to discount the person using it.

Hey! Thank you so much for your response.

I've had a couple interviews already. I'm interviewing with another hopital on a general peds floor next week.

The nurse recruiter asked some tough questions when asking about my last position and I need a really solid answer come the face-to-face interview. On the phone I said that it wasnt a good fit and I prefered non-sedated patients. She asked why I didnt do an internal transfer, and I said that my time at my prior hospital was not a good experience. I'm sure she'll ask more in-depth questions next week.

So next week, I'm interviewing with the nurse manager and I'm not quite sure what to say when they ask "why did you leave your last hospital?" "why did you not do an internal transfer?" or "why go down a step from ICU to general?" I know I'm not supposed to bash my last employer... but how do I say I left the PICU because my orientation was disorganized and basically felt like I was one of those new grads that were "eaten young"?

I would really appreciate any suggestions or help. I really want this job that I'm interviewing for.

You're welcome.

when asked about an internal transfer I would just say new grads weren't allowed to transfer and/or you decided to try to find a hospital that was a better match. In all honesty, you really don't even have to explain. Good Luck

Specializes in PCCN.

Gee what you describe sounds like my unit. We have more new grads than experienced staff.i am sorry you were treated bad. I don't treat my preceptees bad,I just feel sorry for them being on my unit.

I hope you find something more welcoming. Good luck

Specializes in PCCN.

Maybe I missed this too though, why no adult med surg? I can't imagine doing critical care right out of school unless it was an exceptional intern program. Precepters as you know are hit and miss.

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