Help! I didn't make it out of orientation

Nurses General Nursing

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I am a new grad and I graduated in May '12. It took me almost 6 moths after I graduated to find a job. I was so excited to get the job. It was at the hospital I had always wanted to work at but not the floor I wanted. I took the job anywas. I did the hospital orientation, then did 5 weeks of floor orientation before I was let go. I had nothing but compliments from my patient, their families, and all but one of the nurses that proctored me. The one nurse told my ACM that I compromised pt safety and then 2 days later I was let go. I hated the job and had major anxiety every time I had to work. This is my first hospital experience.

I don't know what to do at this point. Do I put the hospital on my resume? If so how to I explain to future employers why I was let go before I finished orientation? Or do I get a regular job and work towards my BSN and then try to get a nursing job? I just need some major guidance. Please help any and all feedback will help

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Specializes in Med/Surg,Cardiac.

What'd you do that compromised patient safety? Are there other hospitals in your area? Have you considered moving?

~ No One Can Make You Feel Inferior Without Your Consent -Eleanor Roosevelt ~

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I've always heard, as a rule, that you need not include any positions

on your resume in which you did not even finish orientation.

Did they bother to give you ANY useful information as to why they

were letting you go? Did they explain to you how or why you compromised

patient safety? If I were you I would really want to know what I

did to deserve being let go so at least I could learn from the experience.

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I disputed the things they said bc I didn't do them all. They said I hung mg w/o knowing lab values, gave BP meds w/o knowing pts hr/bp, didn't get my 2 pt identifiers, I gave dilaudid w/o diluting it or checking pts resp/hr, and a few other things I can't think of off the top of my head. I did know my pts lab values they were written on my brain as were my bp/hr. The proctor wasn't even in the room when I did my pt identifiers other than one pt who wasn't verbal at all. I had all of the same pt the day before and I was w/a different proctor who told me not to dilute the dilaudid for this particular pt bc the pt was a healthy overweight person that got her pain meds every 4 hours on the dot she was calling for it, this particular proctor also told me when to dilute it also. I'm angry at the lying proctor who has only been a nurse for 3 months and was training me and went to mgnt and told them this. I'm not mad at mgnt bc they have to do what they think is best, it just sucks. They told me that all this I should have come out of school knowing and that my critical thinking isn't where it needs to be and that they can't compromise pt safety for my learn. Which I agree with if I would have done all every thing they said I did.

Yes there are many other hospitals in my area and I have considered moving.

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eek. If you have EMR do you have to put stuff like vitals in before admin. meds? You know it's a hassle, but here is an example where it would have saved you from this whole thing eg reminding you, and as proof you checked. Same with labs acknowledgement.

About letting a 3 month RN decide your fate or even train a puppy... that, is ridiculous. Who here (except the nutjobs would think they could precept at 3 months experience?!) I've heard the exact same story from someone I know who was tossed under the bus by a 3 month RN who was a pet of the NM (I suspect a relative of the NM - lots of that going on). I've also read here that sometimes you are hired as a place holder in a hospital that can't keep experienced RNs eg hosptial has crappy reputation and keeps that reputation in practice - these hospitals will just delete a new grad nurse or two as soon as they trap an unknowing experienced RN to work there. But then again, stupid as these facilities are, the new experienced RNs usually quit in the first month, so, back to get another new grad place holder, rinse, and repeat.

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Yes there was an EMR but it only required certain inputs on certain medications, like IV meds you had to put where the IV is, insulin the amount and the reading, if you scanned a medication and it was too much you had to change the amount, etc. BP meds had a box but it wasn't required to fill in and the other proctors told me that its there but no one ever fills it out so not to worry about it. I guess I should of CYA on it and just done it. I had the ACM telling me that I was only allowed to spend 15 mins per pt when passing meds and doing assessments in the morning. I personally don't think that is enough time for all of that. Plus they only orient new grads for 6 weeks. They were only going to orient me for 4 weeks and I told them that I didn't feel like that was enough time. That I wasn't ready or that I didn't feel comfortable with such a short orient time. The other ACM (there are 2) told me that they would try to orient me a little longer but I would never feel comfortable or "ready" to be on my own. I just had to jump in.

I guess it is just time to stop sulking and start applying again and keep all of this in the back of my head for my future job.

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1st rule working with a bunch of women: trust no one. Apply for a new job and say nothing about the old one. If they ask what you were doing those past 5 weeks make up a good lie.

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I am so sorry that this happend to you. Just for future reference, be sure that you document vitals before giving meds. And were the lab values what they were supposed to be for giving the mg? I would even do a note that says "lab's verified, medication given IV per MD order". Use the "nurses note" section of the EMAR to document anything that there's not a box for. And always wait for the preceptor--who was perhaps covering her butt as she was supposed to be with you, and if she was not, how does she know what you did for patient identifiers? In any event, you can not go back and change the past, only go on from here. But I would not lie about anything. If nothing else, you did get some clinical experience. And I would make note of what you did learn, keep it positive, and say that during the orientation period it was clear that the floor was not a good fit--even to say that "I was put in a position where another new graduate was my preceptor, and the situation was not ideal for the patient or my practice" People are let go for a variety of reasons--that sometimes have to do with staffing, a variety of reasons. Sometimes it is a matter of one not getting unemployment easily if it is a "patient safety" issue. Do not let it be reflective of your nursing practice, you may or may not have made some errors in judgement, but as a new nurse (heck even us old bats) we all do what we can in the safest most effective manner possible with the tools and information we have on hand. I would even make an appointment with HR to have an exit interview, and be crystal clear with the fact that you are disputing the reasons for the termination, however, given the preceptor that was also a new grad, the fact that the information used was pertaining to practices that the preceptor was not actively observing, that senior nurses were giving conflicting information on best practice, that patient care was and is your priority and finally ask if you can give written response to any negatives in your personnell file. As noted above, you may not have to list on your resume this orientation period. But if there were some positives I would use them to your advantage. Best of luck to you!

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At your next job if there is a comment section where you scan your meds type in the vitals, lab values etc. I always check a bp before giving bp meds and make a note as to why or why I'm not giving the meds. Even if there is a recent bp documented I still take another one. If there isn't a section in the MAR then make a note about the BP. Or when you document the BP in the vitals section make a note there if possible. And with electrolyte replacements if there isn't a protocol in place then I call the doctor and make a note of the lab value as the reason for my call. I also come into a room with meds and the first thing I ask is name and DOB if they are A&Ox3.

So what I'm saying is cover your behind and do things according to policy and procedure.

And further more why in the heck is new 3 month month nurse orienting someone? I would have asked for a more experienced nurse. And if you get hired on a floor again that doesn't have experienced nurses watch out. When you're on your interview kind of look at the staff and even ask the matrix of new vs experienced nurses.

And I agree 100% with the user that said trust no one. I REALLY learned this when I was a nurse manager and people would come to me trying to rat out each other. I would tell them bring me the policy and documentation as to why this person isn't performing their job correctly. Needless to say I'm still waiting for that info

Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

OK - first of all, if you received a pay check from this employer, it will show up on your background check so you need to list it - or risk being accused of falsifying your information. The most important issue here is whether that employer has classified you as "not eligible for rehire" which is a red flag for future employers.

As an educator, I am concerned by the OPs overall tone of 'victim' - seems to be very little ownership of the issues. This will also be a major turnoff to any future hiring managers. Even though OP was given 'bad advice' on what to do, the ultimate result was a result of her choice. No one is perfect and we all make mistakes, especially when we're new or doing something for the first time. But the key is to take ownership and learn from mistakes. OP needs to be able to articulate (when questioned in future job interviews) what happened and what was learned. If she can do this in a way that is perceived to be sincere by the interviewer, it could really help.

From a patient safety perspective.. the behavior that was described by the OP is a classic case of "drift". So many staff are taking shortcuts (not documenting BP) that this has become the 'new normal'. But this is never a good enough excuse to violate acceptable standards of practice. It will eventually come back around and bit you right in the tush.

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OK - first of all, if you received a pay check from this employer, it will show up on your background check so you need to list it - or risk being accused of falsifying your information. The most important issue here is whether that employer has classified you as "not eligible for rehire" which is a red flag for future employers.

I disagree with that, that is not always the case. I have left one employer off my resume, and you will never convince me I should put it back on. No employer has ever questioned whether I have had that job, most employers (even big hospitals) do not have sophisticated enough systems to find out every last job we've ever had. MOST of us have at least one bad experience to speak of. While I'm not advocating lying, she needs to look out for herself. Any "job coach" out there would tell a person to leave it off. Just like when they ask you what your weaknesses are, you don't spill every last weakness you've ever had as a human, you try to tag ONE weakness and turn it into a strength. OP: I'm with the others-leave it off your resume. Try again, and take whatever you can from this experience and turn it into a learning opportunity. At the very least, sounds like you will probably be much more weary about dotting your i's and crossing your t's, whether it's in front of a proctor or alone.

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I am in no sense am trying to "play" a victim!! If I would have done something that was wrong I would take full ownership. I do take ownership in the fact that I was doing what I was told to do by one of the ACM's who I trained with the first week. What sucks is even the ACM's can't be trusted I guess. Oh and incase you haven't worked at more than one place before most hospitals have different EMR's and the documentation is different in each location. I have learned from this experience. As another person said I trust no one, as sad as that is.

Also I was asking for guidance not more accusations/criticisms from someone who A. doesn't know the full story, and B. who doesn't even know me. Just saying.

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