I got fired while being on orientation at a hospital for just 1 week. Why did this happen?

Nurses General Nursing

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So I am seeking some advice as to why this occurred and am still pondering on what could have I done wrong for this to have such a bad ending. After searching and searching years and years for a hospital job (I've always worked in subacute rehab settings) and have been craving a hospital job for nearly 5 years as it will be 5 years this coming May that I graduated from nursing school. Long story short, I was hired by a local hospital and all was going well with the first week of orientation. I mean, c'mon it was only classroom work and I passed all the required exams such as the IV and medication administration. I had to take a personal call during the last 1/2 hour of our last day of class and when I returned the nurse educator was saying how I shouldn't give her a heart attack next time about not telling her where I was. I explained what had occurred and I didn't realize that 5 days later I was going to be reprimanded for that. I received a call from the unit manager I was supposed to work at stating that I was technically supposed to come this weekend for my first day of clinical orientation (I was hired as a per diem nurse) she told me that I don't need to come. Refusing to provide further information, when I asked her if the position was terminated she said "yeah kinda, you'll get a letter in the mail explaining everything." I'm really baffled about this? I seriously didn't do anything and am unsure why did this lead up to here?

Please take note, only constructive comments will be accepted otherwise demeaning, ridiculing words will be flagged. I just need to get some advice as to why this happened and if it is something usual?

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Specializes in Peds, School Nurse, clinical instructor.

I am sorry this happened to you but, it seems as though leaving the room without notifying or asking your educator is what lead to your firing. Cell phone use is generally frowned upon at work and probably even more so during orientation.

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Wow, I am really sorry to hear all you went through! Personally I would take this up with HR and request a meeting with a supervisor. This seems a bit ridiculous that they'd terminate you over that.

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I have no idea if you will see this as constructive (which is how it is meant) or demeaning or ridiculing (which is not how it is meant) but in any event my thoughts are that you must have done something very much out of step with their expectations in order for this to have happened. A hospital doesn't invest the time and $ needed to start up a new employee just to dump them after five days. Certainly it doesn't make any sense from a fiscal standpoint or a staffing one. If you were fired after such a short time, even if you don't know what you did, you clearly did something wrong. And maybe it was one big something wrong, or several small somethings and the last one was the final straw.

You can ask for an exit interview from HR to find out what it was that made them feel it was necessary to terminate you rather than counsel you. You can ask this so that you are a better candidate for them or another employer in the future. If you don't learn what you did that got you sacked so fast you will probably repeat it in the future and who wants that?

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Specializes in EMS, LTC, Sub-acute Rehab.

They canned you for no call, no show because you blew off the last 1/2 hr of class which contained the clinical report time/date. Sound like you didn't win any hearts and minds with the instructor or the rest of class either but I might be reading into my crystal ball again. Please break it down paragraphs or a timeline for further analysis.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.

In an at-will employment situation, a worker's employment can be terminated at any time for basically any reason that does not fall under an E.O.E. category such as race, religion, national origin or gender.

This especially rings true during the probationary period, which is typically the first 90 days of employment. During the probationary period, the employer can terminate the worker's employment without cause. Therefore, it behooves newly hired employees to be on their very best behavior while on probation.

Failing to notify the nurse educator regarding your whereabouts before the personal phone call took place may have been enough of a reason to terminate your employment because, from the employer's stance, they view this type of behavior as an ominous problem with the new employee's communication skills.

I am so sorry this happened to you. However, we can only speculate at this point. Perhaps the letter you will receive in the mail can shed more light on the reason(s) you were let go.

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The phone call took place after we were sent up 2 at a time to get our fingerprints done to log in and out. It was my turn to go up and I had completed whatever they had asked. After I was finished with HR, I was heading back down but decided to use the bathroom before returning to class when I received a call from my attorney (personal issues not related to work) which lasted awhile unfortunately. I then informed the educator when I returned by apologizing relentlessly and telling her that I had some personal issues hence the reason for my phone call. She said she understood and all but that I should've informed her. I agreed and don't want to excuse myself at all. However I didn't believe that I was going to be terminated for this. I don't see any other flaw that may have sparked besides this that would have resulted in their decision to pull the plug. It's devastating because I've been longing for a hospital job since forever but now I'm totally scarred and don't think I want another hospital job again! :'(

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Specializes in ER.

My thought is that you blew it by answering a phone call in the middle of class. Since people are usually on their best behavior in the beginning of a job, your instructor obviously saw this as a red flag.

I am from the time before cell phones. We managed to do very well without constant availability to our friends and family. It may seem unconceivable to the younger generation , but it is possible to survive without a cell phone on one's person at all times.

In the future always have your cellphone off in a situation like that.

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Specializes in Case mgmt., rehab, (CRRN), LTC & psych.
I've always worked in subacute rehab settings
I, too, have worked in subacute rehab settings in the past. This leads me to an afterthought that I wish to share.

LTC/SNF/subacute rehab facilities tend to be chronically hard-up on staffing and have tremendous difficulty retaining nurses. Many of these places are more relaxed in the context that management sometimes tolerates conduct that would never fly at acute care hospitals.

For instance, day shift started at 6:00am. However, many of the day shift nurses at several of the facilities where I worked were allowed to straggle in at 6:15 because local daycare centers barely opened their doors for business at 6:00. The nurses dropped their children off before reporting to work. This would not be tolerated at most hospitals.

In the LTC/rehab setting, I found that in-service meetings were optional even though the nurse educators insisted they were mandatory. If management really enforced the attendance policies by the book, many of the facilities where I once worked would have no employees. On the other hand, most hospital settings have zero tolerance for excessive call-ins and tardies.

Just some food for thought...

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Specializes in Med Surg/ICU/Psych/Emergency/CEN/retired.
The phone call took place after we were sent up 2 at a time to get our fingerprints done to log in and out. It was my turn to go up and I had completed whatever they had asked. After I was finished with HR, I was heading back down but decided to use the bathroom before returning to class when I received a call from my attorney (personal issues not related to work) which lasted awhile unfortunately. I then informed the educator when I returned by apologizing relentlessly and telling her that I had some personal issues hence the reason for my phone call. She said she understood and all but that I should've informed her. I agreed and don't want to excuse myself at all. However I didn't believe that I was going to be terminated for this. I don't see any other flaw that may have sparked besides this that would have resulted in their decision to pull the plug. It's devastating because I've been longing for a hospital job since forever but now I'm totally scarred and don't think I want another hospital job again! :'(

Just my $0.02, but I think it was a bit draconian to fire anyone for this mistake, if all is true. I admit I am anal about being professional and would hope the OP would have deferred the call til later. Maybe a little counseling from the educator? Everyone is so connected his/her cell phones these days; what did we ever do before we had cell phones? But to fire her? Of course, I am not there so an opinion from afar.

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Specializes in NICU, ICU, PICU, Academia.

If you were only hired per diem, then that little phone call incident was apparently enough to convince them that you were not worth pouring any more time/ money into for what is, for them, a minimal return. Of course, we only know what you are telling us- there could be much, much more to this story.

But then you gave us this: "Please take note, only constructive comments will be accepted otherwise demeaning, ridiculing words will be flagged."so......

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You've given far too much personal information in your posts. There's a good bet someone from the hospital has or will see it. This post will be the nail in your coffin if you even had a tiny chance of them taking you back.

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