New grad just got fired

Nurses General Nursing

Published

I am still searching for the strength to move on. I was called in the office yesterday and given the pink slip. I am a new grad, just graduated in May and passed nclex a couple months later and got my first job on a med surg floor.. I started work the end of July and I was on orientation and had three preceptors. The educator dilligently came around and ask me questions about my pts. Basically this lady just hammered on things I told her I needed to look up. She nailed me on things I failed to answered correctly plus exaggerated . And guess what she had it all documented, :madface: correct me if i am wrong, am i suppose to answer all her questions correctly? DO all nurses truly and honestly know qthing about their pts? it was the completion of my orientation and they pulled me and said byebye!! Besides, My preceptor just told me how great I was doing the other day.

Specializes in neuro, m/s, renal, ortho, home health.

I agree w/ Elisheva, ask your preceptor and tell her you want to learn from this experience especially, since your were told shortly before this happened how well you were doing. I don't know all the problems you encountered or how long you were on orientation. My orientation lasted 3 months and I had a wonderful nurse. I have seen experienced nurses cross examine the nurse giving them report usually the new grad. I feel like this is very unfair. You can't know everything. I can't imagine how you feel because it has never happened to me but I do know it could happen to any one of us. Pick yourself up find out why this happened learn from it, and try to go on. We need good nurses and sometimes the experienced nurses can be hard on a new nurse. Hang in there!

Easier said than done, but turn the other cheek. A NM that is going to be that way with you basically off the bat, could have been a sign of things to come. And places wonder why there is a nursing shortage?

Hang in there, and I wish you the best!

My heart goes out to you. I know exactly how you feel. I was fired from my first job too, and I remember questioning myself and my abilities as a nurse, and whether or not I should be a nurse at all. But I got right back out there, and found an even better job, where the orientation was much more organized and where everything finally "clicked" for me. I know that if you refuse to give up and get right back out there, the same will happen for you. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Stay strong, and remember that you don't have to know everything - you just have to know where to go to get the correct information! Don't be afraid to ask questions!:nurse:

Specializes in Alzheimer's, Geriatrics, Chem. Dep..
...you are constantly worrying about killing someone, not to mention getting everything done.

I think that there are a lot more of us nurses who are afraid of that than will admit it! I was always afraid either I would make a horrible irreversable mistake, or would fail to notice something that I should have ... :(

Unfortunately if we think that way too often we can get paralyzed...

:uhoh21:

Thanks for acknowledging that, it is nice knowing I am not alone...

When a new nurse is on orientation and does not perform up to standards, most of the time it is because of her preceptor(s). The hospital that fired you should take a good look at their orientation program.

I once worked in a unit where a new nurse was fired on orientation for multiple med errors. How could that happen if her preceptor was conscientious? Get my drift?

Specializes in Long term care and med/surg.

I am new here and I was hoping to find some advice. I work in a longterm care facility. Recently I was helping the LPN sign in some drugs while waiting for the ones I have to personally lockup. One of the narcs I signed in for her was a card of 30 vicodin. When the guy gave me my drugs I immediatly locked them up then left the room. The LPN stayed in there with him but then a couple of minutes later I heard him say "do you want me to close the door?" She must have left him in there alone. Later that morning her count was off and that whole card was missing! We searched everywhere, she said she had it and somehow lost it. (they leave them locked in the med room til they have time to put them away. I have keys to that room and so do the 2 LPNs. But...she said she saw them before she put them away. Now..the bad thing I did was leave when we couldn't find them and told the next RN to call me if she needed anything and she said she would contact the DON. WEll, I go home and they called me back and we all looked again and wrote up statements of what we all thought happened then they sent us home, it wasn't til 2 days later they wanted a urine test, then the next thing I find out is that I am being put on administrative leave because I didn't follow procedure properly! I didn't know what that meant and since I got that news, (on my answering machine yesterday) they haven't called me back to tell me what I did wrong???I am a new nurse and didn't know what I was suppose to do, I feel like an idiot, I guess I should have never left, but I did take the pee test and I did give them any info of who I thought could have stolen it, which to my knowlege now was a big mistake....I feel like they are sabbotaging me and I am scared...I have always felt very unsafe there and meant to find another job earlier and now I hope it is not too late! I don't drink and have only taken 2 narcotics in my whole life and that was for my tonsillectomy!

Long term care is hard when you are the RN Supervisor, not to mention one who only got 3 days of shabby training as a brand new nurse....Any advice?? Prayers???:( mortar%20board.PNG

Specializes in healthcare12 years.

I am so sorry to hear that. This older lady came to my school before we graduated and said the job that you take is the one with the best orientation, So after looking at rates, benifits overall I chose one who gave me the best orientation I have been there over a month and I am still on orientation I will be on orientation for 2 more months, so as your hospital goes dont sweat it if they treat you that bad already well it is better to know now then later,and as a nurse you can get a job quickly, so keep your head up and forget them they lost a good nurse.

Specializes in healthcare12 years.

as for the nurse in the long term care, did the other nurse sign them in? if she did its not on you its on her and I would go find another job they did a drug test so dont let it bother you, like i told the other nurse orientation is high priority when you find a job:nurse: . you'll be allright

Dear Nurse,

I am so sorry this happened to you-I agree with the other one's that you need to be very kind to yourself-ask for a meeting to help you make choices for your next job-it does sound like that it was a bad fit-look for a hospital that has at least 12 week orientation program and a support system for new grads-usually larger hospitals-when you interview for next job, honestly tell what happend and that you learned from it. As one nurse said, if you live in an employment at will state, like mine-it is more difficult-if this is the case the employer just tells the next employer that you worked there from x day to y date-. Yes, you are expected to know about your patients--however you can always look information up in a book or the chart etc. I think the person that suggested that how you present yourself might be the problem-perhaps get some short term counseling, if you can-you will both learn from this and you will get a better job, that is a better fit-and that you will be happy and fulfilled in. go somewhere that is relaxing to you-the beach or the mountains or a lake and write down your feelings and what went wrong-then armed with this, ask for the meeting to get feedback-if you are near your school of nursing, maybe go to one of your trusted faculty and ask for assistance, both in job search and in finding out the dynamics of what caused this. You may find out that this is known as a place that eats their young!! Good luck and you will find the right place to work, and later you will respond to another nurse in a forum like this and help that person from what you learned.

Dear Nurse,

I am so sorry this happened to you-I agree with the other one's that you need to be very kind to yourself-ask for a meeting to help you make choices for your next job-it does sound like that it was a bad fit-look for a hospital that has at least 12 week orientation program and a support system for new grads-usually larger hospitals-when you interview for next job, honestly tell what happend and that you learned from it. As one nurse said, if you live in an employment at will state, like mine-it is more difficult-if this is the case the employer just tells the next employer that you worked there from x day to y date-. Yes, you are expected to know about your patients--however you can always look information up in a book or the chart etc. I think the person that suggested that how you present yourself might be the problem-perhaps get some short term counseling, if you can-you will both learn from this and you will get a better job, that is a better fit-and that you will be happy and fulfilled in. go somewhere that is relaxing to you-the beach or the mountains or a lake and write down your feelings and what went wrong-then armed with this, ask for the meeting to get feedback-if you are near your school of nursing, maybe go to one of your trusted faculty and ask for assistance, both in job search and in finding out the dynamics of what caused this. You may find out that this is known as a place that eats their young!! Good luck and you will find the right place to work, and later you will respond to another nurse in a forum like this and help that person from what you learned.

in my life before nursing, I was an assistant stock trader at a large firm in a major city. It was 1987 and the stock market crashed. Everyone on our trading floor had ulcers, irritable bowels, migraines, and often worked 75 hour weeks. Our 12+ hour days included a lunch brought to our desk provided by the firm and coffee pots nearby so nobody had to leave the phones to get refills. Bathroom breaks were unheard of. One Thursday afternoon in the aftermath of the frenzy I got my quarterly review and a 6 percent raise. My baby was sick and I called in sick on the following day. On Monday, I was fired for "performance issues". Although it was hard for me emotionally (it seemed like I gave so much of my life to that company) it was extremely hard financially--finding a new job was a complete nightmare! I got through it and I learned a lesson in covering my own butt. I had left my copy of my performance review in my desk that Thursday night. I wasn't able to get that copy. I wasn't allowed back to my desk to get my things. Now, if it is personal and important and not a duplicate copy, I carry it home. Makes my car a bit messy but you can see how this review could have helped me out legally after being fired. That was almost 20 years ago and being burned then makes it harder to burn me again. Take what you can from the lesson and move on. You are a nurse and you can get another job....and another one....and another one. You will find your niche and excel in it.

good luck!

in my life before nursing, I was an assistant stock trader at a large firm in a major city. It was 1987 and the stock market crashed. Everyone on our trading floor had ulcers, irritable bowels, migraines, and often worked 75 hour weeks. Our 12+ hour days included a lunch brought to our desk provided by the firm and coffee pots nearby so nobody had to leave the phones to get refills. Bathroom breaks were unheard of. One Thursday afternoon in the aftermath of the frenzy I got my quarterly review and a 6 percent raise. My baby was sick and I called in sick on the following day. On Monday, I was fired for "performance issues". Although it was hard for me emotionally (it seemed like I gave so much of my life to that company) it was extremely hard financially--finding a new job was a complete nightmare! I got through it and I learned a lesson in covering my own butt. I had left my copy of my performance review in my desk that Thursday night. I wasn't able to get that copy. I wasn't allowed back to my desk to get my things. Now, if it is personal and important and not a duplicate copy, I carry it home. Makes my car a bit messy but you can see how this review could have helped me out legally after being fired. That was almost 20 years ago and being burned then makes it harder to burn me again. Take what you can from the lesson and move on. You are a nurse and you can get another job....and another one....and another one. You will find your niche and excel in it.

good luck!

You brought up some really good points. In my last (non-nursing) job, I made copies of anything and everything that happened at work that might affect me in any way and kept them in a file at home. I even kept my own log recording my days off for sickness, times I left and returned to work following doctor's appointments, etc. When I left that job voluntarily, I had ample documentation to take out a couple of people but opted not to. Just nice to know I had the goods to cover myself and validate my "excellent" employee status in case office politics became an issue. Even more important in a job like nursing that has so many legal considerations.

+ Add a Comment