Get fired or resign from new grad program

[Aurora21]

Is it better to resign or just let them terminate me? After 3 1/2 months of my new grad orientation, I was asked by my manager and nurse educator to resign. I had made a mistake on a telephone order. Instead of writing 0.75mg I wrote .75mg. Nobody else caught this and thought I wrote 75mg. The wrong dosage was given to the patient by the LVN. I have been orienting on a very busy med/surge tele unit. When they told me this I was so upset I burst into tears. I was told that if this was the only incident then it probably wouldn't have led to me having to resign, but there were other concerns they had too.

Basically the manager said that she would have to bring this up with HR and I would have the weekend to think it over. She said if she calls after the weekend and asks me to come in for a meeting with HR that means they are calling me in to terminate me. The manager and nurse educator said it would be better to come in and turn in my letter of resignation instead of having to go to a meeting and be terminated. I almost feel like they just don't want me there. I was starting to get real stressed about this job, but I thought that was normal especially for a new grad. Part of me feels relief, but I'm also worried about how this will affect my future career, that and I have my family to support. I've only had 3 1/2 months of experience. I'm no longer technically a new grad, but I'm not experienced either. I haven't even worked on my own without a preceptor. It was hard enough to find this first job in this economy, but what's it going to be like now when I have to go find a job and explain my 3 1/2 job experience? Maybe I'm jumping the gun here because HR I guess has to make the final decision, but still they are making it seem like "this job is not the right fit for me" and I should consider resignation. If anyone can offer any insight or advice I'd very much appreciate it.

[missladyrn]

Everything happens for a reason, sounds to me like you are far better off elsewhere. Your job seems like a bad situation all around, they needed someone to take the fall and who better than the new guy. The person who gave the incorrect dosage should have gotten terminated if anyone.

I hope you find a better job you love!

[LongislandRN23]

IS everyone on here serious? I mean this is such an easy question it boggles my mind why some people who even consider the other option! Resign aka quit!! Hello....... that's why her current employer her gave her the CHOICE! They basically told her that she is going to be fired so they gave her the option to resign instead because it looks better in the future. Its a little something called: Street Smarts (Common Sense) that resigning is better than being FIRED. Unemployment benefits : I know that in New York you can only apply if you were LAID OFF not fires, quit, resign. Anyway I have had 2 Nursing Jobs and plenty of friends who have been nurses for years and everytime HR calls their previous emplyer they call to ask: date of employment, would you consider re-hire?, title, and duties. I never heard of an reference call asking the previous employer if they were fired, quit ect. It may happen. I would pick quiting any day of the week than being fired duh!!

[LongislandRN23]

.75 and 0.75 is a really big mistake. We were taught in nursing school on like the 2nd week of class to NEVER put .75 always 0.75 why? Because of incidents like this because .75 looks like 75. unless the . is the size of a 0 than it is a mistake! Maybe pharm and the LVN SHOULD have catched it but they didnt because as a nurse you should know NOT to use .75 and always use 0.75. You started the chain of events by taking the phone order and incorrectly writing it down. I mean no offense to you and I am sure you are a great nurse but 75mg and .75 mg is a huge difference and could be life threatening! It litterally is 75X the intended dose.

[redhead_NURSE98!, ADN, BSN]

It boggles my mind why people revive a month-old thread where the OP has already posted an update telling what she decided to do.

There are benefits to being terminated sometimes; it depends on what state you're in.

"I never heard of an reference call asking the previous employer if they were fired, quit ect"

Then why does it matter what she does?

[Aurora21]

IS everyone on here serious? I mean this is such an easy question it boggles my mind why some people who even consider the other option! Resign aka quit!! Hello....... that's why her current employer her gave her the CHOICE! They basically told her that she is going to be fired so they gave her the option to resign instead because it looks better in the future. Its a little something called: Street Smarts (Common Sense) that resigning is better than being FIRED. Unemployment benefits : I know that in New York you can only apply if you were LAID OFF not fires, quit, resign. Anyway I have had 2 nursing jobs and plenty of friends who have been nurses for years and everytime HR calls their previous emplyer they call to ask: date of employment, would you consider re-hire?, title, and duties. I never heard of an reference call asking the previous employer if they were fired, quit ect. It may happen. I would pick quiting any day of the week than being fired duh!!

I was asking because I was concerned that if just went ahead and resigned I would end up losing any chance of getting unemployment. I mean the economy is tough for new grads and I wasn't sure when I would be able to find a new job again soon enough, but yes your right it does look bad to get fired so I didn't want to do that either. I didn't want to risk it so I did end up resigning and I also got unemployment benefits to my surprise.

When asking the question "Would you consider re-hire?" if they say "no" that means you were let go on bad terms like being terminated. That's one of the things I asked before resigning "If i resign will i be eligible for re-hire?" she said told me that I would be. Had I let them terminate me I would have been listed as not eligible for re-hire.

[SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN]

"If i resign will i be eligible for re-hire?" she said told me that I would be.

Are you sure? You need to call HR and ask them now that you have left. HR will be able to tell you your status. Unemployment contacts your employer and may have seen that you were not eligible for re-hire.

[pinkynbd99]

wow! Im just mind-boggled! This is almost exactly what happened to me at my first job! also for a med-error! I was given the same choice after my manager sent me to peer-review. My manager knew everything, no matter how little the problem may have been that goes to peer-review goes to the BON. Even there ppl were like, "oh! she's a new nurse?!" all of them with this face like "o..K.." So instead of just firing me or even just writing me up, she had me go through the peer-review so that I could be reported to the BON and then give me the nice option of "by the way, either you stay and be fired or you can resign." So I resigned, I wasn't going to give her the pleasure. I left and I was there for about 6months, it was an ICU setting, so you can image it's crazier than usual floors with everything! and to make it worse it's all paper,not computerized. But anyways, I think you did the right thing. I also thought I needed to go through all this b/c I was a new grad, but really it's not like that! I didn't think of unemployment, so thank's for that I'll try it out tomorrow and see what happens. And my HR lady told me that by no means do they "disclose" what happend with my incident when someone calls for reference, they just tell them when I was hired, what my position was and since I quit, the day I resigned, instead of Fired! I've gone to a few interviews and just explained that my previous unit was not an adequate learning place for new nurses, and I that Im looking for a better place as a new nurse. And also changing speciality, so that also helps me to say that I realized I should have just gone with what I wanted to do in first place and not the first job I got out of school.

[RN7776]

How can you people seriously encourage someone to kick unemployment in this economy?

If they want to know why you were cut loose just say cutbacks...whats the difference.

btw - "That said, because of laws regarding defamation (which is slander or libel) companies are usually careful about what information they provide to hiring managers confirming employment or checking references. What they say has to be the truth or the company can be subject to a lawsuit from the former employee. Legally, they can say anything that is factual and accurate.

Concern about lawsuits is why most employers only confirm dates of employment, your position, and salary."