Getting Fired or Resign?

ktwlpn, LPN · Oct 19, 2008

I also need to better manage my sense of humor, which I have used for stress relief. In general, the patients and many of my coworkers love my joking, but it can get me in trouble with certain nurses. .......... !

I am still working on that one and I have over 20 years in-I know that sometimes I can be "a little much" and I have to make a conscious effort to tone it down in some situations and around certain staff. As for the defensiveness-I only recently mastered the art of just sucking it up. It's all about listening and learning -no one wants to hear excuses and in most situations you do come off badly. I learned that one the hard way-I wish I had the energy I wasted through the years in the DON's office.I could have cut that time in half by just saying " I'm sorry-it won't happen again,I made a mistake" I wear a rubber band on my wrist-I snap it when I can feel myself getting a little too exuberant and loud at the nurse's station or when I am in a conflict resolution situation and am tempted to plead a case...Good Luck-see this as a learning experience and as others have said just call this position a "poor fit"

annabanana1219 · Oct 19, 2008

:argue:In my situation, I had been written up (the verbal warning was bypassed) for a situation that was not my fault. I had just been taken off of orientation, first day, and there was a new admit. No one told me that the pt was mine, not even the charge nurse, so the pt was left unattended. I took the hit, even with clinical director telling that I was "set up to fail" in front of the HR manager.

I began to sense the hostility toward me from most of the staff (they were cold and unwilling to help me).

I made a med error that was not actually verifiable that I had actually caused it or if it was done by someone else. Again I took the hit and this time it skipped final warning and went straight to termination, although the HR gave me the option to resign instead of being fired and I took the option to resign on the spot.

I had already seen the writing on the wall and had applied at the hospital next door and was sure I was going to be hired and at the same pay rate where I was.

By the time I had to resign, I was able to empty my locker and carry the stuff right next door! Not really, I will wait awhile before I fill that locker!

That's what 90 day "probationary periods" are all about. To see if it is a "right fit" for both parties, you and the hospital.

Good luck on your future job! Walk away and don't look back. Be the best nurse you can be and move on. :nurse:

debi49 · Oct 19, 2008

THe whole humor thing is a real conundrum. Me, I can give as good as I get, and am rarely offended. But there are some who are offended over what most people consider to be normal humor, normal conversation. But these "sensitive "types always seem to get the benefit of the doubt. A tiresome lot they can be. :banghead:

litbitblack, ASN, RN · Oct 20, 2008

I really wish I had listened to myself when I felt my job was in jeopardy. BUT I let tons of things talk me out of it. We would have a good day, money was good, but then after ten years it all came down and at 5pm near the end of my shift i get called to the managers office telling me there were 3 complaints from FLOAT nurses(they always complain because they are simply not on there floor.). I was the only charge nurse for 28 beds med surg floor and the primary nurses were basically all lvn's. I was responsible for the assessments, pca pumps, blood, new admits, rounding with docs, taking care of the things the lvns felt they were to busy to do despite all the things i had to do, doing staffing and being responsible for the whole freaking floor. I simply waited to long and ended up getting terminated. I took time off, took my time looking for a job and my response to reason for leaving was that it was time for a change. I am now part time in a assisted living facility and it is so different than what i was used to. Resign before they stick it to you. I lost 170 pto hours. hmmm how did i get all those. By working extra shifts to cover for thier piece of s*** facility when they had no one else. but what do i get after 10 yrs with them. alot of experience. they lost a damn excellent experienced nurse. thats all i have to say about it. If you feel they are trying to get you out, i would get out first. I was basically at the point that working at walmart would be better than nursing. I am glad i didn't give in to that cause the nursing world would have lost a good one.....good luck

laketrash · Oct 20, 2008

Hugs to you and best of luck!

trustsupplyguy · Oct 20, 2008

Your responses have been so helpful! I never expected to get such practical advice, and the tremendous support you have given me is simply invaluable.

I just emailed my resignation to my manager, and I have 80 hours of sick time stored up, so I think I'll use it.

Thanks again!

lexibear99, LPN · Oct 20, 2008

I stayed with a job even though I knew I should resign and was fired. I wasn't fired for errors, I was fired because we had a non medical person trying to do injections in the physician office:down: and I had went to admin about it.:argue: Apparently, since this person had been there for 9 years and I had been there for only 18 months, I was the one to go for "rocking the boat". Even though I had never been disciplined, never been wrote up, never been talked to etc. they came up with reasons :cool:and this made it very hard to find another position. So I say RESIGN!!

labelle · Jan 30, 2009

i think resigning is the best option, but i have a question though, how does getting suspended from work or getting fired affect you as a nurse??does it go in your records, and in this case,'you' means just anybody

OriolesMagic · Aug 16, 2009

I wish I had read this thread a few weeks ago. I was suspended indefinitely about a month ago for 3 complaints. 1 was that 2 patients in a 2 week span said they didn't want me as their nurse (I've been a nurse for long enough to know that some patients won't like you for the most outlandish of reasons, including the fact that I'm a male). The second was that a patient was late to cath lab, there were about 10 pages of orders, and everything I did went wrong, pump not working, meds not delivered from pharmacy,etc, the third was that a patient of mine coded while I was in the room relieving the sitter for a few minutes. I had just replaced the telemetry leads when I went in the room, and I guess they came off and no one came in the room to tell me, they did try to call me on the room intercom, which was not working. I was happy the patient survived and knew I made some mistakes, but did not expect to be terminated, even though the head of the cardiac division says if a nurse does something wrong, just terminate him/her, instead of figuring out what happened.

I just got a letter of termination this week, the worst thing was that I had saved 105 PTO hours by never being sick, and hadn't taken a vacation. A lot of my co-workers regularly called in sick while they are on vacation. I'm not throwing a pity party, because it won't help me get another job anyway. I think a lot of my problem is that I "have a bad attitude" and I can't keep my mouth closed. By bad attitude, I mean I can't keep my mouth closed when I see things, done wrong, understaffing, no secretaries, ignorant Drs, etc.

I wish I had resigned, although I'm sure if it's possible when you are suspended indefinately. I'm about the 10th nurse to be fired on my unit in the last 6 months. Anyone else reading this that was recently fired/forced to resign, take heart, there are a lot of good nurses being fired for just about any reason. I'm trying to stay positive, and plan on having to work in LTC or something similar for a year or two.

Another hint, if a facility is always hiring--its probably because they are always firing/causing good nurses to quit.

RuRnurse? · Aug 17, 2009

I'll veer away from the prevailing wisdom here and say that if you are "financially fine", it may be worth it to fight this IF you are being treated infairly. If you resign, you cannot collect unemployment, and that may be a reason your employer would prefer you did than to fire you.

If you can prove that you are being held to different standards then others, you may have a case. But, if you are really not interested in fighting, than resign, by all means. However, by doing that, the employer wins. Personally, if it were me, I'd go out of my way to make the whole thing as difficult for the employer as possible, again, IF you are truly being singled out for different treatment.

Where I work, people get fired for any or no reason. They'll have someone come in, work 7 3/4 hours, then call them to the office and fire them AFTER their work for the day is done. That is just EVIL, in my opinion. I have NO respect for this behavior., and employers who engage in practices like that need to be challenged, otherwise they will just continue in their ways.

**canoehead, BSN, RN** · Aug 17, 2009

I've been there and done that 4 times and I don't regret any of the resignations. I always ended up in a better spot.

Seagate · Aug 18, 2009

I'm in the process of getting fired. My question is, do I stay and make them fire me, or do I resign and move on? I'm starting my second year as a RN. Financially I'm fine, and I'm not interested in fighting anything, I just want to minimize the damage to my future job possibilities.
Ideally, I'd like to hang on until I have another job, but I don't want to wait so long that I lose the option to resign. When do you know it's time to resign? Also, how do I present this situation going forward to future prospective employers?
I've already applied at one hospital, and from the feedback I've received I think I'm very close to being hired. I also have an application in at a temp agency.
I say I'm in the process of getting fired because my manager is building a case against me using errors and problems that others don't seem to be getting in trouble for, and there is little recognition of the efforts I've made to improve. I feel the die has already been cast. My biggest fear is how this whole thing will look to future employers.
I'm especially interested in feedback from nurses who have been through similar situations. Thanks in advance!

If you let them fire you you can apply for unemployment benefits.

If you quit you won't be able to. Get fired and than go on a long needed 6+ month vacation.

You don't have to list your current employer on the next job application.