Well, today was my special day! I got fired from my job for giving one (yes, one) injection wrong, and for telling some lady I wasn't trained on how to use an EpiPen. Apparently all of that deems me "unable to safely practice as a nurse" according to them.
And then they had the nerve to ask me if I wanted to work as a scribe with a $15 pay cut. I was SO offended.
How do you guys deal with this? ? I've already applied to new jobs but....IDK. It's just hard to all take in....
Also, I'm pretty sure the lady I told was from the state. Why am I not allowed to be honest with people on things I don't know? Why didn't they just train me, instead of just firing me? I just don't get it. It seems like their goal was to just get rid of me.
How do they know you didn't go far enough into muscle? that is a bit of a strange reason to let someone go.
I agree with others that you need to be professional with public and present competences. That doesn't mean you need to know everything....but how you present that lack of knowledge is important. If I don't know the answer to the question I simply state " that is a great question, I don't have the answer right now, but I will find out and get back to you"
“I do not know the answer. I will find out and get back to you.” is the standard answer taught to military to answer an inspector. You should have been briefed concerning expectations when subject to inspections. Normally newbies are kept out of the way. At one facility where I worked, when facility management knew that a med pass was to be observed, they scheduled the professional “med pass” nurse. Worked every time. State inspectors knew her by name. You were treated unfairly but be cognizant that anyone, novice or experienced, will likely be punished for flubbing up when inspectors are in the house. Just work on being better prepared next time.
Specializes in Psych, Addictions, SOL (Student of Life).
On 3/23/2021 at 5:58 PM, JabuJabule said:
Yeah mistake, I did not use an epipen in this case. I have the vaccine wrong. Completely different scenarios these happened in.
I am not sure where you [ractice but we had to take a CDC approved traing before we could give the vaccine. but I do agree with Davey that we don't tell teh general public we need training - we seek out a Manager or experienced co-worker and ask to have the skill demonstrated.
Specializes in New Critical care NP, Critical care, Med-surg, LTC.
There are many of us that were fired from our jobs. Mine was my first acute care nursing job. I was fired during orientation. I was mad, sad, scared, frustrated, etc. But the next week I had an offer, a month later the new job and here I am in critical care. You can come through it better than before, good luck!
As an experienced RN I have to say that the 2 examples you gave are pretty basic skills and should have been taught in nursing school. The Epipen has directions right on the packaging, as most who administer it are lay people. I would think their concerns were that as a nurse, you were expected to have had those skills. I am not saying this to be mean, but nursing is a profession, so there are certain expectations that employers have and that we are held to.
You should not be administering vaccines if you do not know how to safely use an EpiPen. Being a nurse is more than just passively waiting to be trained. You have to make sure you practice nursing safely. Your bio says you have been practicing nursing for two years. At this point, you should be more proactive in seeking out information on medication and what to do if a patient has an adverse reaction.
Rnis, BSN, DNP, APRN, NP
343 Posts
How do they know you didn't go far enough into muscle? that is a bit of a strange reason to let someone go.
I agree with others that you need to be professional with public and present competences. That doesn't mean you need to know everything....but how you present that lack of knowledge is important. If I don't know the answer to the question I simply state " that is a great question, I don't have the answer right now, but I will find out and get back to you"
Good luck on your next venture