got fired/terminated

[YesYesRN]

I was working as a new grad RN and had a wonderful experience at a magnet hospital. However after being assigned to a new preceptor everything changed. She was very moody and changes her mind very often. I watched her picking up fights with other nurses. She has a very positive relationship with the management. Another new RN from my cohort who trained under her quit the job. I was, fired/terminated with less than 6 months of experience without any warning. She disliked me and complained to my boss in a daily basis. I was a new vulnerable nurse who's concerns and issues were not taken seriously nor heard. The firing process was unprofessional and unfair.

Now, I'm extremely worried about my future. Because many job application would ask if I have ever been fired before. What should I do? Can anyone share their experience?

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

"Reason for leaving" is not "were you ever terminated". Big difference.

Really? Most applications I have seen ask "Why did you leave?" under each job description. Seems like that is where someone might disclose termination.

[Lunah, MSN, RN]

"Reason for leaving" is not "were you ever terminated". Big difference.

So how would you answer that question for a position from which you were terminated? Just wondering. I haven't ever been terminated so I am not sure what I would put for that. Something creative? Lol

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I'd rather be pretty direct and honest about "why did you leave"? Because if you sugar coat it, manipulate the truth, etc., you're going to come off looking pretty bad when they check your references and the answer to the question "is she eligible for rehire" is "absolutely NOT." Better that you get your wisely worded explanation in first.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Do you have copies of your performance appraisal and letter of termination? Human resources usually keeps copies of both on your employment file. If you have copies, can you show them to an experienced nurse you trust? See if they can give you tips on how you can recognize weaknesses and take steps to improve. When you're knocked down, the way to get back up, is to accept responsibility for what you can change about the situation.

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

I've never been fired, so I've never had to answer that. My point was that the wording is usually "reason for leaving", not "have you ever been canned"

So how would you answer that question for a position from which you were terminated? Just wondering. I haven't ever been terminated so I am not sure what I would put for that. Something creative? Lol

[BuckyBadgerRN, ASN, RN]

Who would use a place that fired them as a reference?

I'd rather be pretty direct and honest about "why did you leave"? Because if you sugar coat it, manipulate the truth, etc., you're going to come off looking pretty bad when they check your references and the answer to the question "is she eligible for rehire" is "absolutely NOT." Better that you get your wisely worded explanation in first.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

Do you have copies of your performance appraisal and letter of termination? Human resources usually keeps copies of both on your employment file. If you have copies, can you show them to an experienced nurse you trust? See if they can give you tips on how you can recognize weaknesses and take steps to improve. When you're knocked down, the way to get back up, is to accept responsibility for what you can change about the situation.

The thing is, none of these letters will ever word something in particular. They know better that every their word or sentence can be used as a base for a lawsuit. Not that it happens often, but it does and nobody wants to get involved in that mess - therefore, the letter will be super-politically correct, with no single suspicious comma.

In fact, HRs typically are not allowed to give out any information except "employed from date x to date z" and "eligible (or not) for rehire" unless there is a Court order (which they disregard more ofthen than not unless agency like EEOC becomes involved).

Also, it is not a big secret that employees who left on their own will can be made "ineligible for rehire" for this mortal sin alone, for they inconvenienced management by submitting their final notes. All these situations were discussed on this forum, more than once.

Besides, sometimes there is just nothing to improve. Everything that the new nurse did wrong was breathing 0.456 times/min more than we always do here. She did not like the same candy as her preceptor. She once sided herself from the old-timer who reeked with tobacco smoke. She was too smart/too quiet/too shy/too bubbly/fill the blank here. In plain English, she did not fit, and that was her one and only mistake.

The universal answer on the question "why did you leave?" is "there was not a good fit" or "the specialty was not a good choice". As WAY too many nurses found themselves in the same situation, it is not usually pursued any further, AFAIK. There are multiple agencies offering, for $$$, to find out what exactly previous employer/reference will say. Mostly, it is not worth the money due to the HR limitations stated above, but if one job hunts within the same system, using these services might make sense.

One way to avoid the problem is to find the PRN job through agency, as they usually do not conduct any interviews at all. As long as a nurse can fill a shift and drug-free, she is ok to go. After half a year or so of doing a few shifts a month in different places one can form enough new contacts and connections to get a pad for a new start. Agency jobs have a whole lot of their own quirks and pitfalls, but if the problem is how to avoid being "investigated" like 3 y/o caught near a cookie jar, it is a solution.

I do not tell that it should not be "homework", reflection, acceptance of mistakes and such. But the existing system is so cruel toward newly hired nurses that I do not see a crime in someone's attempt to escape it.

[tara07733]

Who would use a place that fired them as a reference?

I just did a bunch of online applications this past weekend and all of them asked reason for leaving. Most of the also asked if they could contact each of the employers that were put on their (you could check the yes or no box).

So basically you can answer that, no, you don't want them to contact (because of termination maybe) but that does mean that they won't. Heck, they would probably want to know the reason the applicant doesn't want that employer contacted and call that one first. I

I really don't think there's a way to hide the termination. So many of these places require the online applications with basically the same questions asked. If you lie I feel like they'll find out.

[LadyFree28, BSN, LPN, RN]

I know I have been probably flamed for this in the past-so here it goes:

I was let go from orientation from a world-renound Magnet hospital in my area; I did not put it on my resume, I went to the next job and worked my way back into another Magnet hospital and no one said a peep about it.

Some places are not a good fit-dust yourself off, keep looking, own your nursing weaknesses and make yourself a strong nurse overall and you will find another job at another Magnet or heck, a better facility overall that will give you what you need to succeed in this business-this is not the end of your career; if anything it will make you stronger.

[NursesRmofun, ASN, RN]

There was a time that I went through hell at a job. It was complicated with many factors working against me during orientation. Some were related to me, some were misfortune, and some were just meanness of the preceptors and other staff. In the end, I had to keep being as non-reactive as possible, keep my nose down, and get to the end of the orientation and put some time under my belt. It's not easy in some situations. If you have a preceptor that is unhappy, has no conscience, and/or you are a peon who knows no one (they say it's who you know sometimes), they may take it out on you. Also, the longer you are on orientation doing the trench work, the easier it is for *some of them. I have seen people on their phone all day as preceptors- while their preceptee is working very hard.

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

I know I have been probably flamed for this in the past-so here it goes:

I was let go from orientation from a world-renound Magnet hospital in my area; I did not put it on my resume, I went to the next job and worked my way back into another Magnet hospital and no one said a peep about it.

Some places are not a good fit-dust yourself off, keep looking, own your nursing weaknesses and make yourself a strong nurse overall and you will find another job at another Magnet or heck, a better facility overall that will give you what you need to succeed in this business-this is not the end of your career; if anything it will make you stronger.

One more thing:

The best place for you is where YOU is accepted and welcomed as a nurse and a human being and where you can practice with your strengths fully exploited and continue to learn and develop. If it is not Magnet, so be it.

[calivianya, BSN, RN]

I see a lot of people saying this wouldn't happen at a Magnet hospital, and that's just not true. Magnet means nothing. My FT job is magnet and I have seen a ton of unfair firings, and more subtle examples of making the workplace so intolerable that people leave on their own. I have seen a unit leader go up to staff and tell them not to help a certain person because the unit leader doesn't like her and the unit leader wants her to drown. I have seen people with better experience and abilities passed over for open opportunities because management likes a certain new nurse better who actually doesn't even meet the minimum qualifications for the position. Magnet status isn't worth the paper it's printed on, and definitely has nothing to do with fairness or unfairness.