Got let go after 6 wks orientation

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Hello allnurses memebers,

I am a newbie here. As I was reading through different posts of New Grad resignation/ termination posts, I was very disheartened yet felt very uplifting from many good advices and supports from other members. I, too, am one of the few that got let go today after my 6 wks orientation.

During my first 3 wks Day orientation on a med/surg floor, I was confident that I will be able to grasp the concept of being a med/surg nurse as I was on time with my med pass, looking up on unfamiliar meds/iv/ivpb, asks questions on unfamiliar procedures, etc, and managing time wisely with drugs, documentation, and orders. At the end of my 3 wks orientation, I asked my preceptor about my abilities and progression wise, I was told by my Day preceptor that I am doing good and will be able to take on 4-5 pts on my first day of Night shift.

Going onto my Night orientation with a different preceptor, I thought I was doing fine til the end of my orientation; however, I may have asked too many meds questions that made her think that I was not being competent enough to take on pts' acuity on my own? I noticed that we didn't seemed to click as much as compare to my previous preceptor as we are different in personality wise. There will be time where I'll walk by the nursing station to come asks her questions and will overheard other co-workers (her group of buddies) and her talking about me (status, current situations, etc). However, it felt very awkward when I came by and everyone became very quiet. IMH, I did not felt comfortable/ supportive as I was when I was in Day shift. I'll admit that I was dealing with quite a few of high BP pts for the last 3 wks of night orientation, and I always make sure she's aware of me giving certain BP PRN's when needed, which I know I would need to give, but just want to confirm and make her aware of it - maybe it was too much of a common sense to not ask her? Maybe I should be making nursing judgements by myself more? I thought a preceptor is there to help and guide? Everything I did was still the same as day shift regarding time management, meds, and asking questions.

Today, I met wit the nurse manager and was told that they'll let me go because I was not fit to be part of their acute facility and that I should go works nursing homes after the reviews they've received from my night preceptor and the night charge nurse (they're friend) and my other preceptors and ppl who have worked with me. Their reason was that I should have know about and when to give Labetalol, a BP med and for me not knowing is their reason for letting me go. Never once throughout my orientation did I receive any clear written evaluation from anyone or any hints of termination. I did confirm with the manager that I do know and it was an PRN's order to give if SBP >160 and was just telling the night preceptor that I will be giving the PRN's because the SBP >160. After I left, I called my day preceptor about the termination, and she denied of talking to them or them calling her in for an eval of me and she think that it was unfair to make such a lie about talking to everyone about me. They couldn't give me anymore better reasons beside this example, which I felt very bad and injustice.

I did not argue much with them since I was only hired as a per-diem, plus I am 18 wks pregnant and in a BSN program. I guess my current situation was too much for them to handle. Btw, do we have the right to call HR for termination verification form and ask about record being show in our background check?I'll reflect back on my mistakes and learn from it. The hard part is getting back up from this miserable event and starts looking for a new job again. It's even harder when families start asking. :( Life goes on. There will be better advancement for me if I don't give up.

Any advices will be greatly appreciated!

Take it as a learning experience. Next time, make sure you get weekly evals to make sure you are meeting your goals. When you're on orientation, I think you're supposed to run things by your preceptor. Next time, try to use other resources besides your preceptor though. Lexicomp or another drug guide should be available on your floor. I'd consult that for med questions or pharmacy. Get a little note book and write stuff down so you don't ask the same thing twice. You'll do better next time, keep your head up!

Yeah, I'll definately try to get weekly evals and will be using more resources. Thanks. :)

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I got let go before I even was going to start orientation on the floor. The night supervisor accused me of being a no show stating she said I was to return to work at 7 am which was not true because like a wise nurse in this game I save all my voicemail messages. I also told her I that I do not appreciate her coming at me like a child. When I was in the manager's office everything seem fine then a week later the mgr called to let me go. She did not even have to balls to tell me why. Honestly, I was not upset I was relieved. I realized that I am not losing anything I have the experience they lost out. I am not going to sacrifice being talked to like a child and expect to bow down to a night supervisor that terrorizes her staff. It was a blessing in disguise got hired elsewhere making more $$$$$. Just imagine if you worked there you may have undo stress and develop issues with your pregnancy. So look at it as a blessing. :-)

I'm sorry to hear about your events. Also, congrats on your later advancement. :)

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As a nurse you learn to be resilient and take things in stride. You just got a really early lesson in that. Get back out there and maybe do long term per diem or sub-acute. Don't let one bad experience get you down or you will have a long career ahead of you.

Yes, I will be stronger the next time around. Thanks. :)

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Specializes in Tele, ICU, Staff Development.
Take it as a learning experience. Next time, make sure you get weekly evals to make sure you are meeting your goals. When you're on orientation, I think you're supposed to run things by your preceptor. Next time, try to use other resources besides your preceptor though. Lexicomp or another drug guide should be available on your floor. I'd consult that for med questions or pharmacy. Get a little note book and write stuff down so you don't ask the same thing twice. You'll do better next time, keep your head up!

I'm so sorry you had this experience. I agree with amzyRN and asking for regular evals. You should have the chance to know how you can improve your performance. A good preceptor gives you helpful feedback and measurable goals.

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Specializes in HH, Peds, Rehab, Clinical.

:wideyed: Nope...

Hello allnurses memebers,

I am a newbie here. As I was reading through different posts of New Grad resignation/ termination posts, I was very disheartened yet felt very uplifting from many good advices and supports from other members. I, too, am one of the few that got let go today after my 6 wks orientation.

During my first 3 wks Day orientation on a med/surg floor, I was confident that I will be able to grasp the concept of being a med/surg nurse as I was on time with my med pass, looking up on unfamiliar meds/iv/ivpb, asks questions on unfamiliar procedures, etc, and managing time wisely with drugs, documentation, and orders. At the end of my 3 wks orientation, I asked my preceptor about my abilities and progression wise, I was told by my Day preceptor that I am doing good and will be able to take on 4-5 pts on my first day of Night shift.

Going onto my Night orientation with a different preceptor, I thought I was doing fine til the end of my orientation; however, I may have asked too many meds questions that made her think that I was not being competent enough to take on pts' acuity on my own? I noticed that we didn't seemed to click as much as compare to my previous preceptor as we are different in personality wise. There will be time where I'll walk by the nursing station to come asks her questions and will overheard other co-workers (her group of buddies) and her talking about me (status, current situations, etc). However, it felt very awkward when I came by and everyone became very quiet. IMH, I did not felt comfortable/ supportive as I was when I was in Day shift. I'll admit that I was dealing with quite a few of high BP pts for the last 3 wks of night orientation, and I always make sure she's aware of me giving certain BP PRN's when needed, which I know I would need to give, but just want to confirm and make her aware of it - maybe it was too much of a common sense to not ask her? Maybe I should be making nursing judgements by myself more? I thought a preceptor is there to help and guide? Everything I did was still the same as day shift regarding time management, meds, and asking questions.

Today, I met wit the nurse manager and was told that they'll let me go because I was not fit to be part of their acute facility and that I should go works nursing homes after the reviews they've received from my night preceptor and the night charge nurse (they're friend) and my other preceptors and ppl who have worked with me. Their reason was that I should have know about and when to give Labetalol, a BP med and for me not knowing is their reason for letting me go. Never once throughout my orientation did I receive any clear written evaluation from anyone or any hints of termination. I did confirm with the manager that I do know and it was an PRN's order to give if SBP >160 and was just telling the night preceptor that I will be giving the PRN's because the SBP >160. After I left, I called my day preceptor about the termination, and she denied of talking to them or them calling her in for an eval of me and she think that it was unfair to make such a lie about talking to everyone about me. They couldn't give me anymore better reasons beside this example, which I felt very bad and injustice.

I did not argue much with them since I was only hired as a per-diem, plus I am 18 wks pregnant and in a BSN program. I guess my current situation was too much for them to handle. Btw, do we have the right to call HR for termination verification form and ask about record being show in our background check?I'll reflect back on my mistakes and learn from it. The hard part is getting back up from this miserable event and starts looking for a new job again. It's even harder when families start asking. :( Life goes on. There will be better advancement for me if I don't give up.

Any advices will be greatly appreciated!

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It sure sounds as if you we're let go for reasons other than competence. I see nothing wrong with giving your preceptor a heads up that a pt. is hypertensive and that you will be administering a prn anti- hypertensive. The patients are ultimately your preceptor's responsibility. As others have said, count yourself lucky that you were let go sooner rather than later. They seem like a toxic bunch. Getting weekly evals next time is also great advice. Good luck to you :-)

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Specializes in LTC and Acute Rehabilitation.

Since you heard everyone talking about your "situation" aka your pregnancy, I think they let you go because of that.

I was fired for "complications of pregnancy" when I worked at a nursing home as an STNA. Stuff like this does happen.

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Your preceptor was ultimately responsible for your patients if something went wrong, so for you to get in trouble for telling her about when you give PRN BP meds is beyond me. If you can't tell or ask her anything, why were you even on orientation? And believe it or not, questions come up after orientation. Things don't magically fall into place for a new nurse after 6 weeks. Yes, you should be able to hold your own after orientation for the most part, but a safe nurse knows his/her limits and asks questions after orientation. Based on other things you said, it sounds like you weren't in their clique. And quite possibly, your BSN pursuit and pregnancy may have also been contributory factors and as those things would have inconvenienced the unit. Without being there myself, none if this sounds justified.

I've been in your shoes. I was a new grad in Labor and Delivery and overall performed very well. After about 1 year of experience, I moved to a hospital in a different state to be closer to my family. The hospital was in a big city. There was a clique and it was palpable. I felt very uncomfortable. It was as if they expected me to perform as if I had 30 years of experience even though I only had just over 1 year. I felt like asking questions was going to get me in trouble, even though this hospital had very different procedures, treatments, and protocols. I did make some mistakes, but that's not what got me fired. In fact, the complaints about me got pettier and pettier over time. A lot of the complaints were delayed by about 2 weeks and non specific. And when they were specific, they were very petty. They didn't like how I thought about things or made assumptions about why I did something a certain way. I was fired after 6 months with the official reason being "not a good fit with the unit." She advised me to work in post-partum and even set me up for an interview within the same company, but I wasn't hired on. Interviewing at other hospitals in the big city sucked because everyone knew everyone and my resume, with short-lived jobs, looked suspicious.

I finally got another job in a rural hospital outside the city. It was very different. There was no NICU and it was hit and miss whether or not a nurse with NICU in her past experience would be on shift at night to help stabilize preterm babies for transfer to the big city. Multiple nurses with 30 years of experience (partly in L&D) refused to work L&D (and got away with it) even though most other nurses and I were expected to float between L&D, Post-Partum, and Nursery. (The unit was so small, all 3 areas were considered one unit.) A few times, I was asked to come in on a night off because a couple of those "very experienced" nurses refused to work L&D and they were short-staffed. There were a few very good L&D nurses, some were okay, and a few couldn't read a fetal strip. However, I performed very well overall. I did tasks a lot of nurses were refusing to do. I took on a few projects to help improve the unit, and I received 2 very good evals.

After a year and a half there, the rural hospital went bankrupt. The hospital in the big city that fired me in the past bought the rural hospital. I didn't find another job in time and the hospital from the big city fired me AGAIN even though I was performing much better than several other nurses. I went to the head of HR and explained why this wasn't justified, and they didn't care (not that I expected them to). I talked to a lawyer about this, and she basically said that they can fire you twice if they fired you before. Which make sense I guess. But still.

I went back to the big city and got a temp job in Post Partum at a competing hospital. They liked me enough to retain me as a per diem nurse permanently. I'm very well-liked in general, and I've been there for a year now. I'm still upset about what happened with me getting fired twice, especially because that hospital owns over half the market in the big city. I don't have the confidence to work L&D anymore, because I can't risk failing again.

My advice, don't burn your bridges and don't talk crap about your old employer, because you'll never know when it will come back to bite you. It's a small world. I myself didn't talk crap about the company that fired me, but it has been devastating how much the firing has affected my career and job choices.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Your preceptor was ultimately responsible for your patients if something went wrong, so for you to get in trouble for telling her about when you give PRN BP meds is beyond me. If you can't tell or ask her anything, why were you even on orientation? And believe it or not, questions come up after orientation. Things don't magically fall into place for a new nurse after 6 weeks. Yes, you should be able to hold your own after orientation for the most part, but a safe nurse knows his/her limits and asks questions after orientation. Based on other things you said, it sounds like you weren't in their clique. And quite possibly, your BSN pursuit and pregnancy may have also been contributory factors and as those things would have inconvenienced the unit. Without being there myself, none if this sounds justified.

I've been in your shoes. I was a new grad in Labor and Delivery and overall performed very well. After about 1 year of experience, I moved to a hospital in a different state to be closer to my family. The hospital was in a big city. There was a clique and it was palpable. I felt very uncomfortable. It was as if they expected me to perform as if I had 30 years of experience even though I only had just over 1 year. I felt like asking questions was going to get me in trouble, even though this hospital had very different procedures, treatments, and protocols. I did make some mistakes, but that's not what got me fired. In fact, the complaints about me got pettier and pettier over time. A lot of the complaints were delayed by about 2 weeks and non specific. And when they were specific, they were very petty. They didn't like how I thought about things or made assumptions about why I did something a certain way. I was fired after 6 months with the official reason being "not a good fit with the unit." She advised me to work in post-partum and even set me up for an interview within the same company, but I wasn't hired on. Interviewing at other hospitals in the big city sucked because everyone knew everyone and my resume, with short-lived jobs, looked suspicious.

I finally got another job in a rural hospital outside the city. It was very different. There was no NICU and it was hit and miss whether or not a nurse with NICU in her past experience would be on shift at night to help stabilize preterm babies for transfer to the big city. Multiple nurses with 30 years of experience (partly in L&D) refused to work L&D (and got away with it) even though most other nurses and I were expected to float between L&D, Post-Partum, and Nursery. (The unit was so small, all 3 areas were considered one unit.) A few times, I was asked to come in on a night off because a couple of those "very experienced" nurses refused to work L&D and they were short-staffed. There were a few very good L&D nurses, some were okay, and a few couldn't read a fetal strip. However, I performed very well overall. I did tasks a lot of nurses were refusing to do. I took on a few projects to help improve the unit, and I received 2 very good evals.

After a year and a half there, the rural hospital went bankrupt. The hospital in the big city that fired me in the past bought the rural hospital. I didn't find another job in time and the hospital from the big city fired me AGAIN even though I was performing much better than several other nurses. I went to the head of HR and explained why this wasn't justified, and they didn't care (not that I expected them to). I talked to a lawyer about this, and she basically said that they can fire you twice if they fired you before. Which make sense I guess. But still.

I went back to the big city and got a temp job in Post Partum at a competing hospital. They liked me enough to retain me as a per diem nurse permanently. I'm very well-liked in general, and I've been there for a year now. I'm still upset about what happened with me getting fired twice, especially because that hospital owns over half the market in the big city. I don't have the confidence to work L&D anymore, because I can't risk failing again.

My advice, don't burn your bridges and don't talk crap about your old employer, because you'll never know when it will come back to bite you. It's a small world. I myself didn't talk crap about the company that fired me, but it has been devastating how much the firing has affected my career and job choices.

Thank you for sharing your experiences. We all live and learn. Yes, that's why I kept it anonymous. Once again, thank you.

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Specializes in Family Practice.
I'm sorry to hear about your events. Also, congrats on your later advancement. :)

Thank you very much :-)

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Specializes in Family Practice.

You never let anybody or an in frastructure dictate your future as to what you will be!!! If your desire is to be a Labor & Delivery nurse you do it!!!! If burn a bridge believe me its intentional. The best revenge is doing well.

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Specializes in Family Practice.

AAah thank you!!! I was like good riddance.

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