help/advice new rn recently fired for dumb mistake

[jkdrn]

my friend recently graduated with ASN and was fired after working 7mo at longterm/rehab center.

(he worked 4 years there total as dietary aide and cna during RN school)

he was fired for admitting to handing a CNA medication to give to a resident.

(he is now very aware of his mistake)

he found another job at another nursing home but is desperately trying to get a job at an acute care center/hospital.

recently he was interviewed for a local hospital and gave his work history and told his potential employer he was terminated, understood why, and that he currently works PRN and is seeking a fulltime job at the hospital.

the interviewer allowed him to orient on floor but did not hire him

should he keep on his resume his work experience where he was fired at?

or should he take it off his resume and simply say he started working later as a nurse about 6 mo. after he graduated?

he is currently working on BSN.

no disciplinary action was taken against him thru nursing board/state/law.

thoughts?

should he or should he not remove his work experience at the place in which he was terminated?

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

This is one of those it all depends answers from me. If this is a small community chances are much better that a prospective employer will learn of the job your friend was terminated from and what is essentially lying on an application would be grounds for termination if your friend did get the coveted hospital job. In that case I would not suggest leaving it off the application/resume. There is no reason to state that the job ended in termination unless directly asked though, the blanket "it wasn't a good fit" should suffice when asked why you left. Not a lie, but not offering too much damning information either.

On the other hand, if the job your friend was fired from is in another geographical area, a six month gap from graduation to working is not necessarily unusual and so there is no employment gap that needs to be explained away. In some areas new grads are going a lot longer than six months without finding employment.

[elkpark]

This is one of those it all depends answers from me. If this is a small community chances are much better that a prospective employer will learn of the job your friend was terminated from and what is essentially lying on an application would be grounds for termination if your friend did get the coveted hospital job. In that case I would not suggest leaving it off the application/resume. There is no reason to state that the job ended in termination unless directly asked though, the blanket "it wasn't a good fit" should suffice when asked why you left. Not a lie, but not offering too much damning information either.

On the other hand, if the job your friend was fired from is in another geographical area, a six month gap from graduation to working is not necessarily unusual and so there is no employment gap that needs to be explained away. In some areas new grads are going a lot longer than six months without finding employment.

(So you're saying it's okay to lie as long as there's little chance you'll get caught??)

[NOADLS]

Don't include it. Don't disclose termination. I thought this would have been common sense.

[anewsns]

Lol for some reason I completely ignored the "friend" part all together like it wasn't even there. It reminds me of a 90s TV show with all the awkward situations in which one would want to ask for advice for a "friend." Someone needs to invent a new tricky way to do this.

[NOADLS]

Lol for some reason I completely ignored the "friend" part all together like it wasn't even there. It reminds me of a 90s TV show with all the awkward situations in which one would want to ask for advice for a "friend." Someone needs to invent a new tricky way to do this.

On drug forums they use "SWIM."

Someone who isn't me.

Example:

SWIM hired an escort last night and both SWIM and the escort got high on pepsi. SWIM woke up and has apparently been robbed by the escort. Wat does SWIM do?

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

Here is what I think you should do. Or your friend. Whatever.

Send a letter to human resources at your former company explaining that you are seeking employment and would like to disclose your work history with them and you want to know what information is on file and will be disclosed, and in what way.

It is likely that you were officially a layoff. HR has to follow strict rules about this stuff. If they write you back and say that, you have nothing to sweat. Keep putting them down and tell potential employers you were laid off.

If they send a letter saying you were fired, write them back and tell them you dispute this and will sue for wrongful termination unless they correct this information.

Hopefully that is all you need to do. If not, get a lawyer.

I am going to get slammed for this but I don't care. Former employers who toss you to the curb for making a mistake should not be allowed to keep you in poverty. Fight.

[kbrn2002, ADN, RN]

(So you're saying it's okay to lie as long as there's little chance you'll get caught??)

I guess it does sound like that, yes. For me this is one of those grey areas. A lie by omission. I don't personally have an ethical dilemma with not disclosing a termination on an application or resume if you don't need to. Putting the termination on the application is a good way to put yourself at the bottom of the pile of applications and probably not even get to the point of an interview where the termination could be explained in person.

I'd rather see somebody leave that job off the application unless there is a good reason to include it. No point in taking yourself out of consideration for a new job from the get go.

[mago8388]

They'll find out when they run his social in a background check. Is better to just be honest and keep trying.

[FolksBtrippin, BSN, RN]

They'll find out when they run his social in a background check. Is better to just be honest and keep trying.

What are you talking about? Criminal background checks do not include termination from employment.

[mago8388]

What are you talking about? Criminal background checks do not include termination from employment.

Not as in criminal background check but when they run your social to look up earnings. Lots of places do this and they can find out where you worked. I'm not 100% sure of this but this is what I've been told.

[PyridiumP]

HR departments also routinely run checks with the work comp system to see if an applicant has a work comp claim. Part of that will disclose all previous employers and dates of employment. I agree that "being oriented but not hired" makes no sense.

[TheCommuter, BSN, RN]

I agree that "being oriented but not hired" makes no sense.

Yep... "Oriented, but not hired" can only mean one of two things:

1. Person actually was hired and did start orientation. However, same person was later told not to return after problematic issues with safety or attitude may have been noted while being oriented.

2. Person truly was not hired. A shadowing experience took place to determine whether the prospective employee would be a suitable fit. However, problematic issues arose with regard to safety or personality during the shadowing experience. Thus, the person was never called back by HR or the hiring managers.

In general, a person who has oriented was previously hired by that organization. No astute organization spends the money to orient a person who has not been hired.