Help! lost 1st RN job

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After 6 days of being on the pediatric floor of a local hospital as a new graduate RN I was terminated from my position. They were concerned about some simple mistakes I had made and said to me if I couldn't do my job now, how was I going to be when in 4 weeks from now when sensous went up. I was concerned that the training was instructed and based more on evaluating me where I was at verses training and teaching me for what I needed help with. The problem now is I am scared to death now that my career is over, i barely had any confidence to begin with and now I have none, without someone who believes in me I feel lost. I do not know what to tell my next employer if they ask why I left after 6 days besides, "It was not a good fit for me," which is really wasn't considering how I was treated, any advise I feel so devastated and don't know how to frame this in my mind. any helpfully advise? I have worked so hard to get to were I am and just want to be a great nurse, the problem is I don't even feel like a good or competent nurse now. Please advise. Thank you,

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Specializes in OBGYN, Neonatal.

I don't know...that sounds horrible. What kind of mistakes were they referring to? Did you have any kind of orientation?

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Specializes in NICU, PICU, PCVICU and peds oncology.

You don't even need to mention that job. You really weren't here long enough for it to count, and certainly not long enough for an accurate evaluation of your skills and knowledge base. If asked what you've been doing since graduation you can honestly say you've been looking for a position that was right for you.

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Since you worked there only six days, there's no need to add it to your resume or list it on applications.

Learn what you can from the experience and move on.

In your next job interview, ask a lot of questions about precepted orientation, training and nurse to pt ratios.

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Specializes in Adult/ped/neonatal/ICU/Trauma ER nurse.

Please do not panic ,you will get thru it.

1.Did you kill a pt? if not

2.What mistakes did you made ?

3.Where you in orientation with a good preceptor?

4.Did the hospital explained you how to get better and gave you the tools to improved?

5.Did they give you the opportunity to learn in this hospital?if not

6.Go back an initiate a grievance procces in human resources, if they fired you, you need to explain them you never as new graduate gave the opportunity to learn.

7.The 6 weeks contract must have a time to learn and follow up mistakes are corrected if your clinician is good.

8.Maybe you should talk to the next person in command above the person that fired you. and express your teaching frustration.

9.I had a new grad that they fired in one week because she could not started 2 PIV's,she complained and started a grievance process and she was restarted ,given to me to retrain as new preceptor .She is now in a wonderful nursein a teaching hospital teaching new grads to become better than her.

10. go to a good teaching hospital and make sure you get the proper training and make sure you get in the best hospital orientation program.

Your career is not finish this happens a lot ,nurses shortage is big and they need you so badly ,They will never give bad references about you if you did not kill a pt,so go either to the steps I recommended you or tomorrow go to a new place to find a new job.

Keep in mind the next time to make sure you follow the policies and procedures manual before you do anything wrong if you never deal with that situation before ,call pharmacy to guide you in any drug you are not sure .

Please relax you are not alone in this situation,it :welcome: is common now in many places around the world fight for your career and become the best nurse ever

good luck.

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Did you have an orientation period?

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My goodness, that is insane! :uhoh21: Six days?? I am in orientation and we are given around 12 weeks of precepted orientation. I remember my first week or two on the floor and felt like the biggest stupid boob in the world, like I hadn't just graduated nursing school, I felt like I was a first year bumbling idiot nursing student. There is just so much to take in on your first nursing job, everything is so different than in school. I would think you probably wouldn't want to work for a place that makes such snap judgments about someone anyhow (much less not care if their new hires succeed after a week on the job). Lesson learned. I'm sure you will find another better fit. MAke sure you inquire how long the new RN/GN orientation is. Our hospital even orients experienced nurses at least 6-8 weeks.

Good luck to you. Don't let it get you down.

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Specializes in Licensed Practical Nurse.

yeah, i was terminated at my first job as an lpn, but it was over very dumb reasons, you can read the thread if you want https://allnurses.com/forums/f8/i-let-go-226024.html . anyway like everyone is asking, how long was the orientation and what were these mistakes!! as a new grad you are learning! don't beat yourself up over this! you'll will make it. p.s before i started working as a new grad i was so scared and then when i got let go i was so devastated! for weeks after even if i thought about it, i would start crying, i'm sortof a prefectionist so when they let me go i was embarassed among other feelings! keep your head up, i'm wishing you the best!

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Specializes in ER, Medicine.

Yep, my first RN job lasted 2 months. Read my saga here. Well, I got a new job, and I just started orientation today. So far, so good. Because of my first experience I went into my second job knowing what questions to ask.

I wasn't completely devestated that I lost my first nursing job. Felt like crap for a week and then life moved on. Truth be told, I was more concerned about those oh so good benefits! I guess that really said a lot there. I didn't like the job because I felt the orientation process was horrendous. (Too short of an orientation 3 weeks on floor, I was basically on my own, unconcerned preceptors, no support of new grads on the floor, no feedback of progress in timely manner, etc.)

Don't let one experience ruin your career. I applied to a first choice of mine and got the position. Unfortunately, people can and do lose jobs. Just make sure you can take something learned from this old job and apply it to your new job. Every experience is a learning experience. But don't think you are finished. You're only just beginning. Good luck! :beer:

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Thank you for all your comments. As for the "mistakes" I made they were just silly little new RN mistakes that were based on trying to take theory to practice; such as, on the flow sheet were I would document a patients pain ratings, under description of pain I wrote what the pt said ie, "hurts." (ok, dumb) or one time I assessed my pt's pain location, description and behavior, but had to go back in the room to ask their pain number. To me just silly little things that, though may have been bad practice (if I would have let it continue), only adds up to inexperience or need for guidance and supervision. One time during my 1st full admit (which I hadn't seen since nursing school- hadn't even called the doctor with stand by assist yet) I missed a stat throat culture order for about 20 min's ago (my "preceptor" was the unit clerk, charge nurse and supposedly my preceptor this day, she would chime in every once in a while and tell me what to do, and the nursing manager of the unit was periodically following me around, interrupting my work flowtelling me what to do AND insulting me infront of the pt {She's new and has never done this before so I am here to make sure she does it right- there goes my pt rapor!}, I could hardly figure out what was going on with so many diff. people (not to mention the mean and inpatience Dr with HORRIBLE hand writing and the computer which didn't work!). I truly chop it up to poor and unstructured learning environment, Ofcoorifice I asked stupid Q's and made silly goof's but who hasn't, I did not hurt anyone- or even come close to that. I did learn some valuable lessons for myself and being a professional though that Iwill stick with me through life, so this is a very positive thing that I can take out of it.

These nurses forgot the basic nursing elements of the nursing process as it applies to being a preceptor and teaching, ie, assess your pt's learning needs, DX learning needs, make a plan and structure WITH THE LEARNER, have a systematic way of teaching and THEN evaluate (which means= evaluate what needs to be done better, differently, re-inforced or if it didn't work re-start the process). Oh well- lessons learned, I will do better next time at picking were I would like to work. By the way for those of you wondering I was suppose to be in an internship that originally was promised to be 6 months in each unit (peds, NICU and mother/baby) which did seem to good to be true, but then from what I heard I would have been there for a total of 6 weeks before moving on, um not 6 DAYS and then training is over (before "training" began). I had general sit in a classroom hospital training (ie, meet the corporates, HR, computers/system) for 2 weeks before this.

Also, yes, I definitely thought about filing a grievance and I will if they actually try to say that I gave unsafe pt care or somehow try to give a bad report and hurt my reputation; I did try to defend myself many times (talked to the nurse manager twice and then when I was terminated with the HR rep) with all their very untrue and very nonobjective accusations, but they did not care to listen. For now I am happy to be away from them and hopeful for the future. Again, thank you so much for your insight, it means the world to me and again re-affirms that in-deed there might be good people and nurses in nursing yet.

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Thank you for all your comments. As for the "mistakes" I made they were just silly little new RN mistakes that were based on trying to take theory to practice; such as, on the flow sheet were I would document a patients pain ratings, under description of pain I wrote what the pt said ie, "hurts." (ok, dumb) or one time I assessed my pt's pain location, description and behavior, but had to go back in the room to ask their pain number. To me just silly little things that, though may have been bad practice (if I would have let it continue), only adds up to inexperience or need for guidance and supervision. One time during my 1st full admit (which I hadn't seen since nursing school- hadn't even called the doctor with stand by assist yet) I missed a stat throat culture order for about 20 min's ago (my "preceptor" was the unit clerk, charge nurse and supposedly my preceptor this day, she would chime in every once in a while and tell me what to do, and the nursing manager of the unit was periodically following me around, interrupting my work flowtelling me what to do AND insulting me infront of the pt {She's new and has never done this before so I am here to make sure she does it right- there goes my pt rapor!}, I could hardly figure out what was going on with so many diff. people (not to mention the mean and inpatience Dr with HORRIBLE hand writing and the computer which didn't work!). I truly chop it up to poor and unstructured learning environment, Ofcoorifice I asked stupid Q's and made silly goof's but who hasn't, I did not hurt anyone- or even come close to that. I did learn some valuable lessons for myself and being a professional though that Iwill stick with me through life, so this is a very positive thing that I can take out of it.

These nurses forgot the basic nursing elements of the nursing process as it applies to being a preceptor and teaching, ie, assess your pt's learning needs, DX learning needs, make a plan and structure WITH THE LEARNER, have a systematic way of teaching and THEN evaluate (which means= evaluate what needs to be done better, differently, re-inforced or if it didn't work re-start the process). Oh well- lessons learned, I will do better next time at picking were I would like to work. By the way for those of you wondering I was suppose to be in an internship that originally was promised to be 6 months in each unit (peds, NICU and mother/baby) which did seem to good to be true, but then from what I heard I would have been there for a total of 6 weeks before moving on, um not 6 DAYS and then training is over (before "training" began). I had general sit in a classroom hospital training (ie, meet the corporates, HR, computers/system) for 2 weeks before this.

Also, yes, I definitely thought about filing a grievance and I will if they actually try to say that I gave unsafe pt care or somehow try to give a bad report and hurt my reputation; I did try to defend myself many times (talked to the nurse manager twice and then when I was terminated with the HR rep) with all their very untrue and very nonobjective accusations, but they did not care to listen. For now I am happy to be away from them and hopeful for the future. Again, thank you so much for your insight, it means the world to me and again re-affirms that in-deed there might be good people and nurses in nursing yet.

Hi dont worry I am just finishing and I have had placement for 2 weeks I still have one month to go. I felt useless, dumb and lost in the horizon. I thought to my self do I want this and I said yes, one good thing in australia, we have a hospital near by, and it is a training hospital you are employed by them and they train you aswell, check to see where you live if they have that there aswell. It will boost your confidence. dont let anyone put you down, believe in yourself, It is hard. and by we all make mistakes, I am just like you. I take time to learn. I need to be shown several times until I understand things. you will be fine, dont give up on yourself, I always say when you fall get up and if you fall again get up.

Tigermum

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Specializes in Med/Surg/L&D/Postpartum/Nursery.

Newb,

I was always told that there are no stupid questions...if you don't know something then you have to ask. I would rather ask a "stupid" question than assume anything...especially when you are caring for patients or attempting to provide good nursing care. Also, I have been a nurse for six years now and there are times that I document exactly what the patient states to justify my nursing actions...and I think it is what we are taught in school to do sometimes.

Don't let this experience leave a sour taste in your mouth about nursing. You will find out (as you already have) that there are some good preceptors and some bad ones. A good question to ask when interviewing is if the nurses are made to precept or do they volunteer because this gives you an idea about the type of experience you may get...especially if someone feels force to help you learn.

I also want to say always remember this experience as you gain years under your belt as a nurse...and when you see new graduates after you make an effort to embrace them, look out for them, and show them the ropes when you can or they don't understand. That has always been my vow after I had some bad experiences with some nurses I use to work with when I come out of nursing school. I want everyone to feel appreciated in nursing especially when they are doing the ultimate act of love by caring for others at sometimes vulnerable times in their lives.

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