How do I answer this interview question?

there is one question that i really dread: "why did you leave this floor 11 years ago?"

why? the truth is, i was forced to quit after only 11 weeks "orientation" (actually, "throw them to the wolves") by an evil manager who has long ago been "retired". i was never given a real reason, other than "you take too long to program the pca pump" (the same pump that killed a postpartum patient not longer after that because nurses had been too careless programming it) and "you make too many med errors" (hmm... i foolishly turned myself in each time i forgot to give the colace on time. honestly, there was only one *serious* med error where i gave an antibx several hours late when one of the other pts had serious problems.)

i was a brand new grad who had never taken care of more than 2 pts in nursing school and suddenly had to handle 7 oncology pts on a busy floor with little or no guidance from a group "preceptor" who had too many orientees to do much good. the manager had a bad reputation - everyone knew that, except for me when i applied there - and she said some things to me that were way over the top (racist remarks about pts and even her own minority nurses; making fun of my national origin. i'll spare you the details because you would probably never believe it. it's true, though).

ok, so that's the facts. i don't presume to say i was perfect or supernurse way back then, oh, no. i was way too naive and inexperienced to deal with this floor and manager. however, i did love the pts and have always been interested in oncology. this is the only reason why i even applied again! it's an all new floor, new manager, but of course she knows from my application that i worked there before. the question is obvious.

so how do i answer it?

i was a manager that interviewed a lot of nurses for jobs. things you don't want to do are trash the previous evil manager or her reputation, the equipment you had to work with or yourself. chances are that the current manager has already heard more than her share of stories from others about what the previous manager was like and, believe me, since you worked there before, there is a permanent personnel file on you and who knows what the previous manager took the time to document and put into it and that this current manager has opened up and read. one of the first things i did when employees asked for transfers to my unit was go to human resources and look at what was in their permanent personnel file. if you gave a letter of resignation or filled out a transfer form (it was not clear from your post if you have been working in this hospital or you quit the hospital and are going back for a job), it will be in that file, so the answer to the question of "why did you leave this floor 11 years ago?" is already there. if you are still an employee of this facility you have a right to see this file and can go to human resources and request to see it. don't say something different now than you did 11 years ago because they will catch you in a lie.

then, in explaining your current reason for applying, i would focus on the fact that in retrospect you were a scared new grad and you found the work overwhelming. you learned a great deal from your mistakes since and enumerate them. let the current manager know that although you left you did take with you a great deal of understanding about how to deal with what you didn't know at the time. explain how that has made you a better and stronger rn.

nursing school taught you to be a nurse, but as a new grad you were also struggling to be a good employee. that is a lot to handle for a new grad. point out that you have "grown up" professionally as a nurse. this is the list of qualities we looked for in professional rns. you should find these qualities in yourself and the manager will be looking for them in you. this is what you want to focus on that you have been developing in the last 11 years along with your mature nursing skills:

• initiative – autonomy
  
• dynamism – energy
  
• positive outlook
  
• responsibility
  
• orientation to the client and co-workers (ability to provide customer service)
  
• learning capacity
  
• productivity
  
• high adaptability – flexibility
  
• leadership
  
• team work
  
• tolerance to pressure
  
• analytic ability
  
• professional development