How do I get a new job after being fired?

[Bkre8iv2]

I need some advice. I worked on a busy and very stressful med-surg unit for about 2 years. It was my first nursing job out of school and last week I was fired. I believe I am a very good nurse, as evidenced by frequent compliments from patients and family members. My nursing care has never come into question. I graduated with honors from an accelerated program and have a BSN. The problem is that the unit I worked on was very volatile. More than 30 people quit within the span of about a year. I was becoming burned out and no longer enjoyed my job. We had a ratio of 6 patients to 1 nurse with 1 to 2 techs for a 36 bed floor. There were many times we had no tech or secretary at all. The resource nurse almost always had a full patient load. The acuity was very high; many of the patients on that floor should have been stepdown or even ICU. I took care of a variety of patients as it was a community hospital. I have experience taking care of surgical (mostly urological and abdominal, some orthopedic), complicated medical, oncology, remote telemetry, stroke, and hospice pts. The problem is that the stress wore me down and there was little teamwork.

A few weeks ago I received final warnings about frequent tardiness (I was generally a few minutes late) and speaking negatively about a very challenging patient where others could hear. This was the second time I had been spoken to about being late and I had never been spoken to about the other issue. I took these warnings seriously. Unfortunately I had a conflict with a coworker a few days later. I had a very difficult and unsafe assignment and I was frustrated. She made a snide remark and I got upset. I then heard her making fun of me to a colleague and it went downhill from there. We yelled at one another in the hallway and long story short, nothing happened to her and I lost my job. I had also just found out earlier that day that my grandfather was going home from the hospital with hospice and his prognosis was extremely poor. I don't think I should have been fired under those circumstances, especially the way it happened. I showed up for my shift a few weeks later after I got back from the funeral and was told I no longer had a job.

My question is what do I do now? What do I need to tell prospective employers? What can my former employer say about me? How do I handle this? I am very nervous that I will not be able to find another job. Fortunately I had over 200 hours of PTO, so I have a little time before things get dire.

I would appreciate any help or advice anyone has! What is the best way to proceed now so that I can get another job and move on from this?

[caliotter3]

Tardiness was totally in your control. You gave the employer that reason to get rid of you. It would be to your advantage to learn from this and get this failing under control for your next job. You don't want to repeat this lesson. As for losing your cool, you know that you need to control your emotions on the job. When burnout is getting to you, better to take a day or two off and get some rest, than to jeopardize yourself. Keep that in mind. You are going to have some awkward moments in the near future, but you will get a new job. Just get out there and go for it. Best wishes.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

First and foremost... BE thankful you are out of that "environment". The workload was not safe or manageable.

Yes, you should not have had enough tardies(like in elementary school) to give then any ammo to fire you.

I firmly believe we are professionals and a few minutes late is a RIDICULOUS reason to discipline a professional.

Most human resource checks ask the length of employment only. Some carry it a step further to ask if the candidate would be re-hired.

This would occur after the interview. You need to be upfront in the interview about what took place.

Explain the situation, without speaking negatively of the employer, just the scenario.

Explain how you have learned from this and are ready to use your skills in a new setting.

Work in any other area, you will find work.

Good Luck.:hug:

[smily nurse, BSN, RN]

I firmly believe we are professionals and a few minutes late is a RIDICULOUS reason to discipline a professional.

And, as professionals we need to be timely. You can bet the surgeon who is chronically late will be dealt with in a similar manner....... won't get the OR time wanted. :heartbeat

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

I myself am never late. However, I do not feel nurses should be held to a factory time clock, punch in format. If I were to punch in a couple of minutes late, I certainly make up for the few minutes of actual work lost during the day.

The entire time documentation for nursing professional and equating it to factories and fast food restaurants demeans the PROFESSION.

I am not concerned about a surgeon, pretty sure he can take care of himself.

[akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P]

In a way, I'm on the fence about "tardiness." If you're relieving another person from duty, then it's a very good thing to be on time, and perhaps ready to send them out the door a minute or two early. Why? If you're working 12's and that person is going to be relieving you, if you're late, that other person might just "pay you back" by being clocked-in on time, but perhaps a bit slow relieving you...

Now if this is a clinic that has opening and closing times and no patient load/prep time before or after that to speak of, then people shouldn't be held to a strict time-clock, just don't be more than a couple minutes late. Ever. And not make a habit of it. Which is worse.

None of this applies to calling ahead and saying, "Hey, can you hold over for a few minutes? I'll return the favor tomorrow..." Most of the people I work with right now will do that because they know that I'm good for it. Does it cost the company any extra? No. We just don't log the time because I give that time back (and a few more) the next time...without fail.

[MntnGirl]

Chronic tardiness comes across as "my time is more important than your time", the tardy person needs to start seeing the situation from anothers' perspective (very unlikely though). I've dealt with a chronic tardy person (married into family)for years and it is frustrating and un-excusable. I see it as a very selfish act and I avoid interactions with my tardy acquitance because of the feelings evoked when I'm left waiting. I have a hard time understanding why the "always late" people are late, can't you just get going on your preparation earlier? I don't have an opinion on this person being fired for tardiness (and additional issues) because I don't know how often they were late, how late they were coming onto shift, etc. I just wanted to vent about how I feel regarding chronic tardiness. Thanks for listening.

[Music in My Heart]

I firmly believe we are professionals and a few minutes late is a RIDICULOUS reason to discipline a professional.

It all depends on the nature of the work.

For a salaried person performing project work in which the requirement is simply to achieve the agreed-upon milestones, I agree - a few minutes here and there don't matter so long as the tasks are getting done on time and the person is making up for their tardiness.

However, for shift workers (nurses, teachers, pilots, firefighters, cops, etc) or folks who must interface with others as set times, punctuality is very important. Not only must the offgoing nurse(s) wait for the tardy person, the company must pay time-and-a-half or double-time during the overlap.

The rare tardy due to unforeseen circumstances (a flat tire, for example) is excusable. Recurrent tardiness by a shift worker is irresponsible, disrespectful, and UNPROFESSIONAL.

[Doulabobbi]

Where I work if you are tardy the person on the previous shift in your position is pretty much automatically mandated and you are sent home. There is no reason for tardiness IMHO, I drive 40 miles to work I live in the snowbelt in NY. I figure if I can get to work on time and drive through a blizzard to get there during the winter then I can also be on time any other time of year, only time someone should be tardy at all is a true emergency like something happened on the way in eg: car trouble etc... My work place will fire you for being tardy. Sorry to go off topic with this I am just a stickler for being at least 15 minutes + early to work everyday!

[alphabetsoup]

Hmmmm. In my experience most facilities give employees a "leeway"time- usually 6 minutes to clock in either before or after their scheduled time. You did not mention the nature of your tardiness so we can only guess. Were you a half hour late? An hour? 20 minutes? Was this once per week? Per pay period? Sorry sweetie but you own some of this. We unfortunately do not work in a profession that allows us to stroll in, from time to time, a bit late. But I am not going to bust your chops because I know that you already feel badly about the entire experience. The best thing to do is to admit you made some mistakes and move on. You can not play the victim because playing the victim will not get you a new job.

First, polish up that resume. Second, think long and hard about the work environment and what your needs are. If you need a flexible job where running just a few minutes late isn't going to make or break you then consider a job that will allow for that. If you need a calmer work environment then consider a job that might allow for a slower pace. If you need a job that maybe isn't so people-oriented then consider it. We are blessed to have so many opportunities in our profession: IT Nursing, bedside nursing, home care, clinic/out-patient care, specialized care, etc. When you decide what you need to do, then it is enough to chalk up the last job as maybe not being a good "fit". Good luck!

[Pepper The Cat, BSN, RN]

Leaving 5 minutes late means I usually miss my bus and then have to wait 20 -30 minutes for the next one. I don't mind once in a while, but leaving late every time a certain person follows me is annoying. Especially when she makes sure to leave right on time, no matter what.

[FLVARN]

Travel nursing if you can. Look forward, not back. Learn to be on time. You are a good nurse. Get back on the horse.

[caliotter3]

My colleagues and I always enjoyed waiting on the professional who was always tardy. Her concern for the time and efforts of those who had to stay until she felt like showing up, was only eclipsed by the concern of the management who rewarded her for her professionalism.