I was fired today

Published

I was fired from my dream job for not following protocol when doing an SOC and not actually looking at medication containers to verify medications resulting in an error. A few months before that a pt called the agency and told my supervisor that I was incompetent for not being able to get a faulty wound vac to work. God I am so devastated. I am the breadwinner in our family. During the meeting when I was fired I was so shocked that I could not say a thing. Please does anyone have any words to help me.

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Specializes in ortho, hospice volunteer, psych,.

Things will get better. In the meantime, I'm sending you some hugs.

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Psych, LTC, Home Health.

I'm so sorry. I am the breadwinner and I've been fired twice. I now have a, well, pretty good job that pays well. You will be fine, keep your head up. Nursing is a very very hard job and mistakes happen. Use this experience and learn from it. Good luck! :)

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Fascinating about the med reconciliation, since every time the RN supervisor has checked my patient's meds prior to me joining the case, they have missed the errors I corrected. I can't believe they fired you with so little to go on. Keep up your morale during your search by realizing you are better than this unfortunate situation.

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I was once written up after a letter was written to my supervisor and DON that I spit on her in the middle of the nurses station (I work at an inpatient psych facility). I had 3 nurses and a unit clerk ready to testify that never occurred. Was the situation investigated? Of course not. It's rare for me to find a supervisor willing to have your back.

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**that I had spit on a psych patient

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Fascinating about the med reconciliation, since every time the RN supervisor has checked my patient's meds prior to me joining the case, they have missed the errors I corrected. I can't believe they fired you with so little to go on. Keep up your morale during your search by realizing you are better than this unfortunate situation.

It was because I did not follow protocol and actually view the med containers. I feel that, yes I did not follow protocol, instead I was going over the meds with the pt sister who is a well seasoned RN instead of following protocol. I admit I did not follow protocol. No patient harm was done. I am devastated to be fired and wonder how can I find another nursing position.

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No warning? Just "bye"? Wow. I can empathize with your stress, but negativity will only breed bad. Try to learn and move on.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

This is something I've come to think of more lately, especially given the economy and work conditions for nurses. I think that for all of us who can, it is really a good idea to not put all our eggs in one basket so to speak, and try to get a prn job on the side at a separate place, even if you only work once a month. That way, should something happen, you have a backup. Now, I know it's not always possible. Especially for newer nurses. But when you have a job, it's always easier to find another...

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This is something I've come to think of more lately, especially given the economy and work conditions for nurses. I think that for all of us who can, it is really a good idea to not put all our eggs in one basket so to speak, and try to get a prn job on the side at a separate place, even if you only work once a month. That way, should something happen, you have a backup. Now, I know it's not always possible. Especially for newer nurses. But when you have a job, it's always easier to find another...

Such good advice uRNmyway

I do have an interview with another agency on friday. I am meeting with the nursing director at my old job to see if I can vie for my position or a the least to ask her to give me a professional courtesy and let me resign instead of the stigma of being fired. Happy Nurses Week to me. :(

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((hugs)) I hope the meeting goes well for you and they let you resign.

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Hi there,

Im sorry to hear about your experience and I hope you find another job soon. All home health agencies are very similar to each other, and there is usually quite a few of them around, depending on where you live....

From my own experience -- my collegue, a good nurse was fired in front of me. I couldn't believe it, as I thought this person was very competent. I asked pretty much everyone, including the medical director and the main supervisor, and spoke at length with this fired nurse, trying to figure out what happened.

1. Somehow this nurse was perceived as someone making a lot of mistakes - "too many mistakes", definitely more than one or two, including the ones which were very costly money-wise and liability-wise to the company. This was technically true -- however since she was still in training I thought it was unfair to judge her as incompetent. The supervisors had been talking about this person and her mistakes for a few weeks prior to firing he, after one particulat mistake that they felt was "the last straw". So if your situation is similar, I would say, there is probably more to the story, including possibly many more complaints against you that you don't know about.

2. This nurse was reporting to / closely working with a particular ***** who just happened to dislike her for a personal reason I can't mention here. In addition this particular ***** was a favorite of one of the higher-ups in the company so if she said she wants this person out, they sort of listened.

The combination of these two dynamics eventually got this nurse fired. She got a better job pretty soon after that, by the way...

I would look at it this way -- if they treated you unfairly, then this place is not your dream job anyway.

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