I got fired while being on orientation at a hospital for just 1 week. Why did this happen?

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So I am seeking some advice as to why this occurred and am still pondering on what could have I done wrong for this to have such a bad ending. After searching and searching years and years for a hospital job (I've always worked in subacute rehab settings) and have been craving a hospital job for nearly 5 years as it will be 5 years this coming May that I graduated from nursing school. Long story short, I was hired by a local hospital and all was going well with the first week of orientation. I mean, c'mon it was only classroom work and I passed all the required exams such as the IV and medication administration. I had to take a personal call during the last 1/2 hour of our last day of class and when I returned the nurse educator was saying how I shouldn't give her a heart attack next time about not telling her where I was. I explained what had occurred and I didn't realize that 5 days later I was going to be reprimanded for that. I received a call from the unit manager I was supposed to work at stating that I was technically supposed to come this weekend for my first day of clinical orientation (I was hired as a per diem nurse) she told me that I don't need to come. Refusing to provide further information, when I asked her if the position was terminated she said "yeah kinda, you'll get a letter in the mail explaining everything." I'm really baffled about this? I seriously didn't do anything and am unsure why did this lead up to here?

Please take note, only constructive comments will be accepted otherwise demeaning, ridiculing words will be flagged. I just need to get some advice as to why this happened and if it is something usual?

Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I can only imagine being your charge nurse. All your call lights are going off, your pumps are going off, meds are late, your tech is searching for you, I am searching for you. You disappear for 30 minutes. Nobody wants a co-worker or employee like that.

Your taking that phone call in the middle of work is just indicative of how you will behave once you take patients. You gave them a glimpse into the future. No need to protest that you will never do that because yes, you will. You will be the co-worker who disappears for 45 minute lunches, whose bathroom trips take 20 minutes, who forgets to give a stat med because you couldn't wait to comment on some Facebook post and ducked into the bathroom to do so.

I repeat, nobody wants that.

Good luck with your job search and hopefully, you will learn from this.

Thank you. Those saying we should be more forgiving/understanding are not thinking this far into the future. I have seen what you are talking about and it sucks to try and get rid of a sub-standard employee once they are entrenched. Also, I agree about the med test. 88%? We had to have 100% and why anyone asks for that much less is beyond me. Med errors cost lives, money and resources. 88% indicates a sub-par understanding of the basics of medication administration. No bueno. I admit to having made medication errors, myself (very minor thank goodness) in my career-----and feeling sick about it afterward; but to be set up to believe it's a-ok to start out with poor understanding is a set-up for problems.

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Specializes in Emergency, Trauma, Critical Care.

I've seen lots of people take phone calls during orientation...my guess is that it was an extensive time for personal business....a half hour for a phone call. That was likely time they were paying you for. I could see them believing that if you are already spending a half hour of paid time for personal reasons on orientation, what's going to happen when you are on the floor.

That's the only explanation I can think of. Good luck with further job opportunities.

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I also grew up in the days where you had to wait until you got home to call someone or receive a call. In my opinion, it was not necessary to take a call from your attorney in the last 30 minutes of orientation class---you only had 30 minutes until it was over & you could have returned your attorney's call after you were finished. You were terminated because you thought taking a personal call was more important than attending orientation class during the time you were supposed to be there. If you were in the middle of taking care of a patient, especially if you were in the middle of something urgent/emergent, would you have left the patient's bedside to take that same phone call? This is the issue. When you are at work, no matter whether you are on orientation or not, work takes priority, not your personal phone calls. A good bit of advice would be to leave your cell phone in your locker/bag/car when you sign in for your shift to avoid the temptation to answer it when you're working.

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I disagree with you about this. Having done legal nurse consulting, attorneys can be contacted via email if a call is missed. You will practically never get an attorney on the phone in the morning or early afternoon, and they are usually only available after 4pm, when court is done. The proper thing to have done would be to let the call go to voice mail, go back to the orientation class, pull the instructor to the side & tell him/her that you had just received an extremely important call & ASKED the instructor if there was a time that you could return that call.

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The disappearance to take a 30 minute phone call PLUS the fact that she was a no show to work is the reason she was fired. Come on---when a nurse finishes the classroom part of orientation they are given their clinical orientation start date & what unit to report to. If you don't get that, then it is your responsibility to ask for it. How could she even suggest that she didn't know when her first clinical orientation day was? I think her attitude shines through in her post---"just classroom" is a requirement of the Department of Health for every hospital across the country since they cover fire safety, infection control, hospital policies & procedures (which probably included rules about cell phone use). If you don't consider it important to learn those things, then maybe you shouldn't apply for that job. I don't know the OP's age, but I can assume by the verbiage in her post that she is probably in her mid-20's, and the classic "assumptions" about that generation being "entitled" happens to be true, just because of how the generation was raised---i.e., every kid that showed up for baseball practice gets a "participation trophy" even if they didn't play a single game during the season because they're all "special" & deserving of praise. That generation has been taught that they're all special snowflakes that are important & their needs matter & they should get whatever they want because they are so wonderful. They got iPhones when they were 10 years old, walked around with their heads facing the ground having little to no interaction with other people, didn't have to get a job when they were 16 to pay for their first car or the gas or the insurance because mommy & daddy paid for all of those things.........this may not be true of ALL millennial, but it certainly is representative of a large portion of them. One of the things in the OP that leads me to think that there may be a bit of an "attitude problem"is "Please take note, only constructive comments will be accepted otherwise demeaning, ridiculing words will be flagged. I just need to get some advice as to why this happened and if it is something usual?". Everyone has a right to free speech and to say what they think, even if their comments may be a bit abrasive. It also sounds as if she already knows why she was fired, and doesn't want to hear the truth in non-sugar coated words so her feelings won't get hurt. [COLOR=#000000]I[/COLOR]

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.

I think the cell phone is a convenient excuse. You may have done nothing wrong. Maybe the CEO has a relative who needs a job. Maybe they didn't have the budget for your position after all. I was fired from my very first nursing job 45 minutes into my first shift. They said they didn't have the budget for 2 orientees at once.

You now know how this hospital treats employees. I think you dodged a bullet. Pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and keep looking for a better position.

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Home Health.
The disappearance to take a 30 minute phone call PLUS the fact that she was a no show to work is the reason she was fired. Come on---when a nurse finishes the classroom part of orientation they are given their clinical orientation start date & what unit to report to. If you don't get that, then it is your responsibility to ask for it. How could she even suggest that she didn't know when her first clinical orientation day was? I think her attitude shines through in her post---"just classroom" is a requirement of the Department of Health for every hospital across the country since they cover fire safety, infection control, hospital policies & procedures (which probably included rules about cell phone use). If you don't consider it important to learn those things, then maybe you shouldn't apply for that job. I don't know the OP's age, but I can assume by the verbiage in her post that she is probably in her mid-20's, and the classic "assumptions" about that generation being "entitled" happens to be true, just because of how the generation was raised---i.e., every kid that showed up for baseball practice gets a "participation trophy" even if they didn't play a single game during the season because they're all "special" & deserving of praise. That generation has been taught that they're all special snowflakes that are important & their needs matter & they should get whatever they want because they are so wonderful. They got iPhones when they were 10 years old, walked around with their heads facing the ground having little to no interaction with other people, didn't have to get a job when they were 16 to pay for their first car or the gas or the insurance because mommy & daddy paid for all of those things.........this may not be true of ALL millennial, but it certainly is representative of a large portion of them. One of the things in the OP that leads me to think that there may be a bit of an "attitude problem"is "Please take note, only constructive comments will be accepted otherwise demeaning, ridiculing words will be flagged. I just need to get some advice as to why this happened and if it is something usual?". Everyone has a right to free speech and to say what they think, even if their comments may be a bit abrasive. It also sounds as if she already knows why she was fired, and doesn't want to hear the truth in non-sugar coated words so her feelings won't get hurt. [COLOR=#000000]I[/COLOR]

These thread always devolve into millennial-bashing.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I think the cell phone is a convenient excuse. You may have done nothing wrong. Maybe the CEO has a relative who needs a job. Maybe they didn't have the budget for your position after all. I was fired from my very first nursing job 45 minutes into my first shift. They said they didn't have the budget for 2 orientees at once.

.

Seriously? Did you even read the original post? How can you not see where she clearly went wrong and deserved to be let go? I am curious.

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The disappearance to take a 30 minute phone call PLUS the fact that she was a no show to work is the reason she was fired. Come on---when a nurse finishes the classroom part of orientation they are given their clinical orientation start date & what unit to report to. If you don't get that, then it is your responsibility to ask for it. How could she even suggest that she didn't know when her first clinical orientation day was?

The OP took a 30 minute phone call without informing the nurse educator. That in itself MIGHT have been the reason she was let go. But she was not a "no show" to clinical orientation. She was called and told not to come in. When she inquired if it was because they were terminating her, the response was "basically, yes. You'll get a letter about it." Where are you getting that she didn't know when she was supposed to go in and as a result didn't show up? That is not in the OP or in any other subsequent post.

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I think there is more to the story, as someone else indicated. The med test may have been part of it. Maybe her attitude, maybe a lot more.

It's her word we are taking.

And BTW the OP has long since flown the coop. So once again, we find ourselves talking to each other.

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If I were you I'd thank my lucky stars. If you could attend the entire orientation but miss the very end due to a pressing situation and be TERMINATED without explanation ??? You're better off honey. There are plenty of jobs out there. Keep looking. They need you more then you need them. Sadly many hospitals have horribly toxic environments and at least you got the heads up before you had too much invested. I've been in the hospitals for over 25 years. It's a dance with the devil. Move on and be grateful. ;)

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I don't work for a hospital and am in the early stages of this process but to be fired for taking a call. I mean as an adult who will be trusted with sick patients recovery . We can't be trusted to know whether or not we can take a phone call. I'm so confused ..please educate me.

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