Hello, from another thread that was deleted I will recap... started May15 and I
got fired on June11 2014 because of my "way of handling frustration in the work place" and I guess my "inability to connect with patients emotionally" per my former manager
(But I did meet every other competency very well and can do everything else an RN career entails)
My first incident, I got mad at the vital signs machine because it wasnt giving me a blood pressure...then I took it out on questioning a medication I didnt understand why the patient was getting. A substitute preceptor and the clinical education lady were present when I took out my frustration on the medication on the screen. I wasnt cursing or anything crazy, just saying " Why am I giving this med??? Im not going to give this, no where in the reference manual does the patient meet criteria of why hes getting Risperdone" I guess it was that big of a deal my manager heard about it. They thought I was 'going out of my scope of practice saying I wanted to hold the med'. I dont know..
Next I had 2 drug user patients that gave me a hard time. One made up some story saying "She doesnt have passion, she just takes it like a job"....My manager and I spoke over this incident, we agreed that Im very task oriented and that the patient took it as I didnt care or have passion. But the other side is this patient is stuck on the floor for 48 day, has a manipulative history thats been documented,the rest of the nurses cant stand him and no one really liked working with this patient etc., I never really had a problem with the guy, I actually thought he wasnt so bad. So that incident through me off completely... whatever, nothing I could really do about that one.
The last patient on my last day there, to make it short..was VERY difficult. She was cocaine drug user, from the hood, recently released from prison etc etc the whole 9 yards. This patient was KNOWN on the floor, history of physically fighting staff:blackeye: (I wasnt warned by my preceptor, it was whispered to me by the PCA's). I had to do her admission right at shift change, she was an angel and cooperative with my preceptor. The minute I was left alone with her to do the admission she did a 360 on me, telling me "Man Shut up, I dont know, I dont care, why are you asking me this stuff, Man put whatever you want, get out" etc all while shifting violently and thrashing sheet and smacking pillows. Had to go to my preceptor 2x and get her to finish the admission form with me. Of course the patient was perfect and we both knew this was all an act.
Im not going to lie I did everything I could and in the end the patient got under my skin, I even felt in my gut she was being racial towards me but w.e, I voiced and vented to my preceptor and I guess it was too much Im not sure. I also asked for her expertise and how can I handle this better next time, tips, phrases etc.
I get a voicemail the next day on my day off from my manager saying dont come n, we need to sit down with the other manager and discuss some things that happened over the weekend. I did some homework on how to handle difficult patients, had some articles printed and brought them with me. Found out that same day of the meeting on Friday I was fired.
They did it very well and professionally, was honestly the best 'You're fired' sit down Ive ever experienced. They gave me good feedback and constructive and positive details and well. Suggested that other branches of nursing might work better for me, it really resonated and had me thinking. It just came down to what I mentioned above; my "way of handling frustration in the work place" and I guess my "inability to connect with patients emotionally". Im going to write them a thank you letter for giving me the opportunity and the time I spent at their facility, I really did learn ALOT. (it was a tele, step down, surgical, med surg, psycho, etc kind of floor, we got everything)
I basically need some expertise, I wanted to know what other avenues of nursing I can take that require much less emotional connection and less family centered care. I would like to do something thats fast paced but not so much customer service oriented. Im great at DOING, the manager emphasized I was VERY intelligent and it kinda blew them away at first............................I guess...lol.
So any ideas will help, I tried looking up odd jobs and very different positions nurses cant take. I was thinking correctional nursing maybe? My dream would be the ER but I need experience and thats my other obstacle, Im a new grad... so I NEED experience regardless what avenue I take all I have is about a month or less experience, handled up to 3 patient at a time.
Any ideas or where I can find an RN career counselor??? Thanks..
Perhaps while you look for another nursing job you should get a job in customer service, just to see the other side of it, when people will tear you down over how their burger is medium not medium rare like they ordered, or their capuccino is not extra dry, as they have asked.
This is actually not bad advice. I think one reason transitioning to the hospital has worked out for me so well is that I worked in a dry cleaner, a movie theater, and a hotel before then - and when you've gotten screamed at for 45 minutes over some stale Twizzlers, or have been told you're incompetent and you should just kill yourself because the internet (which you have no control over) is slow, it makes it a lot easier to tolerate people in the hospital. At least they have a legit reason behind why they are being totally evil to you, and most of them are aware they are at your mercy so they are slightly nicer than people outside of the hospital. I got much worse treatment from customers in my previous jobs than I have ever received as a nurse, or even as a CNA.
To both of you, I have worked in restaurants and retail. I know what customer service is, but in a hospital setting, AS A NEW GRAD....Im getting used to it. But something I didnt mention is that this lady's 2 daughters literally asked for apple juice 8x a day, 1/2 or more were never even drank of barely sipped. After I told them very kindly about our PCA, even introduced her to them and she herself told them anything of this nature CALL ME....They still kept buzzing me. Im not saying getting a juice is impossible but when its over and over and for other small things that the PCA can do, it gets irritating. In no way am I saying its a PCA's job, I loved my PCAs and ALWAYS helped them, but there was no need for the patient to keep calling me 24/7 for stupid things. Hopefully that picture is clearer now.
Specializes in Oncology; medical specialty website.
Customer service is here to stay. And unfortunately in hospitals, customer service = kissing petooty no matter how out of line that petooty may be. Retail has long ago learned that to meet expectations, you have to skillfully set those expectations. Hospitals unfortunately have not learned that lesson, so they think you have to meet expectations no matter how unrealistic they may be. And do it with less staff. And don't dare let anyone know that you actually care more about CPR in room one than getting juice in room two, because room two deserves to think they are your number one priority too!!!
Which is why I hope to soon get out of nursing. But if you want to stick with it, it's just something you'll have to learn to deal with and become an expert at. Because hospital admin doesn't care how many lives you save, how many patients you keep from going south, how many bad outcomes you prevent. They care that you serve coffee like a Starbucks barista and juice and drugs like a five star restaurant server.
So learn to kiss petooty. You've gotten some good tips here. I especially like that you're supposed to be an actress. Read that advice twice.
I actually got written up when I was working in the ED because I had the unmitigated temerity to tell someone I couldn't get him water right at that moment because we had a code. I was told I needed to let everyone know they're important.
Yeah, how dare those coding patients be so selfish as to think they're more important than the other patients.
I actually got written up when I was working in the ED because I had the unmitigated temerity to tell someone I couldn't get him water right at that moment because we had a code. I was told I needed to let everyone know they're important.
Yeah, how dare those coding patients be so selfish as to think they're more important than the other patients.
I've had very good success explaining to patients and their families that I'm very sorry if they have to wait a few extra moments, but I'm tied up with someone who's having an emergency, and I'm sure they'd understand, as they or their family would be my A#1 priority if they were having an emergency. I tell them if I can't return in a few moments I'll try and get someone else to come. The words may change slightly based on the situation and I'm very careful with my delivery so it comes across as very sincere (and it is). It took a few years to come up with this after some really frustrating attempts to get people to understand reasons for delays when there's a code. It actually gets people on board, and I'm almost always told "please, do whatever you have to do, we'll be fine".
Real Nurse Jackie, you're going to be just fine. It sounds like you just have to learn to curb your frustrations around your coworkers until they get a chance to know you. On orientation people don't want to hear their new coworkers complain about stupid stuff (not saying you used those words!) and the like. They want to hear you learning and see you smiling (not exactly, but they do expect you to be on your best behavior for a few months!). I'm guessing you tend to be very expressive, and maybe people can read your thoughts on your facial expression, and it can get you in trouble! Being new and task oriented, your care is (understandably) probably very linear right now, and in time your care will become more fluid and you'll discover things you can put off and work around (like the snarky pt you're trying to admit). You have an amazing attitude for coming to this forum for advice and you're taking it like a champ. If you can get some experience for a year or two on a floor, then you're going to have a lot more opportunities for other jobs. Best of luck!
But your right I need a foundation...so I suppose if I want to move around later in nursing Im going to have to bite the bullet and learn to work on a family centered floor...I m good at doing, but being all touchy feely.....Thats why Im trying to look into various "other" branches of nursing...
Try to capitalize on your strength. You say you are good at doing. Start there. Tell the family and patient: "This is the priority for your care this shift. I will be doing x and y, and those things are important because _____. After my assessment, I'll get your medications started." Think out loud and explain what you're doing. Keep your frustrations to yourself or talk about it with a friend outside of work. You can demonstrate caring by competence and by translating the health care world to family and patient. You don't have to be all huggy lovey. Provide great care, and explain why you do things. This works very well for me. There will be jerks in every job, both patients and coworkers. Don't give them free rent in your head.
Thank you.. It means alot from the nurses on here telling me that. I appreciate your kind words and constructive criticism and help. Im really happy I came on here.
I can be expressive! lol Ill do 110% better on the next floor I get hired on. NONE of this will happen again. :)
Try to capitalize on your strength. You say you are good at doing. Start there. Tell the family and patient: "This is the priority for your care this shift. I will be doing x and y, and those things are important because _____. After my assessment, I'll get your medications started."\
THAT WILL DEFINITELY WORK FOR ME! :) Im going to use that, thanks. I never thought to do it like that! I think I think I THINKKK this is a great tip right here :)
I started corrections nursing about 6 months ago. When I am on shift, I am the only nurse there. There is no MD onsite, just on call. If, I wasn't experienced I would be freaking out. I think you could do it; it just potentially could be a lot like working the ER as a new grad (without any support).
Well, I hope you like CPR. Most inmates try to commit suicide. There isn't a crash cart where I am at, though some prisons have one. Then ACLS will be a must for you. If your situation would also have more advanced equipment, then TNCC would be useful. I am in a simple medical clinic. I go out into the "units" to pass medications which is similar to a long term care pass. No pyxis. So hope you are good at passing 40 medications in an hour. I also have to do a "health screen" on each inmate. So after corrections staff have searched them and given them prison attire, I basically do a physical assessment to screen for problems. You can imagine the kind of health problems both basic and complex I run into. Prisons have what is called "sick call". These are requests from inmates to be seen by medical personnel. This is a time suck. Some people put in a request every day. They are no more sick than you or I. So you need great assessment skills. Also, you may have to do procedures independently like starting IVs or drawing blood. I hope you enjoy mental health. I work very closely with county mental health. In fact, probably 80 % of the inmates have a mental health or substance abuse problem. I completed the CCM (certified case manager) requirements this year and sat for the national exam. Understand, you would need to have 12 months (supervised) or 24 months (unsupervised) paid experience in case management to qualify to sit for the exam, then you have to pass. I triage calls to the PA or MD on call. I also set up the routine physicals the MD has to do and basically act as his medical assistant. So a lot is expected from me. No day is the same. The corrections staff are so good to me. I have never been treated so well. Good luck, this is such a step up from hospital nursing.
all I have is about a month or less experience, handled up to 3 patient at a time.
I never thought to do it like that! I think I think I THINKKK this is a great tip right here :)
Wow thats stupid.... My goodness it was a code. Geeze
calivianya, BSN, RN
2,418 Posts
This is actually not bad advice. I think one reason transitioning to the hospital has worked out for me so well is that I worked in a dry cleaner, a movie theater, and a hotel before then - and when you've gotten screamed at for 45 minutes over some stale Twizzlers, or have been told you're incompetent and you should just kill yourself because the internet (which you have no control over) is slow, it makes it a lot easier to tolerate people in the hospital. At least they have a legit reason behind why they are being totally evil to you, and most of them are aware they are at your mercy so they are slightly nicer than people outside of the hospital. I got much worse treatment from customers in my previous jobs than I have ever received as a nurse, or even as a CNA.