Where do begin? I have been an LPN for 1 year in 2 months and unfortunately during this period I have had 5! nursing jobs. yes 5.
(1) I started off in a nursing home, just to find my niche I didn't like it but I needed a form of income and I needed some experience in the field. Two months in the DON called me and said, he thinks that its best that he let me go. He didn't give me a specific reason, but during my orientation the nurses that trained me had to evaluate how I was doing, so I assumed that did not do well during orientation. Like I said, I did not like the nursing home, I had 30-32 patients to care for and I just did not feel safe nor happy.
(2) My second job was in a pediatric home health, I was working for a family and one of the orders called for me to put cotton ball in the little boy's ears as he had surgery 2 days before. Well, I did put cotton ball in my patient ear but I had soaked and drained it with H.Peroxide. Well, the next day the family called the agency and said I put a wet cotton ball in the boys ears. The order stated for me to cleaned around the boy's ear with a cotton tip and H.peroxide and then placed a cotton ball in his ear. My mistake was I misunderstood what the outgoing nurse was telling me before she left about the patient new orders. My fault. It was a med error and the agency said I cannot work for them unless I complete a med error CEU. I never completed it, so never went back to work for them. Although, 6 months later they were still calling me to come work for them because they need nurses so bad. I didn't the patients they assign me usually live 45-50 minutes away and I just couldn't put myself through that again.
(3) My third job was a nursing home again. This lasted a month and a few weeks. I mentioned that I do not like the nursing home. I don't. But my mom work in this particular nursing home and she gave told the DON about me. Well, since my mom has been there for 5 years and a good worker they hired me. Well, I had so much patient work load that I did not do my treatments, although I charted that I did. This led to me having a meeting with the DON and 4 other people in administration. I was so nervous at that meeting that I told myself that I never want to be in such a position again. I felt humiliated, embarrassed, and just incompetent as a nurse. I was first suspended, but then let go. They informed me that they would report me to the BON. well it's been 8 months, have not gotten anything from the BON and I've checked my license online and it says I'm in good standing no complaints.
(4) My fourth job was at a pediatric clinic. i did not like it much as I felt I was losing many of my skills. I mostly gave immunizations to babies and worked on the doctor's schedule for the week. I worked there for 4 months but then i had to leave due to the fact that I started an RN program and the schedule would conflict with my work schedule. The manager loved me, got great reviews from them. I still felt bad though due to my recent firing. My self esteem just plummeted and Im still feeling like somethings wrong with me. Anyways, I did not get fired from this job, I left due to school.
(5) I am currently working for 2 agencies. one is a pediatric agency and the other is a pediatric and adult agency. Well, yesterday I got fired from the pediatric agency. The reason is I document that I left at my scheduled time when in reality I left 30 minutes early three time. Did I think they would find out? yeah. Did I think it was an issue. I did. I literally cannot figure out any reason as to why I charted that I left at 0700 when in reality I left at 0630. At the other agency I work for, one of the parents always let me leave early and she said I can still write down the time I left as the time I was scheduled. in my head, I started to think it was no longer a big deal so i did it with this agency. I know in nursing school they teach us not to do this, I hate that I'm not abiding by the things that I was taught in school and letting others influence my judgement. I knew it was a big deal and I did it anyway. I'm sure the other nurses that work with the pediatric/adult agency leave early but chart their scheduled time cause the guardian (mom) said its ok. Anyways, got called into the office today and I was let go. It is considered insurance fraud. in total I lied and said I worked 1 hour and 30 minutes. The DON were saying that the insurance company might not think its a big deal they might just say "oh, its only 1 hour and let it go. they do not think that I was trying to be malicious. but they have to report it to the BON. Two of the times I left, the patient had an appointment in the morning so he had to leave at 0530 but I charted that I left at 0600. the other time I left early is when I emailed the agency saying that I can now work 12 hours form 7pm-7am. well it wasn't suppose to start that particular week, but the following cause I have nursing clinical in the morning. Hence I left at 0630 but charted i left at 7. The DON was saying it all depends on how the BON choose to handle it.
I do not know what's wrong with me. I've never been fired before until I started nursing. I'm a few months from graduating an RN program and I still cannot get my act together. I want to treat this as a lesson learned. I'm feeling stupid cause I've been fired so many times. I'm still working for the pediatric/adult agency but I am going to chart the correct time that I leave, at the end of the day the I have to protect my license no one else. Does anyone know how long it will take for the BON to contact me? will they make a big deal over 1 hour and 30 minutes? My first year of nursing was rough. I take full responsibility. I am so embarrassed that I created another account to write this although my other account is not even lay real name. I need to remember all the handwork I put in into obtaining my license and not let it go so easily. What's wrong with me? I just do not think that I am learning from my mistakes as a normal human being would.
Bottom line is you need to get a different job doing something else. Some job where being careless is ok. You are dealing with peoples lives here, youre not making burgers.
I do not want the OP making a burger for me either.
I still think we've been trolled yet again by somebody with a little medical knowledge who wanted to get us all riled up. Just not quite as mean and nasty as trolls usually are. Troll or not, this is not a person who should be a nurse.
2) never rely on change of shift report. read your orders. i made this mistake, luckily, my patient wasn't harmed.
3) you'd be surprised at how many nurses chart upon duties they never completed. new nurses AND veterans.
4) no comment
5) you'll get canned anywhere for falsifying your time card. more likely so if you "steal" from the company as opposed to something like clocking out AND THEN charting, or clocking out for lunch (because it's mandatory) when you haven't taken a break.
i've seen worse. and these nurses are still with the hospital i work at.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
1) no comment
2) never rely on change of shift report. read your orders. i made this mistake, luckily, my patient wasn't harmed.
3) you'd be surprised at how many nurses chart upon duties they never completed. new nurses AND veterans.
4) no comment
5) you'll get canned anywhere for falsifying your time card. more likely so if you "steal" from the company as opposed to something like clocking out AND THEN charting, or clocking out for lunch (because it's mandatory) when you haven't taken a break.
i've seen worse. and these nurses are still with the hospital i work at.
Just because other people do it doesn't make it ok. Those nurses should lose their licenses.
wow. just wow. this job is not for you, girl. sorry (actually no, not sorry). listen to these 150+ comments from seasoned nurses and hit the road. you're dishonest. you're unethical. you're lazy. and you don't care, despite what you claim. i honestly don't know how you even continued to get re-hired. or why you posted this. waitressing might be a better fit. i did it for 7 years before nursing. i've found that there's some crappy people in that business. you'd fit right in. and you can make good money. do all the patient's a favor and quit. today.
You know it's going to get worse when you get your RN, right? Most new grad RN jobs are going to be 12 hr shifts in a hospital where you are responsible for the TOTAL CARE of several patients..
I'm sorry, but you just seem kind of oblivious. I feel like I learned a great deal of what you are having problems with, in my clinicals. If I did anything you did while in school, I would've been dismissed from my program. Seriously.
Sorry. Don't want to sound mean but I'm not very good at sugar coating.
Tip: don't do anything mental health or substance abuse. They are manipulative and might take advantage of you. And floor nursing may end up working out in your favor.. Surrounded by other nurses who can help..
How ironic it is to me that nursing is supposed to be a profession of compassion, yet most nurses eat their young. It seems that quite a bit of nurses are bitter and uncomapassionate and seem to forget that they once too were new nurses and that everyone makes mistakes. So many keep saying she kept making the same mistakes over and over, but I don't see her making the same mistakes over and over again. Others will say that these were not mistakes, that they were intentional, I also do not see that either. Yes she made bad choices by not completing the CEU they required her to do to keep her job, I admit that, but on none of her later jobs did she claim to have made another medication error. She did admit that she charted having given treatments when she did not, but everyone is assuming that she did it maliciously, and I don't get that from what she wrote. She said that she had a high patient load and was not able to get to them. I've seen nurses chart that they have done things before they have done it, although they eventually get to them, but they still chart them that they did it at lets say 9 am when it was really done at 1 pm. Sometimes with a high patient load and high acuity it is impossible to do all the things you are supposed to and have time to chart everything. Maybe she had the intention of eventually getting them done and just did not get to them, and forgot to mention it to the nurse on the upcoming shift. I mean we don't really know what happened because we were not there. It is still wrong, I totally get that, but everyone is tearing this nurse apart when they probably have done similar things, but just haven't gotten caught. Then there is the time card thing. Yes it was wrong for her to falsify her time, but she clearly explained that one of the patients on the other agency allowed her to leave a little early and still let her record it as her scheduled time. She got confused and did it with the wrong person. I have had jobs before were employees do that and the managers know it and it is not a big deal. I not minimizing her actions, but there is no reason to tear this person apart when we've all made mistakes before. It's so easy to go at somebody when you haven't made the same mistakes before, but when it us that makes the mistakes we hope for understanding and for someone to help us out (which is what she was looking for). I think her biggest mistake was coming here to look for help.
She has recognized her mistakes and has owned up to them. She clearly wants to improve and has said it herself, it's crazy how everyone just keeps telling her the same thing that she has already stated. I think nurses should learn to have more compassion, not only for their patients, but also for their co-workers. It would be horrible working around people like these, who tear you apart instead of giving constructive criticism. Everything that was said to her could have been told in a constructive manner. I try not to judge others because I am not perfect either and I too make mistakes. It's sad that people just don't have mercy of others. My mom always told me not to be mean to others because you never know in what position you may be in the future where you would need that person's help. People that like to act like the mistakes of others are so dumb that it's ridiculous usually end up making way more ridiculous mistakes.
If nursing is what you really like to do don't let others bring you down. Ask God to help you during this rough time you are going through. Work really hard to get your act together. I do believe you can change with the help of God. Ask for help if you cannot handle something, ask questions if you do not know the answer, and get the help necessary so you can get through this. Remember that patient safety is first.
How ironic it is to me that nursing is supposed to be a profession of compassion, yet most nurses eat their young.
That is a patently false, brazen lie. You have totally lost credibility with that, so nothing else you have to say will get the respect that you would hope.
It is still wrong, I totally get that, but everyone is tearing this nurse apart when they probably have done similar things, but just haven't gotten caught.
I have certainly made my share of mistakes, possibly even more than my share. But NO, I haven't done similar things, and I would be willing to bet most expressing horror about that haven't either. That's why they're, you know, horrified. When someone believes that "everyone" is dishonest, it makes me think that what they are actually doing is admitting that THEY are dishonest.
Then there is the time card thing. Yes it was wrong for her to falsify her time, but she clearly explained that one of the patients on the other agency allowed her to leave a little early and still let her record it as her scheduled time. She got confused and did it with the wrong person.
EVERY patient is "the wrong person" to lie about time cards. It's wrong whether the patient "allows" her to lie or not. The fact that you either don't get it or are defending is further evidence that maybe your ethical compass isn't exactly pointing north either.
I have had jobs before were employees do that and the managers know it and it is not a big deal. I not minimizing her actions,
Yes, you most certainly are. Look back at your statement "it is not a big deal." That would be a pretty good example of minimizing someone's actions.
but there is no reason to tear this person apart when we've all made mistakes before.
Calculating a medication dose incorrectly is a mistake. Charting a rhythm as SVT rather than sinus tach is a mistake. Interpreting an S3 as an S4 is a mistake. LYING on time cards and charting treatments given when they were not rather than addressing the problem of having too many patients is not a mistake, it is willful FRAUD. The fact that you cannot distinguish the difference is, again, telling.
She has recognized her mistakes and has owned up to them. She clearly wants to improve and has said it herself, it's crazy how everyone just keeps telling her the same thing that she has already stated.
That happens because people don't read the darned thread first before they reply, not necessarily because they are wanting to pile on. Most of them probably had a visceral reaction to the OP and just couldn't keep their reactions in check before reading through all these pages.
I think nurses should learn to have more compassion, not only for their patients, but also for their co-workers. It would be horrible working around people like these, who tear you apart instead of giving constructive criticism. Everything that was said to her could have been told in a constructive manner. I try not to judge others because I am not perfect either and I too make mistakes.
Do you make actual mistakes, or do you lie, cheat, and steal? Because one is NOT the same as the other, no matter how you are trying to put lipstick on that pig.
It's sad that people just don't have mercy of others. My mom always told me not to be mean to others because you never know in what position you may be in the future where you would need that person's help. People that like to act like the mistakes of others are so dumb that it's ridiculous usually end up making way more ridiculous mistakes.
These are not "mistakes," much less are they "dumb mistakes." They are examples of dishonesty, lack of concern for the welfare of patients, and refusal to be accountable and make efforts to improve. And people who call out dishonesty and lack of ethics don't necessarily go on to make "way more ridiculous mistakes." Did you just make that up?
Specializes in Telemetry, Gastroenterology, School Nrs.
This will be the first time, I will be reported to the board. I am not aware that the BON know about the previous things I've done so, how will I not be able to sit for my RN license? I understand falsification is a crime and for 1 hour and 30 minutes, I do not think my license should be taken away. MY DON at agency, said this might not be a career ender but to take it as a lesson. I won't do it again now that I know what I know now.
But you also documented that you carried out treatments that you actually didn't do. That's CRAZY and absolutely hurtful and maybe even detrimental to the patients that were entrusted to you for care. There are a LOT of things that you have done (mistakes or intentional) that make me question you as to why you would think you should be allowed to sit for the exam? I'm honestly quite shocked that you have been allowed to remain in the RN program. I agree with most, you need to get out now before you hurt someone.
I have been an LPN for 1 year in 2 months and unfortunately during this period I have had 5! nursing jobs. yes 5. 
SHGR, MSN, RN, CNS
1 Article; 1,406 Posts
I do not want the OP making a burger for me either.