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.
And if she were a CNA she would most likely chart bogus vital signs and the poor RN whom she is paired with would take the blame if the patient went south! Oh, she would say I did not realize the hospital was so strict and wanted correct vital signs every 4 hours! Jeez it was just a mistake, by the way I was really tired I did not get enough sleep!, besides the patient is still alive I don't know why everyone is making such a big deal about it? I made a mistake!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
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.
No. Just no.
Most nurses do not "eat their young," although I'll bet that given your attitude, you've probably met more nurses than average who have negative reactions to your opinions and behavior. That wouldn't be "eating their young"; that is more likely to be an honest attempt to give you the feedback you need to practice safely in nursing. It is a fallacy that any interaction with a more senior nurse that you find to be uncomfortable or negative comprises "young eating."
As a nurse with forty years of experience, I can confidently say that I haven't forgotten what it's like to be new, and I very much doubt that the other crusty old bats here have either. We can tell the difference, though, between an honest mistake and an intentional act of fraud or negligence. Confusing a PVC and a PJC is an honest mistake; charting treatments that you haven't actually done is fraudulent charting. That's illegal and is one of the top reasons nurses lose their jobs and their licenses. What we are seeing in the OP is a PATTERN of lying, stealing and fraud. Such dishonesty and unethical behavior has no room in nursing.
Those of us reacting negatively to the original poster's behavior have NOT done the same things. It IS a big deal, and the fact that you dont understand what a big deal it is (or that you insist it isn't a big deal) leaves very little doubt that YOU are also a dishonest nurse and calls into question whether you have the integrity to act ethically. If not, perhaps YOU shouldn't be a nurse, either.
Noub, you seem to know a lot more about the OP that the rest of us do. How ironic is it that your first post attempts to equate sound advice regarding the honesty and integrity that is the heart of nursing practice to "eating our young."
Sounds like OP doesn't have a good rapport with coworkers. Or hides her struggles from them. A lot of new grads (I've heard) try to hide their insecurities and mistakes from the more experienced nurses. Because they don't want to look bad. But hiding the mistakes lead to bigger mistakes. When I say, "hey, did I write this in the chart accurately?", I get to have good feedback. For example, I charted a stage 1 pressure ulcer. I swore that's what I saw, but my preceptor reminded me of the difference between a DTI and a stage 1. Not a huge deal if someone were to read the chart. It doesn't really change the intervention. But she had me go back and fix it, after making sure I understood the differences between the two. OP, you need to swallow pride and ask for help at work. If you aren't getting help, or you are being ignored by coworkers, you need to figure out why.
Charting things not done is unacceptable.
Forgetting to chart things that you did do is also unacceptable.
Lying on your time sheets is unacceptable. You are an adult. You should know this. This isn't a nursing problem. It applies to all jobs.
Hiding mistakes is unacceptable. You should have done the CEUs. But you knew this and admitted to blowing it off.
This has nothing to do with you as a nurse. This has everything to do with you as a worker in general. I bet if you worked at a grocery store, you would likely run into similar troubles on the job as far as integrity and accountability. Look into career counseling. See why you keep making the same mistakes. I know you are remorseful of them. But I feel like it's because you got negative consequences from it. If you got away with it and nothing bad happened, I bet you'd keep doing what you were doing. Best of luck. Hope you can get things straightened out.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
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.
Is this an amalgamation of several years of previous posts? All the elements are there.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Noub:
"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.... "
And just you stop RIGHT THERE. Just because nursing is a job where compassion is part of the package, don't EVEN hang that "compassionate" and "eating our young" thing on us. We are not any different than the bartender, grocery store clerk or anyone else. We are human and allowed to have feelings and when you post on a public board, you WILL get replies you don't like. Get used to it.
You lost me right there at the whole "eating our young" thing. The rest of your unbelievably verbose, long-winded and hard-to-read post is lost on me. I am not going to expound further.
You have a lot to learn. And please, quit with the "eating our young" thing. It's not about that. That phrase needs to go the way of the dodo bird.
Specializes in M/S, LTC, Corrections, PDN & drug rehab.
I disagree with you Sir........ or Ma'am, but you are entitled to your opinion. Good day and God bless! :)
It's not an opinion, it's a fact. The OP knew what she was doing was wrong & kept doing it any way. She deliberately stole & lied, that's not a mistake. She knew what she was doing & didn't care.
As for the rest of your post, I couldn't get past the first paragraph. With what you put I can't imagine you are a nurse. If you are, I question your morals & integrity.
ETA: Checked your (Noub) profile. You joined on the 18th, only have three comments & they are all on this thread. Isn't it ironic, don't 'cha think?
I do not want the OP making a burger for me either.
I can only imagine the burger forum posts:
I was making burger for a customer but that fell on the ground so I picked it up and dusted it off and gave it to them but one of my coworkers saw me and said they would report it to the manager and I might lose my food handling license but I don't know yet since I haven't heard anything from the county yet.
I have been an LPN for 1 year in 2 months and unfortunately during this period I have had 5! nursing jobs. yes 5. 
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Noub
3 Posts
I disagree with you Sir........ or Ma'am, but you are entitled to your opinion. Good day and God bless! :)