I'm Scared of Getting Fired

[Happychicken]

Hi all,

I am probably in a unique situation regarding nursing. I am a registered Civil Engineer and have my master's in civil engineering. I hated it, and I gave my life to that profession and left my job with the Corps of Engineers (position was in West Virginia), and was fired from 3 jobs which were for different reasons unethical or just me getting into kind of a scapegoat job where the person I was hired mainly so someone else could be fired.

I've done some amazing things, I've worked as a driller's helper at the coal plant, inspected the foundation for a high rise in downtown charlotte, and worked on multiple highway projects with paving crews through the hot summer and at night with lots of drunk drivers.

I've made enough money that I've paid off my car and bought a small really awesome townhome finally back in the area I grew up and want to be in, RDU after 7 years of working out of town. I never let my professional failures hold me back and stuck to my guns and always quickly found new work. To not get too detailed I never did anything wrong, but more or less didn't fit in. I cried so hard when my boss fired me from my last job because I knew I had done everything I could and I was going to leave engineering. He said the job I was in didn't require a professional engineer and it was most likely because I was paid more and they were going to bring in someone entry level (I was working on the highway on a very dangerous project).

I started at a home health agency and started getting a lot of praise from my clients family and boss for like the first time ever. I am getting my CNA while taking pre req's for getting my ADN. My plan is to start working for Duke as a CNA (already interviewed for med surg) and later when I get my ADN to work there and get my BSN online (cheapest way to do it if it works). The home health job (I mainly worked with people in a facility though) is sporadic and as with the territory people end up dying. I was lucky enough to hold my clients hand and comfort him as he died (he had no family). I felt so good doing that. Now I am getting a part time job at Harris Teeter while I finish CNA school for bills.

I just really need some internet love and good vibes because I've literally gone through hell and worked some very dangerous jobs and just horrible projects in construction and engineering. I'm 30 and I read a lot of stuff that makes me feel like with nursing I could be fired at any second is that it is like the most intricate impossible job ever.

I know that if have the smarts to make it through engineering licensure and practice that I have what it takes to be a nurse.

I have this terrible feeling that I will pass everything, get my NCLEX, and then be at work one day and some ambiguous situation where I'm just moving to fast or slowly for someone's personal taste and it results in my being fired and thus unable to be a nurse anymore. As a second career I feel obviously very strongly that this isn't really an option. Can someone tell me everything is going to be OK or give a little advice? I've given a lot more of myself than most people by the time they are my age (30) and honestly don't have the strength to fight against whatever the counterpart for bad companies and shady construction middlemen are in the health care field.

I don't know if originally I would have considered nursing, but I feel that I have been shaped into the caring person I am today because of what I've gone through and that is something unique to me that will make me a great nurse and team member.

[TheDudeWithTheBigDog, ADN, RN]

On 11/7/2019 at 5:25 AM, IndiCRNA said:

If you choose to work in a non-union facility in a right to work state you can be fired for any or no reason at any time.

Right to work means that you can work at a union job but refuse to join the union, which we're not going to argue about if that's a good choice or not here.

You're thinking of "at-will employment." That's the one where they can fire you just because it's Tuesday. But they're still bound by laws. Firing you for any of the protected classes or in retaliation for being a whistleblower or testifying is illegal and you can sue and will win. If it's not something that they can hold up in interviews with unemployment, they'll have to pay into that (just remember in some states, unemployment assumes you're completely at fault if you get fired, so it'll be a process, but there's ways you can really help yourself win).

OP, use the same logic that's going to be drilled in your head through your entire healthcare career and schooling: Document EVERYTHING. If patient rooms get reassigned, document you did a handoff. If you have to report something to the charge nurse, document that you reported it, you just need a simple note. If it's not in the chart, it never happened.

And if you do get any writeups, don't make the same mistakes that most people do that end up costing them their job. Request a day to prepare your statement before signing it. Some jobs will let you, but for most, you're written up and there's a process to follow to fight it. If they don't let you, still sign the paper, refusing to sign it doesn't make it go away and it's not admitting fault, but for your statement just write that you're going to be giving HR and your manager a written statement preferably by the next day's date if they didn't already ask you for a statement before writing you up (also, if they ever ask you for a statement, assume you might be getting written up and same thing, you'll write it out and turn it in or email it to them. No matter what you say, you're probably getting written up, so avoid talking until you've had the time to think about it, write it down, and make sure you got every detail in there). NEVER put your full statement directly on the writeup, because anything you forget to write never happened, and anything you wrote, that's exactly how it happened, and you're being fueled by emotion right now, but ALWAYS write that you will be submitting a written statement. And leave it at that. Don't talk about the writeup, especially if there's a witness in the room to sign the writeup. Don't answer questions. Don't make comments. Just state that you're going to be turning in a statement that explains your side of the story. Keep it completely objective to where your manager is just explaining why you're written up. Get through the day, let yourself calm down because you're probably mad about your writeup, then go home, have something to eat, then just sit down and write out your statement of what happened.

[organichombre, ADN, BSN, MSN, LPN, RN]

Overachievers and type A personalities do well in nursing careers. Often they seem to move into the ICU and other specialty areas. Management is management wherever you are. Bottom line, as others have pointed out, nurses make up the largest expenditure in a facility and will be the first to take a hit. As a male in nursing I have had a pretty good career. You are used to working with men and I would imagine male nurses will get along with you pretty well too. I know, a bit chauvinistic but that's the reality. Ask any female nurse who has been in the military. And please stay away from all the "he said she said BS!" Good luck!

[windsurfer8, BSN, RN]

If you screw up you can get fired. Just like any job. I don't know what else to tell you. If you are looking for "good vibes" then you will get sugar coated nonsense. I have seen people walked out of hospitals who screwed up. More than likely if you pay attention and work hard you will be ok.

[Happychicken]

Update as I’ve gotten some replies:

I went back to a civil engineering company, working as a technician while I reinstate my license. I was pushed in that direction by nurses and paramedics I respected. I’m with a better company and not working on the highway in unsafe conditions like before. I’m glad to have done CNA and EMT, as I learned a lot of people skills from healthcare. Hopefully I’ll get back into EMT when I retire. All jobs are just jobs but I’m glad to be doing what I went to school for again. It’s pretty wild to go from nights on a stroke floor to the sun in long long days inspecting soil. Thanks for the comments. I’m glad I am not involved with COVID.

[windsurfer8, BSN, RN]

I am not sure what you are asking as far as needing "good vibes"?

Yes you screw up you can get fired. It is a deadly serious business. You need to pay attention and be professional.

[Guest1142305]

This is just my two cents, but you should start freelancing civil,engineering work in your area, build up clientele, and possibly open up your own firm. No reason you can’t do both. Having a side stream of income that you personally control would help alleviate your worries about being fired.