Is this grievance worthy????? need feedback!

[Charis]

hello all,

have an issue i need feedback on. i have been a nurse since 90. numerically i was at the bedside ½ the time and ½ time on different types of management tracks. i chose to get a masters degree. have not found a job in leadership....difficult to get connected in a few markets so i have relied on my nursing. recently got into a situation in a specialty area. i started my nursing in a specialty area. i was trying to get back to the type nursing i loved. my precepting experience was horrible. my preceptor thought i had recent experience in the specialty. i explained my situation. the director that hired me knew what my aptitude was. they had my resume and 2 interviews. i had a competency checklist which was 2/3 complete with all positive input. i took the initiative with my precept to "informally" ck in on my progress as she never shared how i was doing. she was fine to ask me to do go get this or that during the majority of my precept time which was 10 1hr shifts and i was supposed to learn this way. when i approached her about it she would just withdraw from me. i was put on a improvement plan, then a small precept cycle then fired at the end of the period. they could not prove that anyone was harmed by my practice or even at risk. i was the victim of a bad preceptor and this is impacting the whole of my career as this has never happened to me before. i feel like this started because i asked questions.....if you don't know shouldn't you ask? my preceptor was always happy when they called in agency nurses and always was especially nice to them because they had experience and she was training me. not once did my preceptor have to keep me from harming someone, or did any nurse after me have to clean up any mess behind me. infact i was told by the nurses following me that they thought i was doing fine. agency nurses stated that they could not tell that i was new to the area. besides filing a grievance what can i do? as an eval tool i was given the bkat-90 questions which after the fact it was learned that a page was missing..they counted those questions against me, of the questions i had 23missed 59 right

and the cno feels that the 23 i missed were basic nursing and that makes me unsafe. she states that she was in mgt for 12 years and she could go any where and perform. am i supposed to know everything i'm not exposed to and remember everything from nursing school? i expressed that pt safety is expressed in asking questions in situations you don't

know or have questions on. no one can know everything and thats what resources are for; in the form of people, resource materials, and continuing education. feedback?

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

If you were still in your initial (probationary) period of employment, your employer can terminate for you for whatever reason they want. Check with the HR policies & procedures, but most organizations do not entertain any official grievance unless the employee is past the probationary period.

I know that it may be a cliche, but "not a good fit" is actually a pretty good reason for not continuing an employment relationship. From the information you have shared, it seems to be applicable in this situation. As a manager, I have terminated staff because of attitude issues or inability to get along with co-workers despite the fact that they had all the requisite competencies and had not had any patient safety issues. Nursing in most environments is a team activity and managers sometimes have to make decisions that support team cohesion/camaraderie.

It's OK. Very few of us (myself included) make it through a career without being fired at least once. When it occurs in your initial period of employment, it can easily be explained as "not a good fit" and not due to performance issues. I know that it may not seem like right now, but (based on my own experience) it can even become a positive influence if you learn from it and move on rather than harboring bitterness that will affect any future positions.

Best of luck to as you move on from this awful experience.

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Jeez - probably did you a favor in the long run.