Just lost my first nursing job... Do I have to mention it on my resume?

[klmn]

I recently graduated from nursing school, passed boards and landed my first job on a neuro step down floor... Unfortunately I had to write a letter of resignation three months later. My manager said that I was not learning fast enough and they could not spend any more money on my orientation. I myself did not feel I was ready to start working on that floor. Now I feel very disappointed, and discouraged, and scared. It seems to me that any floor that I start on I will be a failure.

With all these thoughts in my head I decided to start a new job hunt and realized that I had no idea how to explain my resignation. I know that it is important to be honest and try to explain the situation, but at the same time I am thinking about not mentioning my first employment at all. My question is : do hospitals really investigate the applicants' employment history? Will they be able to find out about my first employment even if I don't mention it on my resume? I am just afraid that my resignation will look bad on the resume and it will be even harder to find a new job.

thanks

[pennyaline]

It's curious that they asked you to resign. If you were within a formal orientation period, they should have been able to terminate you for any or no reason.

In any event, don't sweat it. You were a new grad hired onto a neuro step down unit, and it was up to them to train you or reassign you. They didn't. So move on. Look for med-surg... yes, I know, it doesn't have nearly the glam of specialized units but it does have a more forgiving structure... and go for it. In your work history, you can claim any reason you want for leaving your first position, including that you didn't feel you were ready to work on a specialized unit and they didn't have another opening on another unit to transfer you to.

[caliotter3]

Yes, you were not ready for this type of unit, and there is no shame in admitting this. It is too bad that they did not have a med-surg unit that you could transfer to. But that is not your fault. Good luck finding a better fit.