let go from job

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Anyone ever had that happen? I know many have. I never expected to have it happen to me. I started a new job not even 2 months ago, and when they let me go, they didn’t even give me specific reasons besides “not a good fit”. They mentioned the whole 90 day period thing most employers have, but they didn’t even give me a full 90 days.

What bothers me is that they must have known ALL DAY and chose to tell me 20 minutes before close. To me that is rude. I worked there all day alongside them, being out of the loop to the knowledge that they already planned to “let me go” at the end of the day.

I could also tell the past week or so one of the providers acts very cold towards me. How am I supposed to improve or know what I need to work on if no one communicates? I tried my best to communicate and do what I needed to do but I don’t feel that communication was reciprocated. And as nurses we all know how integral communication is in our field. I’d try to be friendly. I didn’t get that back. The provider would literally talk to everyone but me...it was kind of awkward but I decided to pay no mind to it and just do my job. But he was very rude and now the vibes I got have come into full play, since he obviously wanted to let me go.

I worked for a smaller private clinic so you basically worked with the same 2 or 3 people all the time. The main provider I worked with seems to have held all the “power” in the decision , which I don’t find fair. It’s as if I didn’t jive with this provider well enough, and he just didn’t like me. I got along fine with all the other providers... no one else made me nervous but I can look back now and see that I felt nervous around that particular one.

I’m kind of crushed and I don’t think this was fair. I feel like it would’ve gone down a lot different were it not a private small clinic. I suppose just one or two people hold all the power in smaller places.

anyways, just looking for encouragement. Obviously at the moment at least, my confidence is temporarily shot.

Crash_Cart

446 Posts

Specializes in ER OR LTC Code Blue Trauma Dog.

I suspect there's something else going on that you are entirely unaware of like a hiring decision was made he didn't like happening in the first place. Sounds like he didn't exactly roll out the red carpet, or was very happy to have you around right from the beginning.

You said it's a small private clinic, so perhaps he wanted someone else like a personal friend, or even a relative to work in your position instead of you, but this decision was overridden by someone.

This sort of thing would explain the "chip on his shoulder" attitude the whole time. Someone probably asked him recently how you were working out on the job and well... you can do the rest of the math.

It's unfortunate good employees get caught in the middle of these kind of power struggles occurring between people who are running the shop at the workplace, but rest assured it doesn't only occur in nursing.

Crash_Cart

446 Posts

Specializes in ER OR LTC Code Blue Trauma Dog.
1 hour ago, tinybbynurse said:

I feel like it would’ve gone down a lot different were it not a private small clinic.

You know, the more I think about that, I think you're probably right. ?

Hey look, you got a license and you're in high demand right?

So move forward and don't even think of looking back.

If they should ever ask why you left your last job, simply tell them it was a small private clinic and you didn't feel "it was a good fit." Just remain silent after that and no further explanation is needed ok? I know you didn't do anything wrong so don't beat yourself up about it. Nurses are their own worst enemy at times, because we relentlessly analyse and assess everything to death. lol ? Hey, just put it all behind you and stay positive. No point in losing your confidence over something that's their loss, not yours!

Davey Do

10,476 Posts

Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
On 7/18/2019 at 8:26 PM, tinybbynurse said:

What bothers me is that they must have known ALL DAY and chose to tell me 20 minutes before close. To me that is rude. I worked there all day alongside them, being out of the loop to the knowledge that they already planned to “let me go” at the end of the day.

my confidence is temporarily shot.

Having been fired from three positions in my career, tinybbynurse, I empathize with you, so let's commiserate.

Without giving the now boring details, I was unjustly fired from all three and won unemployment benefits from two of the three. I would have won the third, save for the fact that I offhandedly said to the medical director, "Go ahead then, fire me!"

I guess shouldn't have said that.

But in all three cases, tinybbynurse, I moved into better, higher paying positions.

I encourage you to pick yourself up, shake the dust from your shoes of your former employer, and head on down the road to new beginnings.

The very best to you!

Doesn't help your situation, but whoever decided to let people go on a Friday, end of the day, etc....needs to be shot. That is the wrong way to terminate someone.

Do it on a Monday or in the morning...why? Because when they get home, they have time to DO SOMETHING TOWARD FINDING ANOTHER JOB instead of coming home exhausted with this huge weight on their shoulders.

ZenLover, MSN, RN, NP

1 Article; 132 Posts

Specializes in APRN / Critical Care Neuro.

I agree with everyone’s comments above. I have been in the position to be fired and have had to be in the position to fire someone. Neither feels good, at least not to me.

1) Don’t ever take responsibility for someone else’s decision. You can not do this and if you try you will be wholly unsuccessful. People will often justify rationales for doing things, but they will not very often tell you the truth. Justification and truth are two different things.

2) Rejection from an outside source stinks and it hurts. The quicker you learn to recover from that, the better off you will be. Put it into the perspective it deserves and give it the weight that it merits. In this instance it should have no weight at all.

3) When someone shows you who they are and their character, believe them and know it has nothing to do with you. You do not want to work for a provider like this and if you were not quite brave enough to end it on your own they actually did you a favor. Consider yourself blessed!

Good luck and where ever you go next, I am almost certain you will be much better off!

Oldmahubbard

1,487 Posts

Many times there is something bigger in the picture that you don't know about. I got fired unjustly some 20 years ago after working at an agency for 5 years. The new supervisor simply took a personal dislike to me., end of story. After I left, several others got fired, including a woman I always thought was Florence Nightingale personified. As it turned out, The Medicare payment model for home care was changing, and fewer nurses were going to be needed.

Then the next job I went to at a clinic was 10 x worse. Talk about a toxic work environment. After torturing me for 4 months, they called me into the office to say things weren't working out.

A couple nights later, the union rep called. She told me I was the 5th person in 2 years who was let go from that position. She knew something had to be wrong and she wanted to know what it was.

Long story short, I took medication for anxiety for several years, but this is how I became an NP.

Press on, my friend.

tinybbynurse

196 Posts

10 hours ago, Crash_Cart said:

I suspect there's something else going on that you are entirely unaware of like a hiring decision was made he didn't like happening in the first place. Sounds like he didn't exactly roll out the red carpet, or was very happy to have you around right from the beginning.

You said it's a small private clinic, so perhaps he wanted someone else like a personal friend, or even a relative to work in your position instead of you, but this decision was overridden by someone.

This sort of thing would explain the "chip on his shoulder" attitude the whole time. Someone probably asked him recently how you were working out on the job and well... you can do the rest of the math.

It's unfortunate good employees get caught in the middle of these kind of power struggles occurring between people who are running the shop at the workplace, but rest assured it doesn't only occur in nursing.

Thank you for your words. I definitely agree with you. This clinic actually often hires friends of employees, so I wouldn’t be surprised at all if there’s someone else someone, perhaps this provider, “preferred”. It almost seems old fashioned and outdated - the provider alone (I assume) being deemed all or most of the power in hiring or firing. In most nursing jobs, the provider has nothing to do with it. It’s the head of nursing, the supervisor above that person has to weigh in, HR...you get my drift.

And come to think of it, while I was working there, I got word of some techs on the job who had been apparently “bullied” out of their job and left on their own. I don’t think that just because a few people have been there for years on end it should give them power to choose who works with them based on how much they like them. BUT, I do recognize that this is unfortunately a real reality.

tinybbynurse

196 Posts

6 hours ago, Davey Do said:

Having been fired from three positions in my career, tinybbynurse, I empathize with you, so let's commiserate.

Without giving the now boring details, I was unjustly fired from all three and won unemployment benefits from two of the three. I would have won the third, save for the fact that I offhandedly said to the medical director, "Go ahead, fire me!"

I shouldn't have said that.

But in all three cases, tinybbynurse, I moved into better, higher paying positions.

I encourage you to pick yourself up, shake the dust from your shoes of your former employer, and head on down the road to new beginnings.

The very best to you!

Three times? And you persevered - that is so encouraging. Thank you for sharing! I am naturally still in shock seeing as how it’s been less than 24 hours and I’d be lying if I said I don’t feel immensely insecure and crushed af the moment, but I’m trying to process those feelings, cry if I need to and move on to something better that I know is out there.

tinybbynurse

196 Posts

1 hour ago, Jory said:

Doesn't help your situation, but whoever decided to let people go on a Friday, end of the day, etc....needs to be shot. That is the wrong way to terminate someone.

Do it on a Monday or in the morning...why? Because when they get home, they have time to DO SOMETHING TOWARD FINDING ANOTHER JOB instead of coming home exhausted with this huge weight on their shoulders.

YES!! This is EXACTLY what I told my SO the other day! I was like... ya know...they could’ve just let me go in the morning or called me or something, so I could spend the day figuring out my next move, it truly takes A LOT of time searching for jobs, submitting applications, and the sooner you can get in apps the sooner you can get a call! I had worked 4 long 11-12 hour shifts in a row when they told me, and yes, I was very exhausted and weighed down! Haha.

tinybbynurse

196 Posts

@ZenLover I totally agree - Justification and truth ARE two separate things. And you’re right - I don’t want to work so closely on a regular basis with a provider who is cold and unfriendly on purpose. I find that to be blatantly rude and not necessary. You’d think I’d rubbed him the wrong way on a personal level the way he treated me - but who knows, he never communicated that anything was wrong. Did I mention he didn’t even do the dirty work of letting me go himself? He had someone else do it. While he was in a room with a patient.

tinybbynurse

196 Posts

@Oldmahubbard thank you for your words as well!! It’s terrible that personal favor by one or two people plays a role in some nursing jobs. But I know this is just the way it is sometimes. I’m so glad to hear that you ended up becoming an NP and perservering!!

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