I've turned into such a job hopper since I moved to New England in 2020. Part of that was personal stuff, health issues, relocating for grad school internship, etc. But some of it is crazy stuff like this...
Until the very end of August, I was employed on a detox unit. The unit literally had 150% turnover since I started in May. Ever since the beginning of August, when the most experienced employee (who had been there for two years) was fired for trumped up reasons (management said he was "unethical" but didn't really elaborate), the person who had been on my unit the longest was the manager, who had started in April. I was actively looking and applying to other jobs. In the meantime, the pay was good, shifts were 8 hours, and it was a five-minute walk from my house. Manager also said they could potentially accommodate 4 10-hour shifts per week for me once the unit became fully-staffed.
However, there was a ton of drama. For example, we had a new coworker identify her favorite spot to sit and try to implement assigned seating for everybody else to ensure she kept that spot. She even went to not just the manager, but the manager's manager, in order to accomplish this. And it worked.
I don't really care about the seating arrangements, but the change involved multiple in-person meetings, phone calls, and emails. This is for a role that doesn't generally involve a whole lot of sitting down (at least not if you're doing it right). Prior to the start of these multiple meetings, I unknowingly sat in the spot this person had earmarked for herself and got reported to management for this. I didn't even know that this was going to be/already was a rule until I got in trouble with my boss's boss for sitting there. And I didn't leave a mess or anything. I just sat there to do some charting on the computer. This person started after me, so it's not like the desk issue could have been covered during orientation, even if orientation wasn't sorely lacking. I'm not sure what special meaning the spot held for this coworker, but I did hear that this coworker and my boss's boss worked together years ago and were friends from there.
Anyway, I had Fri., Aug 25 off, and I received a call from HR. HR said that I was under investigation but they could not say why. They said I was not to report to work, was not to contact any coworkers or supervisors, and was not to come onto the premises and that HR would be in touch regarding the investigation. I kicked my job search up into high gear. On Thursday, Aug 30, I received a call from HR saying that I was being terminated for misconduct. They said they found a note with threats written on them where I normally sit, had conducted a handwriting analysis, and determined that I wrote the note. They said this handwriting analysis was done by comparing the note to samples of my work, but we only have computer charting. While I hadn't worked the Friday that I initially heard from HR (Aug 25), I did work the day before, and this was apparently found that Thursday evening. But I didn't write any threats. They said this note contained threats to kill people with office supplies like keyboards and staplers. Just in case this needs to be said, I did not threaten to kill anyone with a keyboard or stapler (I'm not even sure that's possible). At no point during this investigation was I told what it was about or asked any questions.
I applied for unemployment, despite "misconduct" generally being a disqualifier for unemployment. I put that I was fired for performance. The unemployment rep called me and stated she tried multiple times to contact my former employer's HR department. She had reached out to me to ask if I had the direct extension for HR. I told her honestly that I didn't, that I just had the main number. Rep stated that she tried that number 5 times and kept getting transferred to different people. My claim ended up being approved, and I got back pay for the weeks I was waiting to hear back.
Mid-September, I was offered a clinic job that I had interviewed for while still employed at the old job. I'm super excited about the clinic job, but I'm also really worried. Start date is Oct 16. This new job already checked references prior to the final interview, so I'm not worried about that piece. My listed references included coworkers from my now-former job whom I was friends with, and the job offer is not contingent on a reference from the old job's manager. I don't have a criminal background or any mark on my license. I guess the background check is still in progress. So far, nobody's reached out to rescind the offer. I got the pre-employment physical, drug screen, and flu shot done.
I'm cautiously optimistic, but I'm worried that this accusation from my old job will come back to bite me. I just have so many unanswered questions. Should I get a lawyer to contest what my old job said about me? Is it possible for the new job to find out about this issue when unemployment was unable to? Can you actually kill someone with a keyboard?
Those are three different stories in the Annuals of Davey Do, in that The Stabbing took place in 1998, the Civil Suit in 2000, and the Heinous Crime of Propping Open the NS Door With a Garbage Can in circa 2018.
I don't recall the judge having anything more to say after my guilty plea in particular, but I will sing his praises to the end of my days, for he was a No BS judge. He went as far to tell me, after the trial was over, "If you have any more problems with the plaintiff after this, I want you to come to me".
Yes, what a professional he was!
We need judges like that here! I must say, going from "I have AIDS, now you have AIDS!" to an unauthorized propping open of a nurses' station door with a garbage can only 20 years later is quite the downturn in nefarious activity. One may be tempted to think you turned over a new leaf.
Unfortunately, Wrongway Unlimited Liabilities, LLC does not support nurses who commit unauthorized rotation of fall foliage.
To the HR Director was said, "You call me down here, on a Monay morning for propping open the NS door with a trash can after I've worked...
...and that is the look he received.
Oooh! Yes! I remember that picture! My new medication has made me so tired that I'm confounding the "Propping open the door incident" to "My manager spent a shift impersonating a door incident." At least now I understand why they were so upset that you propped open the door.
Yes! The days we had to act as doors due to JC recommendations!
I used to lurk on your posts all the time when I was a new nurse, burned out from my first job at a for-profit nursing home that we're not supposed to call a nursing home. Your old cartoons would randomly pop into my head.
I post the majority of my comics on this site in the Breakroom Club, Ars Gratia Artis plus there are 3 or 4 other websites which publish my works.
You're quite the prolific artist! It would be fun to one day combine our nefarious powers to achieve world domination! I can apparently craft written threats to kill people with keyboards and staplers, while you draw pictures of bumbling CEO's with screws sticking out of their backs, covered in blood. The flames from our respective terminations would melt any snowflakes within a 57-mile radius.
Specializes in Psych (25 years), Medical (15 years).
sideshowstarlet said:
You're quite the prolific artist! It would be fun to one day combine our nefarious powers to achieve world domination! I can apparently craft written threats to kill people with keyboards and staplers, while you draw pictures of bumbling CEO's with screws sticking out of their backs, covered in blood. The flames from our respective terminations would melt any snowflakes within a 57-mile radius.
I spend everyday in my art room for hours on end, and you are quite the writer, as I was just thinking about your thread where a lady giving an in-service was...
...for lack of a better word, inappropriate. That was a fun and long-lived thread.
As far as combining our powers, I'm all game. Come to the Breakroom's Gratia, and/or I think I gave you one of the website addresses for poets, writers, and other artists.
I spend everyday in my art room for hours on end, and you are quite the writer, as I was just thinking about your thread where a lady giving an in-service was...
...for lack of a better word, inappropriate. That was a fun and long-lived thread.
As far as combining our powers, I'm all game. Come to the Breakroom's Gratia, and/or I think I gave you one of the website addresses for poets, writers, and other artists.
Oooh! That was a fun thread! It also enabled me to introduce my hypothetical telenovela about the nurse impersonator! I guess we already did collaborate, as you provided some wonderful illustrations. I've never been to the Breakroom Gratia. I'll check it out.
I spend everyday in my art room for hours on end, and you are quite the writer, as I was just thinking about your thread where a lady giving an in-service was...
...for lack of a better word, inappropriate. That was a fun and long-lived thread.
As far as combining our powers, I'm all game. Come to the Breakroom's Gratia, and/or I think I gave you one of the website addresses for poets, writers, and other artists.
Update: My background check came back, and I am officially cleared to start my new job Monday! I also joined the Artis group and posted a poem called "'Twas the Job After Termination" to process my feelings about my old job and my upcoming job. I hope you get a chance to check it out! I haven't written a poem in years!
Twenty plus years ago, I requested my nursing liability insurance be involved in my civil suit, claiming I had made a statement to the plaintiff based on my knowledge and experience as a professional.
Not only did they deny my claim, they based their decision totally on what the plaintiff alleged that I had said, using their quotes.
With friends like that, eh? I dropped the liability insurance like a hot potato and functioned without their services quite well for the remaining 20 years of my career.
sideshowstarlet, BSN, RN
296 Posts
We need judges like that here! I must say, going from "I have AIDS, now you have AIDS!" to an unauthorized propping open of a nurses' station door with a garbage can only 20 years later is quite the downturn in nefarious activity. One may be tempted to think you turned over a new leaf.
Unfortunately, Wrongway Unlimited Liabilities, LLC does not support nurses who commit unauthorized rotation of fall foliage.