Lost first RN job. What to do for furure interviews...

[tnguyen407]

Lost first RN job, how to prepare for upcoming interviews

I am a new graduate RN. I was hired as my first RN position in the ICU at a trauma level I hospital. I was terminated during my orientation because the management gave me an evaluation as "unfitted for the unit" and my status "ineligible for re-hiring". I was working as the nurse aid at this hospital prior to becoming RN. So my delima is "should I disclose my previous employment status in the next interviews?. I am afraid that the propective employers would want to call for reference, and I don't want to get caught lying. I also felt that my certification in ACLS, Dhysthmia, Critical Care, IV therapy, and Wound Care plus my 3-month in the ICU would help me to land a job. Am I being unrealistic for thinking this?. I am tormented about this and it is not helping with being a new RN w/o 1 year experience. Please help. Your advises are greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[gcupid]

I think u should be honest givin the circumstances... however, I would not apply for another icu position.

If u want to apply to the icu, then I'd leave all work experience off of my resume.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

you need to drill down to what the "real" reason was for them letting you go. Was it technical skills? Attitude? Knowledge? Once you ID the issue you can work to improve it. As for interviews, I agree that you should probably not aim for ICU at this point. Not because you are not qualified, but because you will be haunted by the first experience and that may limit your ability to progress. You can always go to critical care in the future, if that is your desire. I also agree that you should be honest. I wish you lots of good luck in this!

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

I would be tempted to leave it off the resume, however your CNA experience at the same facility will be confirmed.... that makes it QUITE a sticky situation.

Why were you not a good fit? I would focus on that / and how you would change in the future.

Any chance it was your CNA experience that some how negatively impacted your evaluation? It can be very difficult to change roles in a facility.

[HouTx, BSN, MSN, EdD]

Very few of us make it completely though our careers without at least one job mishap. We all make mistakes. The key is to learn from them rather than repeat them.

Since that employer paid into your FICA - it will show up whenever a potential employer conducts a background check. So, leaving it off your application is a no-go because it could be considered falsification of your information. We (hiring managers) tend to be very broad minded when it comes to recent grads. We know that there can be a lot of 'false starts' during the transition from student to practicing nurse.

So, I would say - go ahead and list that employer on your resume... with one sub-heading for each job. You don't have to put in a lot of detail... just dates when you started and ended that job. You can use the same reason (you were given) "not a good fit" to describe why you left. Be very prepared to address the specifics when you are interviewed. Talk about what happened - accept your own responsibility for what happened & described what you learned from it. Point out any concrete actions you have taken to rectify your own failings... ex: "I have completed 4 hours of continuing education on IV admixture compatibility"

[britmansf18]

I just am writing this to sympathize with you but I lost my first job too as a nurse on a med/surg unit. I did not successfully complete orientation according to them. I had a meeting with Human Resources to outright ask them what kind of reference they were going to give me and I got an answer. Now, Im not afraid to leave it as employment history.

[tnguyen407]

Thanks so much for all your advises. I definitely can use some because honestly I

feel like it is in my conscience to do the right thing by disclosing my reasons for leaving my previous job. I did have some mishaps but that is how you become better at whatever you are going to do in life, right?. You learn from your mistakes, I just need to learn not beating myself up about it except to move forward. Be even more determined to make it right next time if someone out there want to give these vulnerable new GNs a chance. Thanks

[CrunchRN, ADN, RN]

Be honest, but go into the interview prepared to tell them how you will do things differently to address the specific concerns that caused you to be fired.

I am guessing english may be your 2nd language and though you are quite articulate perhaps this has led to some of the issues? You may want to polish up on your syntax skills if that is the case.

[Ruby Vee, BSN]

Thanks so much for all your advises. I definitely can use some because honestly I

feel like it is in my conscience to do the right thing by disclosing my reasons for leaving my previous job. I did have some mishaps but that is how you become better at whatever you are going to do in life, right?. You learn from your mistakes, I just need to learn not beating myself up about it except to move forward. Be even more determined to make it right next time if someone out there want to give these vulnerable new GNs a chance. Thanks

Beating yourself up over your mistakes isn't helpful, but you DO need to take the time for some introspection to help you figure out what exactly your mistakes were, how you made them, and how you might keep from making them in the future. You need to completely understand why you weren't a good fit for the unit.

Everyone makes mistakes, but did you learn from yours? Or did you make the same mistake over and over. Or make different mistakes for the same reason? When you made your mistakes did you take them seriously or did you say "that's how you become better, right?" Did you fail to get along with your colleagues so you weren't a team player? Did you accept criticism constructively? I don't know a thing about you, so I'm asking you to look inside and figure it out.

I suspect English is not your first language, and while I greatly admire anyone who can learn and use a second language, brushing up on your English writing skills and maybe verbal skills may help as well. Good luck.