lost my job for sticking up for myself

Talon · Dec 3, 2012

12:59 pm by nmill77
I am a new grad and was hired on a med surg floor, fresh out of school i realized i would see things done in the real world far different from what i was taught, but when i saw things happening that was either jeopardizing patients or my license, nurses dumping their assignments on me when i was only 3 weeks in on orientation, some even got mad if i asked them to come with me to do something because i had never done it before,so i began to complain, once some of the nurses heard this, it snowballed and they began to complain about me, telling my supervisor things that were just not true, but to my supervisor the reports all seemed to be the same and she did not believe me when i tried to tell her these things were not said or done, i ended up getting fired after just 8 weeks on this floor, i am devastated, it is 3 weeks before xmas, not only that i was fired for things that were NOT true. I tried to explain to my supervisor that the other nurses just hated me because i was making waves and they didnt like it, instead of the manager addressing them and their behavior i guess she felt it would be better to get rid of me. I dont know if i can even do anything about it because i was still on probation, and also how will another hospital view me now??

Hope I'm doing this correctly, first time I'm posting... Had a very similar thing happen to m e working hospice several years ago. I too was fired as "I was not a good fit". I was devastated and had 10 yrs of experience at the time. L oosing my job had nothing to do with my nursing abilities and did not involve pt care. It had everything to do with the sick games played in healthcare. iI was blacklisted and unable to find another nursing position to this day. I'm sorry you are going through this. Good luck however this turns out for you. Unfortunately, this is the reality of the nursing "profession"

nmill77 · Dec 3, 2012

you really could not find another job??? and they said the exact same thing to me not a good fit, there has to be something that can be done, hopefully i get more responses that might be helpful to you as well. thanks for your post.

ddunnrn · Dec 4, 2012

Welcome to the real world of nursing; especially the part they don't teach you about in school--how to get along with peers and management. Your situation is another example of why nurses need unions, so that management is a little less able to fire people capriciously. I have had several experiences of being disciplined myself after bringing to the attention of management the problematic behaviors of other staff. Some managers would rather not have any dissension in the ranks, and punish the whistle-blowers instead of investigating the problem. The saying "No good deed goes unpunished" is very applicable. Another tactic I have come up against is managers that refuse to investigate anything you tell them verbally, insisting that you "write it up", so that when the **** hits the fan, they can blame you for stirring up the controversy, and they have written "proof". I have had to deal with managers who will actually take my written problem reports, and go to the people involved and say, "DAVID DUNN says you are doing such-and-such, what do you have to say?" Nobody likes being scolded like a child, especially professionals like RN's.

Blackcat99 · Dec 4, 2012

Sadly, In today's world, the only way I can keep any job is by minding my own business and keeping my mouth shut.

DSkelton711 · Dec 4, 2012

You say you were a new grad and knew that the real world would be different. One of the worst things you can do is come into someone's workplace as a rookie and raise a ruckus on how things are done. All this gets you is a bad feeling from everyone. If you had been complaining how people do things then wanted help, I am not surprised by the nurses' reactions. Not saying that everyone was right, but you need to realize that everyone else went to nursing school, too, and we all wish it could be how we dreamed, but then there is reality. I don't recommend making waves when you are first hired on a job, let alone one you are fresh out of school for.

Talon · Dec 4, 2012

Yes, we all went to nursing school and many wish that the reality of working as a nurse were different, you know, like in many other professions where people are actually treated as professionals and can voice their opinions without retribution--BUT NOT IN NURSING! The op did not deserve to loose her job.

Sadala, ADN, RN · Dec 14, 2012

I have had several experiences of being disciplined myself after bringing to the attention of management the problematic behaviors of other staff. Some managers would rather not have any dissension in the ranks, and punish the whistle-blowers instead of investigating the problem. The saying "No good deed goes unpunished" is very applicable.

This is true in nearly every business, unfortunately. I'm one of those people who likes other people to do their job properly when it impacts service delivery and esp when it impacts my ability to do my own job properly. So I like everything to "work." Suggestions on how things could work better are rarely appreciated, particularly when they involve other employees actually doing their jobs. The other employees never take it well and to management you are essentially insulting their proficiency in running things (because what you are saying, even if true, is tantamount to accusing them of not managing their staff well, at least in their eyes). You are then seen as the problem.

Because of this I try, not always successfully, to pick my battles carefully.

Blackcat99 · Dec 14, 2012

I knew a nurse many years ago that said he was not going to chart his treatments on the TAR sheet unless he had actually in fact done the treatment. The management told him he could not leave any "empty holes" on the TAR and that he had to initial the TAR sheet whether he had time to do the treatment or not. He refused to lie on the TAR and was fired.