lost my RN job for a second time

allnurses Guide · Mar 31, 2015

Orientation is a time during which either party can decline to continue the employer/employee relationship, for any reason or no reason at all. Did they get more specific with you about why you were let go? From what you say here it sounds like a time management/confidence issue similar to the first time. It also sounds as if English may not be your first language, which sets you at a disadvantage in several ways to getting "up to speed", so to speak.

I would not say you should not work in the hospital but I think you need to take a serious look at your honest strengths and weaknesses. Six weeks is enough time to be starting to hold your own in the hospital environment, probably not with a full patient load but certainly starting to settle down a bit. Part of your problem is that you are no longer considered a new grad nurse. Many places will expect a higher level of performance from you due to this. Multiple preceptors isn't ideal. To be honest though, it seems as if every person here that gets let go during orientation claims their preceptor didn't like them, didn't like precepting, wasn't nice, etc. It makes it hard to tell when this is really the case and when it is simply the individual trying to make themselves feel better. Only you can know that. Because you are not a new grad nurse, it was undoubtedly confusing/frustrating for those precepting you. You were hired on as experienced but wanting/needing new grad level assistance from the sound of it.

How did you do at the clinic job? Were you more effective there? It may be you are more suited to nursing outside the hospital environment and there is no shame in that. All nurses are needed and necessary.

If you didn't get better feedback, I would suggest you call back to your former manager and ask for it, stating you want to know what to work on in the future. I know getting fired is devastating. I hope you can identify what needs improving and come up with a plan. I also hope you find employment soon.

Long Term Care Columnist / Guide · Mar 31, 2015

First of all, I want to welcome you to Allnurses. We are glad you're here!

Secondly---and I'm not saying this to make you feel bad---it does sound like hospital nursing is not for you, at least not at this time. It's OK, not everyone is cut out for acute care and that's nothing to be ashamed of. You may want to consider another clinic position or try something completely new, like home health where you only have to deal with one patient at a time. You still have to manage your time well, but that's something you can learn.

Please take some time to look at different types of nursing jobs and don't take the first one out of the box, unless of course it's what you really want. Who knows, you might be able to go back to the hospital at some point in the future, but right now it's not a good idea. I wish you the very best in whatever you decide to do.

reluctantrn · Apr 2, 2015

Yessss. That golden period after graduation when you have an real and extended orientation. I wish my 1st school had helped me to understand the incredible value of that time period and that I should make my employer stick to contract and actually give me orientation. I actually only had two weeks BUT I was told I had between six and nine months. I was a L&D nurse and I had studied midwifery (direct-entry) so I knew 'normal' birth very well. I also had labor coached so I knew the fetal monitor well. So, after two weeks, when my wonderful preceptor left to go back to school, they started giving me 'normal' births. They were VERY short staffed. After a while, they forgot that they had never trained me for *abnormal* births (High tech teaching hospital, lot's of abnormal). My career suffered greatly because of that.

However, you do have recent experience. Speak with the manager and see if they will let you resign rather than be listed as fired. That should help a lot for starters. Usually the only thing hospitals will reveal when asked for a reference is how long you worked there and if they would re-hire you. If you resign, hopefully you will still be considered re-hireable by HR.

Then, look in your area (or whatever area you are willing to live) for an internship. I know that they have these for OR nurses, and many of them last 9-12 months and include education. You may have to look a bit, but hopefully you can find an equivalent to the preceptorship granted to a new grad.

And, I hear that the post-op nursing jobs are great. The nurses I have spoken with say that it is nowhere near as stressful as other positions. You would have to start and be trained as an OR nurse (scrub most likely) but once you have that training, you can make a move to something like pre or post op if you don't like it.

Just a suggestion. Hang in there, take a deep breath. I'm so sorry for your doubts and fears right now. In the end, one way or another, things will work out.

Hugs

LostKitten · Apr 2, 2015

This is also my story. My first two nursing jobs both eventually let me "resign", because I'm just too darn slow. I would check my meds 10 times, then look them up in the book, then check them again, spend too long assessing, try to find resources for patients when I really didn't have time. I probably should have been a social worker instead. They appreciated my attention to detail, but couldn't let me continue on not taking a full patient load. My two preceptors at my first job were 23 years old, and I couldn't even find them half the time. One night I ended up with a patient who turned critical and was told to do my best because my preceptor was hung over, got three hours sleep, and fell off a bus and hit her head.

My husband walked out on me halfway through ADN school, and I honestly think I was in such a fog (and literally suicidal), I didn't take away what I needed to, I was just trying to get by. I now have almost no confidence, I'm $50k in debt, and I'm in school for a BSN, I fear I will never use. Yay! I worked as a phleb for 12 years in hospitals before school, and one of the reasons I went to nursing school was to get out of hospital! But, I thought I needed to pay my dues and get bedside experience. My first job was in an inner city ED. Bad move.

It's also hard with so many nurses out there who treat us like we're losers and they are the REAL nurses. You know what I'm talking about. It's frustrating when there are so many successful acute care nurses, and we never thought we wouldn't be one of them. I agree with other posters, hospitals just aren't for us. I really wanted to do community health, but I'll probably never get the experience. It's a bitter pill to swallow. Until nursing, no job EVER did anything but praise me. I'm still trying though, just changing my focus.

I just took a job as a nurse in a plasma center. It's a fair amount less than I made before, but I feel this is my last chance and less intense than my previous jobs. I would keep trying outside of the hospital. Maybe we'll never achieve what we hoped, but there must be a place for us who find out we can't keep up in the race.

allnurses Guide · Apr 2, 2015

And, I hear that the post-op nursing jobs are great. The nurses I have spoken with say that it is nowhere near as stressful as other positions. You would have to start and be trained as an OR nurse (scrub most likely) but once you have that training, you can make a move to something like pre or post op if you don't like it.
Just a suggestion. Hang in there, take a deep breath. I'm so sorry for your doubts and fears right now. In the end, one way or another, things will work out.
Hugs

Every PACU position I have ever seen requires a couple of years of ICU experience. Not OR.

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Apr 2, 2015

Every PACU position I have ever seen requires a couple of years of ICU experience. Not OR.

Exactly. PACU is a critical care unit not an OR unit.

reluctantrn · Apr 2, 2015

Specialized programs set up by hospitals, that offer extended and intensive training periods (9-12 months on the job with classroom education) train nurses to be able to transition to PACU. At least two that I have spoken to have gone this route.

I used to have to do PACU for c-section patients and that alone would have gotten me a foot in the door for PACU. The OP needs to think outside the box at this point to save their career and I was just trying to suggest some of those ideas. There are other extended/intensive training programs as well. It has been some time since I looked into them so I do not recall the details. Just trying to offer solutions.

So you think that searching for a similar program to the one I suggested is not a good idea for the OP? Or, are you focused in on other factors? What options does the OP have right now, other than to seek out a program similar to an new graduate internship?

DisneyNurseGal, BSN, RN · Apr 2, 2015

It really irritates me when new nurses or nurses in training blame their preceptor for their shortcomings. Yes some preceptors are better than others, however you are a professional. Take charge of your career! Take charge of your training! Take charge of your life! If you do not feel like you are getting the training you deserve then YOU have a responsibility to speak up. Start with the preceptor, talk to them, tell them what you feel. Conflict sucks, but it is a part of life. It doesn't have to be awkward, just talk. That doesn't work talk to your manager.

Now, with that being said, hiring people is expensive, and your hospital should have done more to give you feedback. Working with more then one preceptor is not ideal, but as in real nursing life you have to roll with the punches. I agree with the other posters and see if you can talk to the manager for some feedback.

If you really want to work in the acute care setting, I would recommend maybe trying working at long term care. You will hone your assessment skills, work on time management. Yes, you may not get the use of skills as much, but sometimes in the hospital you don't use certain skills much either. Last night I needed to place ad NJ tube, and the last time I did it was probably over a year ago.

I wish you luck!

JustBeachyNurse, LPN · Apr 2, 2015

Specialized programs set up by hospitals, that offer extended and intensive training periods (9-12 months on the job with classroom education) train nurses to be able to transition to PACU. At least two that I have spoken to have gone this route.
I used to have to do PACU for c-section patients and that alone would have gotten me a foot in the door for PACU. The OP needs to think outside the box at this point to save their career and I was just trying to suggest some of those ideas. There are other extended/intensive training programs as well. It has been some time since I looked into them so I do not recall the details. Just trying to offer solutions.
So you think that searching for a similar program to the one I suggested is not a good idea for the OP? Or, are you focused in on other factors? What options does the OP have right now, other than to seek out a program similar to an new graduate internship?

I think searching for extensive training via preceptorship is a good idea. Aside from OB, traditional pacu even in a surgicenter requires critical care training and experience. Also consider alternatives to acute care, surgicenter pre or peri op, outpatient, 1:1 private duty home health (1 nurse to one stable but complex patient, often pediatric), acute rehab, subacute rehab, LTACH,may all be viable alternatives. Nursing is more than acute care hospital work.

RubicsCube · Apr 2, 2015

I'm pursuing a nursing degree but I have NO desire to work in acute care. It doesn't fit my personality. I think more nurses should confidently pursue the niche that works for them instead of following the herd.

Red Kryptonite · Apr 2, 2015

I'm pursuing a nursing degree but I have NO desire to work in acute care. It doesn't fit my personality. I think more nurses should confidently pursue the niche that works for them instead of following the herd.

Me too. I am content to stay with the hospice company I work for as an aide after I graduate.