need advice

SionainnRN · Oct 3, 2014

I was recently terminated from my job for not following a policy that is rarely if ever followed in the department. My reason for termination was neglect of job duties. I had been there 8 years. I am currently looking for a new job and would like to do agency. What is the best thing to say when asked why I was terminated? I know I messed up but I have learned my lesson. Any advice?

With "neglect of job duty" as your official reason for being terminated you might be in a pickle. What policy didn't you follow? Did you know about it before hand? Was there another reason why they wanted to fire you? I've yet to see someone fired over one thing, usually it's more of a last straw type deal, especially after 8 years with them. You can just be upfront, say you did X and wasn't aware it went against policy and now it's made you re dedicate yourself to know all the hospital policies in the future. Good luck!

tiggerslilyrn · Oct 3, 2014

I was recently terminated from my job for not following a policy that is rarely if ever followed in the department. My reason for termination was neglect of job duties. I had been there 8 years. I was assuming that I would not be eligible for rehire but at my termination meeting the Hr person said that she wanted me to know that if I was rehired in 6 months then my 8 years with them would still count. Does this mean that I might be eligible for rehire? I sent her an email but just wanted to get others thougts on this. Thanks.

heartnursing · Oct 3, 2014

If HR said that, then I would assume you would be.

RN403, BSN, RN · Oct 3, 2014

I agree with the PP, it sounds as if you would be eligible for re-hire.

sharpeimom · Oct 4, 2014

Did you get anything in writing to that effect?

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Oct 4, 2014

They may be required to tell everyone that.

If you had an 8 year career with them, it is really strange that you would be terminated right off, unless harm came to a patient. Even then, it seems like a process issue if it were a policy that was consistently not followed. But that is neither here nor there at this point, just an observation.

Sounds to me like you were the fall guy. Perhaps one of the higher paid employees. If you were eligible for rehire, you can more than likely expect that they will wait 6 months and 1 day.....and start you off at the new hire rate of pay. Unfortunately, you were not in their staffing plan at the current rate of pay you received.

I am sorry that this happened to you. What I would do is ask specifically if you are eligible for rehire, and can you apply for current openings (and some facilities have other policies that state you can NOT apply if you have had any disciplinary issues within--you guessed it--6 months).

One of things knowing if you are eligible for rehire will do is give you the knowledge going forward and applying for other jobs that HR will not (or should not) give the dreaded "not eligible for rehire" reference. Which could assist you in becoming employed elsewhere. If jobs are scarce, I would apply for unemployment now.

Best wishes going forward, and let us know how it goes.

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B · Oct 4, 2014

....and snarky or not, just gotta put it out there----neglect of job duties?! SERIOUSLY?!?

Or more like neglect of job duties that resulted in the facility not being paid for meaningful use/exceeding expectations or some other whacked thing.......