New Grad Fired Before Orientation is up? Will I be able to find employment now?

RedhairedNurse, BSN, RN · Dec 18, 2009

To be honest, it never looks good and usually very hard to find work after being terminated. What kind of unit was this on? I've read other posts where people that this has happened to usually have to go to LTC type of work.

It's not good to be dishonest on a resume but if your honest, you probably won't get another job either. I've always heard that there is a large database for license personnel that work in hospitals, and I think this is for people that lie about previous employments, they can see where you worked.

I'm sorry your in this situation. Just try to reflect back on the mistakes you've made and keep on trucking. Just keep applying elsewhere, medsurg, LTC, etc.

Good luck, I hope it all works out for you.

NewAggieGrad09 · Dec 18, 2009

I don't know you, but definitely just sent up a prayer for you. *hug*

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Dec 18, 2009

what unit??? if it was a specialty unit like icu or a specialty medical unit like micu then you may have a shot. the excuse you were given is the excuse you use with a next potential employer on a general medical surgical unit. for instance, "i was not able to perform at expectation given the high learning curve and fast pace of the specialty unit and am looking for employment on an acute care unit that is able to support my knowledge and skill base as a new graduate nurse." ... :twocents:

do not allow this experience to make you feel like you are incompetent. when you have had time to grieve then look back and see the positive things you can take from this experience and grow. if you do not want to apply to a general medical surgical unit, you may have a harder time since most employers will think you do not understand that you are not ready (even if you are). however, i am not one to tell another not to try. if you choose to apply to another specialty unit, then find one that actually supports new grads with actions and not just words.

for example, i am working in an er that is very supportive!!! i am always given feedback on my performance... i am never left alone to do something i am not comfortable doing, and i am treated like a rn with my patients by the more experienced nurses. i also had an orientation that was long enough for me imo where i was able to polish skills and learn others. those who did not perform well i saw extended on orientation and not fired!! plus, off of orientation i am receiving more training. good luck to you in whatever you decide. :up:

chocolateskye · Dec 18, 2009

I worked on an IMCU tele unit. I felt 100% better on nights but, I only worked one shift? I know that the reason I was let go was because of the fact that my preceptor did not like me. I never put a patients life in danger or neglected a patient that was declining. She just thought that her way was the best way maybe the only way! Example I was taught that lopressor was an antihypertensive medication that was used to lower the blood pressure. We had a patient with a blood pressure of 110/55 I thought we should hold the medication. She asked why do I feel we should hold it? I told her that I thought the pressure was already low and I didnt want to bottom the patient out. She then asked well what is the pulse? I told her 86. She then went on about how lopressor is for the heart rate and that it is totally safe to give it. But since I was focused on the blood pressure she gave me a really hard time about it and never let it die, she even questioned what school I went to. Of course I was slower than the experienced nurses with charting and things but what new grad nurse steps out of school and can run circles around the seasoned nurses?

Da_Milk_of_Amnesia, MSN · Dec 18, 2009

Hey chocolateskye, I have a story that might not make you feel so alone in your situation. I got fired/resigned from the very first nursing job, and I am also a new grad myself. PM and we can chat about it. Some of the things you are worrying about I myself worried about too. So don't worry you're def not alone. Hit me up.

morte, LPN, LVN · Dec 18, 2009

I worked on an IMCU tele unit. I felt 100% better on nights but, I only worked one shift? I know that the reason I was let go was because of the fact that my preceptor did not like me. I never put a patients life in danger or neglected a patient that was declining. She just thought that her way was the best way maybe the only way! Example I was taught that lopressor was an antihypertensive medication that was used to lower the blood pressure. We had a patient with a blood pressure of 110/55 I thought we should hold the medication. She asked why do I feel we should hold it? I told her that I thought the pressure was already low and I didnt want to bottom the patient out. She then asked well what is the pulse? I told her 86. She then went on about how lopressor is for the heart rate and that it is totally safe to give it. But since I was focused on the blood pressure she gave me a really hard time about it and never let it die, she even questioned what school I went to. Of course I was slower than the experienced nurses with charting and things but what new grad nurse steps out of school and can run circles around the seasoned nurses?

if you are talking PO lopressor, you may well have been in the wrong.....that is a fine pressure, and perhaps it was that good BECAUSE of the treatment. And it does decrease the heart rate as well as blood pressure.

Emergency RN · Dec 18, 2009

One of the problems with preceptors is that many great nurses can actually be very lousy teachers. Some don't know the difference between encouragement or belittlement, and others frankly just want to get the job done themselves and you'd better keep out of their way. This sad current state of affairs came about as hospitals abandoned in house nursing education departments. Many formerly excellent orientation programs have likewise been trimmed to such bare nothingness that they have become no longer relevant or meaningful insofar as educating new staff is concerned. This is another reason why institutions don't want new grads. It costs too much to teach them.

To the OP, being the new man on the team, while not under a Sword of Damocles, you're nonetheless under a huge performance question mark. That preceptor, as bad or lousy as you think she was; was a known, accepted and trusted quantity within that department. So it may be better to tolerate her idiosyncratic nonsense and just do as she bade until you had pass orientation, without getting on her bad side.

That said, I want to mention something that you should take with the instructional spirit that it's offered in. I don't mean you any disrespect but sometimes, blunt is the best and most understandable; so here goes:

One of the Achilles heels that most nursing students come out of school with is the self inflated perception that they know better. Using myself as an illustration, when I graduated, I thought I was God's gift to the profession (straight A student, former medic, graduated as an Honor's student, Magna Cum Laude, yada yada). But, the reality was, I readily knew only isolated and separate clinical facts, but without being able yet, to fully recognize and appreciate the full tapestry of the clinical picture. More than once a week, did I have my head (or butt) handed back to me on a plate. Luckily I had a preceptor that recognized me for what I was; a new nurse know it all. She patiently steered me in the right direction and took the time to have me recognize why the things I learned in school were only acceptable for certain situations, and how many of the other things that they never bother to teach us at all, were usually the most important.

For example, in your LOPRESSOR example above; you're both right. While LOPRESSOR is traditionally used to lower blood pressure, in many instances, it's given also to purposely decrease Heart Rate (where it has it's major effect) especially for the Rule Out Myocardial Infarction pt. As HR goes down, stroke volume and coronary perfusion goes up, increasing cardiac output (which maintains BP) while decreasing actual cardiac oxygen consumption. In effect, resting the heart. This type of answer, they generally don't give you in school.

*** Sidebar *** The LOPRESSOR in your example was not only acceptable, even at the blood pressure stated; it was probably the treatment of choice. In the ED, we generally repeat up to three doses, given IV PUSH, to get the HR below 70.

Now, your preceptor could have told it to you as the above. Or she could have used it as an ego trip to bludgeon you with it (which she did). Be forewarned, there are many many, tired, exhausted, and burnt out RNs out there who don't give two pips about the "know it all students" that appear and then disappear from their units. They may be jealous, envious, of whatever... But as far as they're concerned, they made it, they have nothing more to prove. The fresh meat however, has everything to prove, and that neophyte "better do it with maximum respect" for their nursing elders. Are you beginning to get my drift?

My suggestion is, the first thing you do for your next preceptorship is to surprise your preceptor with coffee and the occasional breakfast muffin. Go through the motions, raptly agree with everything they say with maximum degree of kiss ass, while gushingly telling everyone how great and "knowledgeable" Ms. XYZ is. Thank her for everything that she corrects you on, even if you think it was wrong; go to the nurse manager and thank her for making such a "wise" choice in hooking you up with such a knowledgeable preceptor; ...until you pass orientation. Then do whatever you feel is correct. This may not be right, fair, productive or even safe. But often, this IS the way that it IS, if you want to keep the job. In this economic environment, with the death of hospital education, this is how it's going remain for a very long time to come.

See? They don't teach you this stuff in nursing school, do they?

ttreeds · Dec 18, 2009

my suggestion is, the first thing you do for your next preceptorship is to surprise your preceptor with coffee and the occasional breakfast muffin. Go through the motions, raptly agree with everything they say with maximum degree of kiss ass, while gushingly telling everyone how great and "knowledgeable" ms. Xyz is. thank her for everything that she corrects you on, even it you think it was wrong; go to the nurse manager and thank her for making such a wise choice in hooking you up with such a knowledgeable preceptor; ...until you pass orientation. Then do whatever you feel is correct. This may not be right, fair, productive or even safe. But often, this is the way that it is, if you want to keep the job. In this economic environment, with the death of hospital education, this is how it's going remain for a very long time to come.
See? They don't teach you this stuff in nursing school, do they?

kiss ass? I totally totally agree!!!!!! People might be quick to tear your comment apart...but i believe you always always have to pick your battles, instead of trying to fight every battle and sometimes that might mean "kiss assing"

chocolateskye · Dec 18, 2009

Thank You Emergency RN. Just know that I do not have a know it all attitude. I dont like kissing ass at all but I did manage to pucker up. I am very grateful for your advise. I know it will come in handy next time around for me. The comment you made about the lopressor was correct she could have told it to me in another way, I really had it ingrained that it lowers the blood pressure (knowing that if it lowers pressure it will lower heart rate) But as a new nurse I really didnt have a clue as to which one it effected more. She was a very intelligent nurse, I cant take that from her but maybe like you said she is burnt out and just doesnt realize how she comes off? I am the first to admit that I still have learning to do. I just want to work for an institution that will allow me to learn and grow with them.

jjjoy, LPN · Dec 19, 2009

While I can understand exasperation with newbies who act as if they know more than their experienced colleagues, I think sometimes they are misperceived. If a newbie says "I was taught XYZ but I'm seeing ABC here. Why is that?" They aren't necessarily saying "I know better than you and you're wrong!" They are probably saying that they thought they knew something, this observation doesn't seem to match, and they sincerely want to learn how it fits together.

After all, isn't it a GOOD thing if the newbie is questioning the use of Lopressor that she's unfamiliar with than to just blindly accept that it must be right since her preceptor seems okay about it? Sure, the newbie can go look it up later, but meanwhile, are they supposed to administer a medication for a purpose they don't understand?

As was noted before, good nurses aren't necessarily good at teaching/training new nurses. But the newbie has no idea how to judge if their preceptor's questions of their competency are valid or if the newbie is right where they should be on the learning curve.

nurseme3, LPN · Dec 19, 2009

Life brings us all ups and downs, including for some, termination from a job. Live and learn. Your experience there will benefit you as you pursue other jobs. Employers will question your reason for termination--and if you a have an honest, non-blaming, what-you-learned-from-the-experience answer, then I would be hard-pressed to see you not employed within the next few months.

Regarding your work with future preceptors, I agree with comments from other posters that sucking up is the best way to get along with your preceptor--even if you don't like them! I had multiple preceptors that I did not like because of the way they treated me, but I always made it out to think that I thought they were the best nurse on the floor. The upshot? They all like me and I can still turn to them with questions as I venture on my own.

Best of luck to you.