new grad: resignation from job hurting my chances for new job

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Help! I was recently asked to resign from my first position in the Hematology/Oncology unit at one of the bay areas major hospitals. I am a new grad who went through an intensive 6 week floor training under the guidance of a preceptor. The floor I worked on was very very advanced and the patients were the sickest of the sick. The hard part for me was that I barealy had time to talk to my patients -- I was always worried about all the things piling up in my day. Another hard thing for me was that I rarely received any positive feedback from my preceptor. It was easy for her to point out all the things I was doing wrong, that I started to question if I was doing anything right. In my heart, I knew I was giving it my all and that I was putting so much effort into my patients, and I was improving every day! After my 6 weeks, i met with my manager who told me she didn't think thae acuity level and patient load was a good atmosphere for me to learn -- which I understand. She did not beleive it was a good fit for me to start off in. So, she asked me to resign. I was pretty shocked and upset, and am trying to keep reminding myself of all the positive I got out of this experience.

So basically I am out of a job after only 6 weeks of nursing and am finding managers do not want to hire me because I was only at my last job for 6 weeks. I'm wondering if it's even worth it to mention my last experience on my resume, since it seems to be harming me. Then again, I beleive it was a great learning experience. I wish the hospital I worked at could have extended my orientation or given me a new preceptor, but they told me it was too late in the game for that and it was better that I move on and go into a more general med-surg type job -- which in retrospect makes total sense. I want to work and I know I can do it...I just need someone to give me a chance. Thanks for any advice. I would be willing to work in any nursing capacity to get experience.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

How is your relationship with your former manager? Did she lead you to believe she would give you a decent recommendation for another job on a less intensive unit? Could you ask her to write such a recommendation? ... one that would comment on your reliability, positive attitude, that you were a good worker, etc. and that she thinks that the reason that your first job didn't work out was because of the type of patient and that you would succeed in another environment?

If she would write such a recommendation, it might carry a lot of weight -- particularly with managers in the same hospital who know her.

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Many people have stated here that when you do not survive your probationary period, you don't have to put that employment down. You might want to consider this option and start from scratch. I wonder why you weren't given the option to transfer to another floor, med surg comes to mind, to salvage your employment. But I guess they knew what they wanted when they asked you to resign. Anyway, if you research on the site you will be able to find posts where the above advice is given. Good luck. :(

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Specializes in CNA - starting LPN school January 2009!!.

Yes, I also find it quite odd that the manager didn't give you the opportunity to xfer to med/surg, or another area with less acuity. Have you actually resigned yet? Or Has she just approached you about resigning? If you haven't actually resigned yet, I wouldn't voluntarily do so.

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There is a recent thread that is similiar to your situation with great feedback. It would really benefit you to read through it. This is just a bump in the road. Much luck to you!

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I would take the voluntary resignation. Letting yourself be fired is whole another issue. If it is ever necessary to explain, resignation is a whole lot easier than saying you were terminated. Eyebrows raise over that and simple explanations can take on a whole new life on their own! There is gossip between hospitals and nurses always know other nurses. My gut says to keep it simple!:twocents:

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Specializes in ED.

did you ask her about a position in the same hospital in another department? I would think after all the work of training you they would want to keep you in their system (unless something really went wrong...). I had expressed concern about starting as a new grad in an ED and the manager assured me that it it wasn't looking like a good fit then she would get me a spot within the hospital (I'm sure this depends on things also but she sounded pretty sure that would be possible).

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Specializes in ED.

Also, can you ask for a detailed reason why they want you to resign? I mean, they are supposed to train you and must have seen something in you that made them think you could do the job. i would really want to know details about my own performance, if I were in your situation, that made them come to this conclusion. Were you practicing safely, was it a time management issue, communication, skills etc?? This should be a learning experience and knowing what the problem was will help you in the future as well as presently. Have they documented throughout your orientation reasons why you aren't a good fit??? Is that something you are able to see???

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Specializes in CNA - starting LPN school January 2009!!.
I would take the voluntary resignation. Letting yourself be fired is whole another issue. If it is ever necessary to explain, resignation is a whole lot easier than saying you were terminated. Eyebrows raise over that and simple explanations can take on a whole new life on their own! There is gossip between hospitals and nurses always know other nurses. My gut says to keep it simple!:twocents:

We'll have to agree to disagree on this one. As a formal HR rep, I can tell you that 9 times out of 10, if a company approaches an employee about a voluntary resignation, it is because they have no legal grounds to terminate them - yet. Must companies have very strict formal performance improvement measures that must be initiated before an employee can be terminated for not accurately performing the essential functions of their position. As a way to get around the song and dance of going through this performance improvement process, supervisors will try to intimidate the employee into voluntarily resigning.

Now, it is difficult to know the specifics of this case, but most companies will want a written documentation of where the employee's deficiencies are, as well as a documented performance improvement plan where the employee is given specific parameters as to how performace must improve, and within a specific timeline. Only after this has occured is termination an option. We live in a lawsuit happy society, and company's are not willing to open themselves up to litigation unnecessarily.

On the other hand, if a supervisor can just guilt a bad employee into quitting, they have taken the path of least resistance to get rid of the problem, and avoided the potential for possible litigation down the road.

Now, if you have walked through the entire process, been formally written up, been on a pip, etc. then yes. It is absolutely preferrable to resign rather than be terminated. But, OP didn't seem to indicate that this was the case.

I think that this situation really highlights a valuable lesson. For new grads getting higher in high-acuity specialties, I would want it spelled out specifically during the offer stage what would happen if I'm not able to get up to speed fast enough in this unit to perform safely. If there is no possibility to transfer to med-surg if I am still struggling after orientation, I would be very hesitant to accept that job offer, even if they were offering to let me work on my dream unit as a brand-new nurse.

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Wow...thank you guys for all your great feedback. I especially appreciate the reply from individual from HR. I feel that your reply resonates with me completely. In retrospect, I wish that I had advocated for myself more when they appreaoched me and asked me to resign. To try and make me feel "better", my manager told me that 50% of their new grads they hire on the floor don't cut it by 6 weeks. Not to have a negative outlook, but I wish they had told me this from the get-go, because now I am in a situation where managers don't want to hire me because they think I am a generally unsafe employee, all because I didn't get the proper support I needed to start as a new grad. If I knew this from the beginning, I definitely would have thought twice about accepting this position. Thank you again for your support! Any suggestions about where I should go from here on the job hunt? You guys are great

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Hi, Punkin,

I'm so sorry this happened to you. I have been a nurse for 3 years now, but my first job I quit after 4 months, because I had 15 preceptors! Most of them were awful, I was just passed around from nurse to nurse (including agency nurses). It definitely hit my self esteem.

2nd hospital, I stayed in the unit for a year, but hated it. Transferred to another floor of this hospital, and bingo! It all fit. So, that first year is really hard as we try to pull it all together, figure out what is a good fit for us, etc.

I am now at my 3rd position in hospital #2, and love it.

So, your situation isn't unusual. Did anyone give you a list of things you needed to work on? Specifics of what you weren't doing well? (after 6 weeks, I would think they were being a little premature about evaluating you). If you could find out specifics, you know what to work on.

Maybe a less stressful environment might be helpful for you first job. Oncology can be very difficult emotionally.

Anyway, good luck to you.

Oldiebutgoodie

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Specializes in ED.
Wow...thank you guys for all your great feedback. I especially appreciate the reply from individual from HR. I feel that your reply resonates with me completely. In retrospect, I wish that I had advocated for myself more when they appreaoched me and asked me to resign. To try and make me feel "better", my manager told me that 50% of their new grads they hire on the floor don't cut it by 6 weeks. Not to have a negative outlook, but I wish they had told me this from the get-go, because now I am in a situation where managers don't want to hire me because they think I am a generally unsafe employee, all because I didn't get the proper support I needed to start as a new grad. If I knew this from the beginning, I definitely would have thought twice about accepting this position. Thank you again for your support! Any suggestions about where I should go from here on the job hunt? You guys are great

Did you already resign??? If not, then I would pursue the manager about transferring you. Like the HR person said, they are trying to take the easy way out by having you resign. By telling them that you feel you are a safe/good employee and them not having grouds to terminate you, you could potentially (probably) keep working in another dept. I hope you did not resign easily and still have a job!!

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