New grad terminated before probation ended..

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Hi All,

I'm wondering if anyone can give me some advice about my situation. It seems to be a common thread here. I graduated with a BSN in December, and was able to get a position that started in late May. After 1 week in orientation and 7 weeks with a preceptor, I was talked to once by the nurse educator, who basically asked my preceptor for feedback and asked me to work on my skills (basically time management, some medication calculation stuff), a week later the nurse manager sat down with us and told me they were going to give me one more week working with lower acuity before they moved me up to higher acuity patients. No "or else" warning. Whatever.

The next week I worked one more day. A bunch of things popped up that I had never done before, in the middle of my scheduled assessments that totally messed me up time management wise. The next day, I felt like I was having the perfect shift. Everything was going right, but it was too late. The manager showed up and asked me to get my stuff and "escorted" me to HR to have a "meeting". At this point the director and manager (mind you neither had ever observed me work) explained that my inability to work independently and numerous "patient safety issues" made me completely wrong for this department (nicu). By the way the safety issues they gave were not doing the 5 rights of medication (never mentioned to me, but by nature the 5 rights were done with 1. checking the mar/dr orders, 2. the scanner, 3. the medication book that i used for every med including iron drops. etc, and recalculating the dose religiously. Also they said I didn't check the parameters on the monitors (that were constantly set wrong by the other nurses). oh and it took me too long to get a calculator. My probation was 90 days and this happened about 56 days into that probation.

So you can see I'm a little bit bitter about the situation, but I get it. Being on probation puts you at the complete mercy of the nursing administration that can fire you because you fart wrong. I think this is complete BS considering what someone has to give up to take a new job, and the amount of info I had to absorb as a new grad (charting system, assessments, placing order, supplies, policies, etc) but thats the way probation works, and I think in the end they really didn't want to pay for training a new grad.

Anyway my question is regarding background checks. I'm trying to move on, applying everywhere and omitting these 8 weeks from my work history. But now I am rethinking this. Will this show up in a background check and should I disclose this on my applications? Should I wait until a job offer and just disclose it on the background check paperwork? It seems so wrong considering they really need no reason to terminate you, instead of having some kind of union representation, paperwork trail etc. Any feedback would be appreciated.

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Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I would include in on your resume as it may show up in a credit check -- and any hint that you are trying to hide something may eliminate you from consideration for some jobs. In a case like this, the "cover up" is often more damaging to your future job chances than the actual event.

Simply say that you tried NICU and it wasn't a good fit. Practice finding ways to talk about it without sounding bitter or ashamed -- and project a positive outlook regarding whatever future job opportunities come your way. If you make a big deal by omiting it and then having to explain in later, it will make the situation look worse than it actually was. And some employers will automatically reject the application of anyone who has not been totally honest on the application (or fire them if they find out about the "secret" after the person has been hired.)

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Specializes in Family Nurse Practitioner.

I would think NICU is very challenging for a new grad so don't be too hard on yourself but also reflect on their feedback, ditch the excuses they wouldn't have invested in your training if they didn't want you, and keep in mind that the experience you gained will help you in your next job. Good luck.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
hi all,

i'm wondering if anyone can give me some advice about my situation. it seems to be a common thread here. i graduated with a bsn in december, and was able to get a position that started in late may. after 1 week in orientation and 7 weeks with a preceptor, i was talked to once by the nurse educator, who basically asked my preceptor for feedback and asked me to work on my skills (basically time management, some medication calculation stuff), a week later the nurse manager sat down with us and told me they were going to give me one more week working with lower acuity before they moved me up to higher acuity patients. no "or else" warning. whatever.

the next week i worked one more day. a bunch of things popped up that i had never done before, in the middle of my scheduled assessments that totally messed me up time management wise. the next day, i felt like i was having the perfect shift. everything was going right, but it was too late. the manager showed up and asked me to get my stuff and "escorted" me to hr to have a "meeting". at this point the director and manager (mind you neither had ever observed me work) explained that my inability to work independently and numerous "patient safety issues" made me completely wrong for this department (nicu). by the way the safety issues they gave were not doing the 5 rights of medication (never mentioned to me, but by nature the 5 rights were done with 1. checking the mar/dr orders, 2. the scanner, 3. the medication book that i used for every med including iron drops. etc, and recalculating the dose religiously. also they said i didn't check the parameters on the monitors (that were constantly set wrong by the other nurses). oh and it took me too long to get a calculator. my probation was 90 days and this happened about 56 days into that probation.

so you can see i'm a little bit bitter about the situation, but i get it. being on probation puts you at the complete mercy of the nursing administration that can fire you because you fart wrong. i think this is complete bs considering what someone has to give up to take a new job, and the amount of info i had to absorb as a new grad (charting system, assessments, placing order, supplies, policies, etc) but thats the way probation works, and i think in the end they really didn't want to pay for training a new grad.

anyway my question is regarding background checks. i'm trying to move on, applying everywhere and omitting these 8 weeks from my work history. but now i am rethinking this. will this show up in a background check and should i disclose this on my applications? should i wait until a job offer and just disclose it on the background check paperwork? it seems so wrong considering they really need no reason to terminate you, instead of having some kind of union representation, paperwork trail etc. any feedback would be appreciated.

no employer wants to pay you for 56 days and spend all of that money training you only to have you fail. could it be that you really were unsafe? your post indicates that this may be the case -- some little problems with med calcs aren't little problems. they're huge safety issues. if you didn't have a calculator and didn't get one, i can see the concern. as for the monitor alarms -- also a huge safety issue.

i can understand that you're somewhat bitter right now, but i hope that when things settle down you take the time to really think about what went wrong. i'm sure you weren't blameless.

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Chances are that if they fired you because of the way you insist on parting your hair, it would have occurred long before 56 days. You should do some reflecting on your performance to see what you can take away from this experience.

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Specializes in Transitional Care.

I too had this happen to me. I was about seven weeks into my orientation. I was working in a birth center. We were required to cross train from c-section OR to gyns. I was doing pretty decent in L&D when I was switched to mother/baby to orient. I was with a total of three different nurses in 5 days. I was struggling a bit with what I was supposed to be accomplishing during my shift. I felt it was just me becoming familiar with everything. I was called into a meeting to check up on my progress. The nurse I had been with for 3 days said I was way behind. Long story short I came back to work the next day I was scheduled and was let go and told I needed to obtain experience. I was not offered the chance to fix anything and was not told by a single nurse that I was doing anything wrong. I made it a habit to ask how I was doing and if there was anything I needed to work on and the feedback from that each time was no, you are doing great. Come to find out my orienting nurse had told my manager that I was didn't like my job and that I wasn't interested in learning anything new.

To say the least I felt like I had completely been thrown under the bus. Nothing I said allowed me to keep my job. My main beef with this was I think it was highly unrealistic for them to expect a brand new grad to be completely independent in a unit (mother/baby) after 5 days. But anyway,

I am starting the job searching all over again, which to say the least has been frustrating and has lead to tears on numerous occasions. BUT I put the experience on my resume because it is RN experience none the less and if I am asked I will simply state that I was told I should gain some basic med-surg experience first. So I am trying to take the advice to heart.

It is hard to not be bitter, but my advice is to learn from your mistakes and you know what you need to fix next time. Try to study up on things you feel rusty on.

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Right, I appreciate all the responses, and do feel like I share some of the blame. I was definitely not a super star and felt like I needed some time to get everything on par. I don't feel like the work was hard, but getting it all done efficiently was challenging because there was so much to do and so many variables. I did feel like I was making improvements, but I don't think that was ever recognized. In the end it's probably for the best if I start somewhere that the preceptor can walk me through my challenging areas and help me come up with a plan for improvement instead of silently watching me make mistakes. I felt like my senior preceptor was like this, she was tough, but she kept me on task and I learned a lot.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
right, i appreciate all the responses, and do feel like i share some of the blame. i was definitely not a super star and felt like i needed some time to get everything on par. i don't feel like the work was hard, but getting it all done efficiently was challenging because there was so much to do and so many variables. i did feel like i was making improvements, but i don't think that was ever recognized. in the end it's probably for the best if i start somewhere that the preceptor can walk me through my challenging areas and help me come up with a plan for improvement instead of silently watching me make mistakes. i felt like my senior preceptor was like this, she was tough, but she kept me on task and i learned a lot.

what a mature response. good for you!

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Specializes in OBGYN.

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