New graduate nurse fired for not having experience after 30 days .....

[spiri1, ADN, RN]

I'm looking for advice. A nurse who recently passed her state boards was hired as a charge nurse. Within 30 days she was fired.

The job description required experience, and yet the facilitity who knew she had recently graduated and had no experience, still hired her.

She can not think of any other reason they fired her after her 30 day evaluation period, except that on one occasion she did not check the the peg tube patency before administering medication, ( she had been being observed by the evaluation nurse.

She had done the procedure properly prior to this particular occasion when she forgot to check for peg tube patency.

She called the nurse who evaluated her and the nurse evaluator said that she had no idea she had been fired.

Further information given to the new nurse was that she was fired because she did not have enough experience.

Why hire her knowing she had no experience without giving her adequate time to learn.

30 days is not alot of time.

Now she needs a job. How should she approach applications? Does she put down she was fired after 30 days ?

I feel bad for her. I think that the facility hired her until they could get an experienced nurse for the position.

This facility is known for going through RN's quick ( they Quit). She was in charge of LPN's who cared for for alzhimers / dementia patients.

Any feeedback would be appriciated.............

Terri

[katwoman7755]

I think most employers can let you go during your probationary period for whatever reason if it isn't working out....

As far as "fault", we as nurses have a responsibility to know what our scope of practice is, know our level of experience, and know when we don't know something. Yes, maybe they shouldn't have hired her...but also, she should not have applied for and accepted a job she was not qualified to do. The job description called for an experienced nurse...and by description of being the charge nurse, your in charge....in charge of what's going on all around you...in charge of what the lesser licensed people beneath you are doing...and knowing what to do in those situations does require some amount of experience.

As far as moving on to find another job, she doesn't necessarily have to put that job down on the resume. If this was her first nursing job...and she is still a real new nurse....then I would probably leave well enough alone...and look for a job where I could get some experience..without having to explain the current fiasco.

I would definitely encourage her to be more practical and safer in her next job hunt....she is lucky...something really bad could have happened and her new license would have been on the line.

Kathryn

[jkaee]

I think most employers can let you go during your probationary period for whatever reason if it isn't working out....

As far as "fault", we as nurses have a responsibility to know what our scope of practice is, know our level of experience, and know when we don't know something. Yes, maybe they shouldn't have hired her...but also, she should not have applied for and accepted a job she was not qualified to do. Kathryn

I agree with Kathryn....you need to know your limitations, esp. when you are a new nurse. Too many facilities that are hurting for nurses will put anyone in a position that needs to be filled. I've been there before (I was put in a management position after only 1 year of experience) and let me tell you, it was not a fun thing to go thru.

She was probably still on probation, and they do not need to give a reason for termination if that was the case. Again, I think she should just forget even mentioning that job, it will just raise more suspicion and she will feel that she has to explain something that just didn't work out.

She will find another job...hopefully one suited for new nurses. Wish her luck!

[RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN]

Sorry to hear this. The reason for the probatory time if for the employer to see how this new person will fit in. Maybe their expectations were extremely high and needless to say your friend didn't have the experience (although they knew that they went ahead and tried her).

It is such a shame because she is not at fault and is more than likely taking it hardly. I mean I would too and think I did something wrong, and that is not the case.

I wish her well, and would move on to bigger and better things. There are plenty of opportunities out there. :)

[BabyRN2Be]

I really hate to add this, but wow, a brand new RN hired as charge? Maybe there is something that you don't know. It is possible that she wasn't entirely honest filing out a resume and it looked like she had more experience than she actually had, that's why they might have hired her as charge. If you aren't entirely honest on a resume, they have the right to terminate you immediately, especially if it was experience related.

I'm not saying that's what it is, but just bringing up a possibility.

Maybe it was just a mistake in HR, and they presented her to the manager with more experience than she had. When she was on the floor, it was possibly discovered that she didn't have the experience they thought she had. In the 30 days probationary time, they can let you go for any reason.

I'm just mentioning some possibilities here...

[suzanne4, RN]

There is absolutely no reason whatsoever that a newly graduated nurse should be accepting a charge nurse position. I don't care where the job is, or the type of unit. They simply do not have the experience to back them up. As we keep stating here, a nursing program only gives you the basic tools to begin your training as a nurse, it is not the end of your training, but just the stepping stone. Be happy that they were let go before any issues did arise that they could lose their license over.

Probation periods are there for one thing, to see if there is a good fit between the nurse and the facility. Sometimes things do not work out, and this doesn't matter even if the nurse has thirty years of experience. And they usually become a better nurse because of it. :)

[Tony35NYC]

IMO, this experience is a nonexperience and also one to be forgotten. This facility should never have hired an inexperienced new grad to be a charge, and the nurse should also have known better than to accept the position.

Since it only lasted 30 days, I would not put it on my resume if I were her. She should look for an entry-level nursing position where she will get a decent preceptorship and just start over.

T.

[Nanaie4ever]

I so agree with Tony. Years ago I had a similar experience and from then on did not put it on my resume. Thankfully it was also at the very beginning of my career and therefore simply appeared that I had taken the summer off before applying for a job. Teh

[Nanaie4ever]

just an addendum from above, I was not fired from that job. I knew enough to quit and quit quickly.:)

[RebeccaJeanRN]

The real question is not why they fired her, but why they ever hired a Charge Nurse with no experience!!!! I'm also shocked that a new nurse did not know enough NOT to accept a charge nurse position. I hate to sound tough, but I feel no sympathy about her being fired- that person should never have taken a charge nurse position (and how on earth he/she got hired as charge nures is beyond me!) I am about to be a new nurse shortly (after July) and I wouldn't take a job running a nursing home, or as charge nurse, any sooner than I would be a Hospital Administrator right out of school. And I'm an "old" student nurse- with several prior careers and experience behind me. I'm pretty sure I could dazzle a facility into thinking I was more 'advanced' than most new hires...but I will be a 'new nurse' like any other new nurse- because its experience as a NURSE that really counts. Shame on the hospital AND shame on that new nurse who took the job- equal blame and equal shame!!!!

[Nanaie4ever]

"The real question is not why they fired her, but why they ever hired a Charge Nurse with no experience!!!! I'm also shocked that a new nurse did not know enough NOT to accept a charge nurse position. I hate to sound tough, but I feel no sympathy about her being fired- that person should never have taken a charge nurse position (and how on earth he/she got hired as charge nures is beyond me!) I am about to be a new nurse shortly (after July) and I wouldn't take a job running a nursing home, or as charge nurse, any sooner than I would be a Hospital Administrator right out of school. And I'm an "old" student nurse- with several prior careers and experience behind me. I'm pretty sure I could dazzle a facility into thinking I was more 'advanced' than most new hires...but I will be a 'new nurse' like any other new nurse- because its experience as a NURSE that really counts. Shame on the hospital AND shame on that new nurse who took the job- equal blame and equal shame!!!!" QUOTED from above (sorry I can't figure how to do that yet)

I think the difference here is that you are an older grad and know the difference via life experience. I think the original writer is writing about a young new in-experienced RN who took an interviewer at her word that there would be plenty of suport and training and probably folks to turn to for assistance while on duty. I know this is the line most facilities give to all nurses whether new or just new to the facility. I have yet to find one hospital that has ever given an adequate orientation. Nurses tend to eat their young!!! It's wrong and to blame this young, inexperienced RN for taking a job she was told she would be able to do (why else would they hire her). I think all nurses - at any license level - need to look out for each other and offer helping hands and smiles instead of putting each other down. I don't mean to offend you for your statement, however, I do want to point out what actually goes on in real life nursing. Teh

[Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN]

ouch!! well, i hope she can find another job. i personally wouldnt have gone for a charge position straight out of nursing school.