new graduate RN -- terminated after 2 months

[cyoucapri]

hi all, i was recently terminated from my rn job at a major teaching hospital. i was let go after working there for only 2 months. how do you move on after this? i was in denial for the first 2 weeks, now reality is setting in and i need to figure out what to do next. i loved being a nurse, but i am questioning whether hospital nursing is for me. i always felt like i had to try 10x harder to fit into a profession that is predominately female. i held my own in my interactions with my patients, they gave me wonderful testimonials, i've been told i will go on to become a doctor and that i have great bedside manners. i know medical school is not possible at this point in time because i don't have the funds to afford medical school and i know i can't handle working the grueling hours of a medical resident. i would like to connect with other nurses who have been in my situation. how long did it take you to find a job and how do you explain your termination on job applications?

[subee, MSN, CRNA]

Don't despair. This place wasn't a good fit for you. We need all the men we can get in nursing! Try a smaller community

hospital or even dare to try rural location. Way too early to give up. Your're upset and sad now but you can get through this.

Big, teaching hospitals are not the end all that students are led to believe.

[cyoucapri]

Thank you for the words of encouragement :-) May I ask what field of nursing you're in? I am questioning whether bedside nursing is for me. Don't get me wrong, I love doing all the care required of a bedside nurse, just sick of the politics that go on in the hospital environment. I have seriously thought about working for the city health department or the CDC doing public health nursing. My impression is that you need some nursing experience before they will consider hiring you. I am going to work with the connections I have now, not sure how far that will get me towards landing a job.

[ckh23, BSN, RN]

As much as it sucks now, it will get better. That is one of the nice things I do like about nursing. There are so many different areas that you can practice in, so if the hospital wasn't a good fit for you than perhaps something else. You will find your niche eventually. You never know, maybe someday down the road you may end up back in the hospital.

[MN-Nurse, ASN, RN]

i always felt like i had to try 10x harder to fit into a profession that is predominately female.?

let. that. go.

i'm sorry you were terminated and i hope you will bounce back in a great new job.

but you must let go of that "10x harder" nonsense. it makes you look like you have a massive chip on your shoulder and that is likely to get you in dutch with your coworkers.

work as hard as you can to take care of your patients and learn your profession.

that gets noticed.

[Rick68fl]

+ 1.

I have never had a problem because I am a man. Not with staff or patients.

[mrmedical, ASN, BSN]

Just keep looking man, even if it's not as prestigious as your prior job. Accept and evaluate what had happened, gather your emotions, and then move on. As a new grad, in my opinion beggars can't be choosers: start off applying for everything and if you get accepted to the "lowly" medsurg or some other floor, take it. Because the most important thing you can gain from that is the actual experience, whether it be communicating with the docs and staff, to time management and planning your care, or just getting comfortable with procedures... all this experience will add up and benefit you and your patients as well as make you that much more marketable in the future as well as boost your confidence. Remember, no one ever go to the top of the totem pole overnight. Keep your head up and work SMART!

[Mr. Murse]

I'm kind of curious as to the reasons they told you that you were let go, but I guess you didn't share them for a reason.

I worked as an extern at a local hospital during my last semester of school and had two RN position offers before I even graduated. I opted for one on a surgical floor and am still there today. I have never felt at all discriminated against by coworkers or patients (aside from the occasional patient that prefers female help for baths and what not), and have never felt like I had to work "10x harder" than the female RN's I work with.

It would actually be kind of a good thing if your gender was the only reason they fired you, because that means that there are many other facilities out there that would be thrilled to hire males on their nursing staff.

So it could have been discrimination, but I'm willing to bet that if they hired you as a male nurse then your gender probably had very little, if anything at all, to do with your firing. I would start to evaluate other reasons they might have had to let you go. If they didn't give you specific reasons, then diplomatically go back and ask them, explaining that you want to better yourself so that you don't face the same situation in the future. For one thing, wherever you apply to next is going to want to know why you were let go. Keep in mind that good bedside manner is only a part of the job. Just because your patients love you doesn't mean you don't have other equally important areas of the job that you may be weak in.

Also, were you not still working with a preceptor? Our floor usually trains for a few weeks before letting us "fly solo". If so, then your preceptor likely had something to do with it. In which case again, go and try to find out what specific areas you can improve to avoid the problem in the future.

If they can't give you a straight answer, then it is possible there were some personal, unprofessional reasons you were let go. If this is the case, and you know that you're efficient at all of the many tasks that make up the nursing job, then keep your head high and get your applications out there. Remember, interviews are more important than anything else in the hiring process. Go in confidently and professionally, and explain why you feel the last job didn't work out and why you can do this job better.

Regardless of you financial capabilities, I really doubt medical school is the solution to this problem. Dig deep, find the real problem, quit blaming it on your gender, and move forward.

[cyoucapri]

No, this was not an issue of discrimination. Okay, maybe I exaggerated a bit by saying I had to work 10x harder to stand out as a male nurse. What I mean is providing genuine and compassionate care doesn't always come naturally for me. I know that I have to be very aware and conscious of what I say or do because I might be misread as lacking empathy. Men tend to be more stoic and we don't show our emotions all the time towards our patients. Maybe I am being too hard on myself. I had some issues with anxiety and depression growing up, but am better equipped to confront these issues and work towards improving myself for the better.

[nurse2033, MSN, RN]

You should get back in the game. Be realistic about what happened so you get succeed in the future. This is a setback but you worked too hard not to give it a chance, good luck.

[charlie8025]

Like a prior poster said, "Regardless of you financial capabilities, I really doubt medical school is the solution to this problem. Dig deep, find the real problem, quit blaming it on your gender, and move forward."

What happened is relavant, but why it happened is the key. Skills are critical and if they are lacking, they need to be addressed. I have great patient communication skills, but sometimes my tech skills are lacking. I work on improving them every shift. A true professional must always evaluate what has happened, why it happened and how to improve the outcome to foster growth and career progression.

If you don't want to stay in nursing, okay. If you do, make what happened work for you. Best of luck to you, give it hell what ever you decide.

[d'cm]

Dude, 2 months?!. Not a good sign. Yeah, plan B is in order.