and I am not sure how to move forward with looking for a job. Do I add it to my resume? Is anyone going to hire me after getting terminated? Ive never been fired before and I am so disheartened that I got fired in my nursing career - if you can call it a career after 2 months. Do I just start over fresh like I have had no experience?
It was mostly related to skills, and my DON who fired me suggested I look online and review my skills, etc. so when I do start looking (which I need to do soon) I can say what happened, and that I have been reviewing my skills to make myself better.
Sometimes I got the feeling that they expected more from me as a brand new nurse than I was able to give. I was always there on time, asked questions, jumped in and tried new things, was willing to help - but its almost like they forgot what it was like to be a new nurse and took forgranted that I was a brand new nurse just learning the ropes. Regardless, my license wont be affected - just my bruised ego. I am especially concerned that since LTC seems to be the only place hiring "inexperienced" (less than a year experience) nurses and that is the field I was in that I am not going to find anyone that is understanding in another branch of nursing to take me in and give me another chance.
II am open to suggestions. This is fairly recent so I am still dusting myself off - but I would love to know if any other brand new nurses went thru this and how they coped with it. Thanks so much for the support.
Wow, I didnt realize how lucky we were in our program then! By our last semester in clinicals, we were pretty much responsible for ALL patient care (general med-surg stuff, nothing advanced of course!). We were in clinicals 4 days a week, and had up to 4 patients if our teachers thought we could handle it. Our clinical teachers figured by that time, it was sink or swim. We needed to know how to organize our time with a full patient load so we didnt end up shell-shocked when we actually started working...
Our program did this also and I feel it did help me a lot.
That sounds like an excellent program. Would you mind sharing what type it was...BSN? Big school? Private school? I'm aware that my 2 year ADN was extremely light on the clinical experience, but have no knowledge of how other programs are geared. Please tell! Thanks!:)
Flatlander, I went to school in Canada. It was Vanier College in Montreal. I have been told since being here that it basically equates a diploma, however it might be a bit more than that since we were affiliated with McGill University nursing. It is a public school there, tuition was really cheap, but only for residents. The school itself is not all that big. Its funny, I really thought all nursing programs were the same lol. They really prepared us well for the work force I think, as well as the licensing exams. Part of our licensing in Quebec is a practical exam, with situations, actors, and people watching us. We would have practice exams for this is school at least twice per semester. We started clinicals in our first semester, one day a week. By our last semester, it was 4 days a week, full day, almost full patient load each. If you want to take a look at the curriculum you can look at the website Cégep Vanier College just to get an idea.
Thanks, Jeweles26. In contrast, we had one day a week of clinicals for the entire two year program, and only 5 to 6 hours each clinical day. I was in a distance learning site, so we didn't even have a simulation lab to practice in. My preceptor noticed that my problems in progressing in my first job seemed to be a result of lack of clinical experience before getting hired. Hence, my interest in comparing my experience with other new nurses. I need to figure out if "it's just me", or if I really suffered most from lack of experience I should have gotten in school. (I think part of it is me-- my slow natural pace! I need to figure out how to increase my speed if I wish to succeed in acute care, or any bedside care, I think. I'm wondering if anyone else has identified this problem and found a way to overcome it! I had a lab blood draw yesterday and was astonished how fast the phlebotomist was moving. She was also nearly scowling and barely said 'hello.' It really made me wonder... It seemed so unnatural. I understand the need to be lightning fast if you are caring for someone in an emergency situation, but c'mon... why are we so impressed and driven by doing things faster and faster? Is this really the way we want to be?)
Well, thanks for the information about your program. I think it is probably the exception nowadays, and as you said, more like the diploma programs of old, which no longer exist. That would be another interesting topic: what has happened in the preparation of nurses and why? I will look up the program curriculum with the link you supplied. Thanks again!
and I am not sure how to move forward with looking for a job. Do I add it to my resume? Is anyone going to hire me after getting terminated? Ive never been fired before and I am so disheartened that I got fired in my nursing career - if you can call it a career after 2 months. Do I just start over fresh like I have had no experience? It was mostly related to skills, and my DON who fired me suggested I look online and review my skills, etc. so when I do start looking (which I need to do soon) I can say what happened, and that I have been reviewing my skills to make myself better. Sometimes I got the feeling that they expected more from me as a brand new nurse than I was able to give. I was always there on time, asked questions, jumped in and tried new things, was willing to help - but its almost like they forgot what it was like to be a new nurse and took forgranted that I was a brand new nurse just learning the ropes. Regardless, my license wont be affected - just my bruised ego. I am especially concerned that since LTC seems to be the only place hiring "inexperienced" (less than a year experience) nurses and that is the field I was in that I am not going to find anyone that is understanding in another branch of nursing to take me in and give me another chance. II am open to suggestions. This is fairly recent so I am still dusting myself off - but I would love to know if any other brand new nurses went thru this and how they coped with it. Thanks so much for the support.
That was bit rude.....put it on the resume, when asked be honest state how you assessed where you went wrong you diagnosed your self as having new nurse syndrome, your plan is to make the transition from new nurse with textbook knowledge, to a new nurse who can handle clinical situations, your intervention is you reviewed your clinical checklist, watched videos and you have 2month of experience, your evaluation is that you are equipped to take on the field of nursing.........ADPIE : )*
To fire a new nurse because of lack of skills is ridiculous...you cannot be taught EVERY skill in nursing school. Everyone gets better at skills with experience. I would list it on my resume as experience....learn from it and move on...you will be a great nurse...but remember as nurses we never stop learning and no matter what some may think they do not know everything and never will...good luck to you and heads up!!
Oh now I'm terrified! I graduated in May, passed my boards mid July, and I start my new job at an LTC facility on Monday . I only get three days training before I'm expected to fly solo, and I still lack confidence in a lot of what I know I know. Yikes! Wish you luck in finding a new job! There's one out there waiting for you.
I understand where you are coming from i have had my nursing license for over a year. i also worked as a new nurse and fired not long after because they didn't believe my skills were up to their par. it is frustrating but don't give up hope. i know here where i live you don't have to put it on your resume' unless you have been there for six months. i was afraid to put it on after i was terminated as well. I did not give up hope. the nursing field is hard right now for new nurses. i even worked as an aid until i found a job because even after 6 months i still couldn't find work even after months and months of applying and interviewing. finally i have a job that i am starting this next week and am excited. so my advice is to not give up! i did mention the two months i was at my first job and what was going on many of times during an interview i don't know if that hurt me or not, but i knew what i really wanted to do and now i am doing it, so the other times i was rejected i felt there was a reason. keep your chin up:) you'll make it:)
and I am not sure how to move forward with looking for a job. Do I add it to my resume? Is anyone going to hire me after getting terminated? Ive never been fired before and I am so disheartened that I got fired in my nursing career - if you can call it a career after 2 months. Do I just start over fresh like I have had no experience?
It was mostly related to skills, and my DON who fired me suggested I look online and review my skills, etc. so when I do start looking (which I need to do soon) I can say what happened, and that I have been reviewing my skills to make myself better.
Sometimes I got the feeling that they expected more from me as a brand new nurse than I was able to give. I was always there on time, asked questions, jumped in and tried new things, was willing to help - but its almost like they forgot what it was like to be a new nurse and took forgranted that I was a brand new nurse just learning the ropes. Regardless, my license wont be affected - just my bruised ego. I am especially concerned that since LTC seems to be the only place hiring "inexperienced" (less than a year experience) nurses and that is the field I was in that I am not going to find anyone that is understanding in another branch of nursing to take me in and give me another chance.
II am open to suggestions. This is fairly recent so I am still dusting myself off - but I would love to know if any other brand new nurses went thru this and how they coped with it. Thanks so much for the support.
and I am not sure how to move forward with looking for a job. Do I add it to my resume? Is anyone going to hire me after getting terminated? Ive never been fired before and I am so disheartened that I got fired in my nursing career - if you can call it a career after 2 months. Do I just start over fresh like I have had no experience?
It was mostly related to skills, and my DON who fired me suggested I look online and review my skills, etc. so when I do start looking (which I need to do soon) I can say what happened, and that I have been reviewing my skills to make myself better.
Sometimes I got the feeling that they expected more from me as a brand new nurse than I was able to give. I was always there on time, asked questions, jumped in and tried new things, was willing to help - but its almost like they forgot what it was like to be a new nurse and took forgranted that I was a brand new nurse just learning the ropes. Regardless, my license wont be affected - just my bruised ego. I am especially concerned that since LTC seems to be the only place hiring "inexperienced" (less than a year experience) nurses and that is the field I was in that I am not going to find anyone that is understanding in another branch of nursing to take me in and give me another chance.
II am open to suggestions. This is fairly recent so I am still dusting myself off - but I would love to know if any other brand new nurses went thru this and how they coped with it. Thanks so much for the support.
I am so sorry that you went through this in your early nursing career. I have to say nothing suprizes me in nursing today. Try to learn what you can from it. If you feel you can work on your skils than do that. But you are correct, there is a learning curve and everyone has that right. Nursing/Healthcare has always been political and there seems that more extreme problems exist beyond the staff level. Unfortunately everything runs downhill. Who knows why you were really terminated. Don't take it personally. Try to find another position that is more open to teaching. A teaching hospital is good for this goal. You will definately sharpen skills and everyone, well most everyone, understands learning curves. Oh, and in Nursing we are always learning something new. I have been doing this for over 20 years. It sounds like you are open to learning but you need a few good mentors. They are out there. Good Luck!
You can choose to leave it off of your resume if you want. It is not required to list every job you've ever worked on a resume. The purpose is to highlight the jobs and qualifications that make you a suitable candidate for the position applying for. Whether you should leave it off, I don't know. Maybe a DON or NM can chime in on that. I think some experience is better than none. As long as you can convey that you learned from the experience and will do better.
Now if you have to fill out an application you should list the job. Job applications usually require ALL jobs you've had the last 7-10 years. Lying on an app will for sure get you fired. Or not hired if they find out during the background check.
I did! I met my Linda, for real! I was also very new 3 years ago, straight out of school into LTC and she was and is always patient with me, she taught me all the shortcuts, I still work with Linda today.
One thing I have not heard anyone mention is this...because I witnessed this any times...watch your attitude when you are new, if you want the experienced nurses and experienced aides to show you the ropes then you must be willing to listen to them, give them help when they need it...I tried to tell several new grad LPN's to help out the aides and to assist us whenever they can and instead they talked down to the aides....consequently we stopped trying to show the new grads how to do their job because we did not want to waste our time on someone like that. So look carefully at your behavior and attitude, I have witnessed that those who are the ost willing to jump in to help and have a great loving attitude in LTC are the ones who succeed because all of us want nurses like that working with us and we do all we can to help them succeed.
bubblejet50
230 Posts
Our program did this also and I feel it did help me a lot.