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 too am a new grad so I understand the apprehension and fear that comes along with your first job. All I can say is chin up, dust yourself off, and keep moving forward. The world of nursing is very intimidating, but hey, we made it this far, right? You'll look back on this some day and realize that although it was and ego bruiser, it taught you so much valuable information. Just remember that even though rejection sucks, tomorrow is a new day. Even on our worst days, this is an amazing career to have :)
Specializes in Telemetry, LTC, Hospice and Private Duty.
I agree DO NOT put it on they will not find out later. Nurses seem to be VERY unforgiving about former dismissals and are then suspicious and judgemental. Leave it off the applications and your heart that was merely not the right place for you. Chin up and hang in there. We ALL aren't evil bitter snobs too busy to mentor newbies let alone care to do anything above and beyond. I promise.
My first job was at a LTC facility, I wound up leaving after two months because I just couldn't physically and mentally handle 30 pts as a new nurse. I went to a MedSurg floor and have been bouncing around different MedSurg units ever since. I love it! I have so much respect for LTC nurses, especially the night nurses (60 to 1) .... Im on med-onc right now and some nights I have 10, those nights are nuts. I could not imagine having 60 sub-acute & confused patients
This is scary. I haven't reach six months of my new job yet and still feel like I have so much to learn. Sorry for your situation but don't take it to heart. Who is ever ready when they first begin and WHO has perfect skills just out of nursing school...Not me!
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
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!!
No, you cannot LEARN every skill in school. But if you've been employed for a couple of weeks now, and have had a chance to practice the same skills over and over without appearing to actually LEARN how to do them, there is a definite lack of skill there. I think many of the new nurses who are fired for "lack of skills" are really being fired because they're unteachable. That's not ridiculous.
I'm wondering how you can say "you will be a great nurse" when you don't know the poster personally and have no idea of their knowledge base, skill level or work ethic other than what you've read on this forum. Can you explain your rationale for telling the poster they'll be great?
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Because they don't want to kick me while I am down perhaps? Thats probably why they are telling
me that I am "great". You don't know me either. So I will tell you - I am going to be harder on myself
than anyone on this board or at my past job could be combined - so I am not even going to believe
I am a "great" nurse until I feel it within myself.
I am not unteachable - I can say alot of things about myself - but I wasnt afraid to ask questions,
wasnt afraid to jump in and learn new things. And the things I was oriented on and did do
over and over I am good on - but unfortunately there are many other things that I did not do
over and over again - and did not have the practice on - and therefore lacked the skill in those areas.
Furthermore, my DON said that things that may have been considered "common sense" for a seasoned
nurse should not have been expected to be common sense for a brand new nurse fresh out of school and
shouldn't have been taken forgranted as such. However, since they found a nurse with experience while I was in my
orientation period they decided to take a chance on them and let me go.
And while it was still a punch in the stomach and I have really had to take the time to wrap my mind around it,
I am not going to let that incident, as well as some of the comments on this board,, get me down and have
me forget my focus. I have been a nurse for a total of 2-3 months. I am going to be a great nurse one day -
and I am worth the time and effort a new place of employment will have to orient me to get to that place. Its
going to take a lot more to take me out of this field than being terminated from a job or some of the commentary
I get here. I am not afraid to become the nurse I know my faith has envisioned for me to become. And thats all that
matters to me in this moment.
There are ways to not kick you when you're down that don't involve telling you what a great nurse you'll be when we don't, in fact, know that you will be. But I'm glad that you aren't going to believe it without further evidence. As for the unteachable part -- I was not referring to you personally. I was just throwing out there that sometimes new nurses ARE fired for "lack of skills" when they've been shown and/or practiced the same skill over and over without learning it. A fair number of new grads seem to feel that they already know all there is to know, and it's very difficult to teach someone who already knows everything. I am not in the least saying that pertains to you -- because I don't know you. I'm just saying it's out there, and that new nurses are legitimately fired for being unwilling to learn.
. However, since they found a nurse with experience while I was in my
orientation period they decided to take a chance on them and let me go.
And while it was still a punch in the stomach and I have really had to take the time to wrap my mind around it,
I am not going to let that incident, as well as some of the comments on this board,, get me down and have
me forget my focus. I have been a nurse for a total of 2-3 months. I am going to be a great nurse one day -
and I am worth the time and effort a new place of employment will have to orient me to get to that place. Its
going to take a lot more to take me out of this field than being terminated from a job or some of the commentary
I get here. I am not afraid to become the nurse I know my faith has envisioned for me to become. And thats all that
matters to me in this moment.
This puts a whole different spin on your "firing". I would tell a future employed exactly that, you were let go in favor of some one with experience, not so much that you screwed up really bad. Good luck
Specializes in OB/GYN, L&D, Postpartum Couplet Care.
Let's hope they were honest with you about the reason they let you go. I know our hospital just let a nurse go during orientation because no one liked her personality. It got to the point where she had a target on her forehead and they looked for the slightest misstep as the reason to let her go.
That nurse could be so much more successful in her next position if she knew all the details of why our managers just felt she wasn't going to fit on our team. But instead, she went home thinking she screwed up a procedure.
With that being said, you may want to zoom out and think about other scenarios of why you might have been let go. These can me really invaluable learning experiences (although painful). I'm sorry for what you're going through but brush yourself off and get out there and show another facility what you have to offer them. You're a survivor, I can tell. That'll take you a long way in the sometimes cutthroat environment of clinical nursing
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Let's hope they were honest with you about the reason they let you go. I know our hospital just let a nurse go during orientation because no one liked her personality. It got to the point where she had a target on her forehead and they looked for the slightest misstep as the reason to let her go.
That nurse could be so much more successful in her next position if she knew all the details of why our managers just felt she wasn't going to fit on our team. But instead, she went home thinking she screwed up a procedure.
With that being said, you may want to zoom out and think about other scenarios of why you might have been let go. These can me really invaluable learning experiences (although painful). I'm sorry for what you're going through but brush yourself off and get out there and show another facility what you have to offer them. You're a survivor, I can tell. That'll take you a long way in the sometimes cutthroat environment of clinical nursing
Sent from my iPhone using allnurses.com
I once worked with a woman who had atrocious table manners. In fact, it was so disgusting that no one wanted to eat lunch while she was eating -- it just took your appetite away. The woman noticed, of course, that no one wanted to have lunch with her, and one day when I was trapped in the break room with her, she told me all about how mean everyone was being and how she knew they didn't like her, etc. I don't know why, but I thought it would be a kindness to tell her why no one wanted to have lunch with her. Turns out, she went to the manager and complained that I was being mean to her . . .
Yes, that nurse could be ever so much more successful in her next position if someone would tell her why she wasn't going to fit on your team -- if she'd believe someone when they told her. And it's a very risky thing to tell someone.
whatdoIdonow?
104 Posts
You shouldn't have to, but in nursing today, it might be your only option!