Could the reason I got fired from my last job affect becoming a nurse

Nurses Career Support

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Okay...so last year I worked at an assisted living center. I'm young, I was 21 at the time and made a very very very poor choice of being intimate with a fellow co worker while at work. Long story short, we got caught and were fired. I'm worried that when I start to apply for a nursing position and they call former employee's, they will find out from my ex employer that whole story. I've read that former employers can say anything about you, but usually choose what they say wisely due to defamation. Should I be worried that I'll never get hired??? I am guilty of overthinking things and this is a worry I can't seem to shake. I don't want a potential employer to think they will have to worry about my shacking up with a co worker in an on call room. I don't think my former boss would say the reason I was fired, but you can never be to sure. I really hope this did not ruine my chances of finding a nursing position! Does anyone have any words that could put my mind at ease? It would be much appreciated!

Specializes in Pedi.
I would be honest. Say I had a relationship with a coworker.

Which, in most places, is not grounds for termination or being ineligible for re-hire so the prospective employer will know you're lying. I know multiple people, in nursing, who met their spouses through being coworkers. Even one who met her spouse because he was a family member of a patient. She still works on the same floor she was working on when she met him, too, and the parents of our former patient are now her sister and brother-in-law. A relationship with a co-worker didn't get you fired and marked ineligible for rehire. Having sex on work grounds during the work day did. There's a distinction.

If I were a hiring manager, I'd be more likely to hire someone with a history of a misdemeanor like petty theft or public intoxication than I would someone who was fired for having sex on the job.

Specializes in Med/Surg, Ortho, ASC.
I know I must put them as a reference and they may or may not tell, but surely there will be a hospital that hires me. I appreciate your honesty but considering there are nurses who have misdemeanors...compared to someone walking in on me and a co worker not engaging in sex, but half way back to dressed, I'm not going to worry and assume I will never have a nurse position.

It's not so much the sex on the job (although bad enough), but the lying about it. How will you explain your ineligibility for rehire?

You were young and immature. What have you learned from this incident? Would you ever do it again?

I would not share that I was caught having sex and was fired for it to a future employee. I just left a leadership position, and I would have accepted that answer of having a relationship with a co-worker and it caused a conflict of interest. When you say intimate, that can mean a lot of different thing, i.e. kissing, touching, intercourse, fondling, etc. I would choose a different term to describe it. I don't know, maybe romantic?? How long did you work there? If not long, do you really need to list them?

You were terminated. You paid your dues for this mistake when you were let go. You shouldn't have to pay for something that did not cause harm to anyone for the rest of your career. I hope it all works out, but I will say again, I would NOT divulge this mistake in an interview or on an application, because people DO judge and will use that incident against you to define your character.

If my former employer wants to address the incident to my potentionel employer, so be it. I will say though that they did fire a girl who was a no call no show and who always called off and they brought her back. Typically always calling off and being a no call no show is a good reason to list someone and ineleigable for rehire. Yes, my situation for getting fired was worse, but like I said we were never caught having sex just putting shirts back on. I made a mistake and learned from it. Even when my manager called and terminated me all she did was say nice things about me. How I was a good worker and she hates to let me go. I'm not going to assume my chance of landing an RN position is over.

I was only there for 6 months and I must list them. I read about nurses who have left off previous jobs from their application and once found out, they were fired. I will make sure to word it in a way that doesn't give too much away. I truly don't believe my former supervisor would mention that. She may say ineligible for rehire but I'm sure I wouldn't be the only nurse who has had someone say they were ineligible.

Hmm - You don't seemed to have learned much from your past experience (EG - bringing up a co-worker who is late has nothing to do with your on the job intercourse). Agree with others - if it had been a resident, it would be game over. Though not a legal matter, what you did does violate both professional and facility standards. The issue is not so much that you were in a relationship together (though some facilities do ban this, it is hard to enforce) but that you engaged in sexual activity at work, then lied about it. I don't think the HR person will go into gory detail, but do some serious soul searching about how you will prevent such incidences in the future.

Specializes in CCRN.

Have you had a job since this position that you were fired from? How long have you been unemployed? Are you already a nurse?

I wasn't bringing her up to bad mouth and I definitely am aware that we have a big difference. I was just simply stating how she at one point was more than likely listed as ineligible for rehire. I have very much so learned from that mistake. I was imature. But during an interview I'm not going to say "I was fired from there for sex" I will answer what they ask me reguarding my past work history.

I work at a company where you take care of kids and young adults who have developmental disabilities. I have been there for a year now and I'll still continue working there until I am done with school. I start the nursing program this coming January! I will graduate in May 2019. I know for a fact they will put in a good word for me when contacted. I 100% would not make the same mistake I did at my last job.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I denied it in the statement I had to write for HR. I never admitted it happened. It was a co worker who caught us.

If it happened and you denied it, you lied. Lying is indicative of poor character, and no one wants to hire someone who they cannot trust to tell the truth. Your former employer doesn't need to tell anyone who calls for references that you were caught shagging in the workplace. If they say you were caught in a lie, that's just as damning.

Having sex on the clock is bad, even assuming it was consensual. Who was watching your (and their) patients while you did this? Lying about it is wrong, too. You are concerned about the sex on the job, but the lying doesn't seem to bother you. If I had a choice between hiring you and someone who had more integrity, it would not be you I would hire.

Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I would be honest. Say I had a relationship with a coworker.

I've never seen anyone get fired merely for having a relationship with a coworker. It's when said relationship impacts the job -- like having sex at work -- that employees are terminated. And, saying you were fired for having a relationship with a coworker is not the truth. I'm having more doubts about your integrity as the thread progresses.

In my statement I did not say "we didn't have sex" I wrote "Made a poor choice with a co worker" when they reported it to HR it was reported because of speculation. When it was reported by a co worker they supervisor of course had to call us in a say that a co worker suspected us of having sex on the job she then had us write a statement. I respect your opinion even if you believe I am screwed out of a a good career and believe I have a lack of integrity. I didn't deny sex. I simply stated "poor choice"

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