Hi all. I need some encouragement and sound advice. This is a longer post but, believe it or not, abridged from the first version which went into way too much detail. Anyway...Very long story...less long:
Started my first NP job in April. Absolutely loved it. Great place, great colleagues, and a supervising MD I really admired and hoped to have mentor me. Immediately I got great patient reviews, patients were actually requesting to switch from other providers to me, and everyone from the receptionists to my supervising MD told me what a fantastic job I was doing.
3 and a half months in, I got seriously injured which put me out of work for almost 2 months. I felt terrible. I tried talking to HR and seeing if there was anyway I could do some work from home. They said no, but assured me my job was secure. I tried staying abreast of research, researching some case studies, and learning more about medicine in general.
When I went back part time (still recovering), things had done a complete 180. I'm hearing that people are uncomfortable with me, that I'm not professional, that I lack common sense, and both my supervising MD and office manager have essentially told me they don't think it's a good fit. I asked them point blank if they were asking me to resign and they said "no, not at all", but were evasive when I asked them why they still wanted to keep me on if they feel like it's a poor fit. I'm guessing they don't want to have to pay for unemployment.
I'm hurt, disappointed, and completely flabbergasted and can only assume they're upset at my having been out for so long. They are now watching me like a hawk and finding fault with nearly everything I do. I've become incredibly anxious all day nearly every day and am terrified I'm going to mess up somehow and they'll find a reason to terminate me for cause.
My husband, NP friends, parents, and former preceptors all agree that they seem to be trying to get me to quit. I'm going to start looking for another job, but I'm obviously confused and upset about the situation.
If I do decide to leave or get fired, how will it look if I can't use them for references? I know I could just use my old preceptors, but I'm worried it's going to look terrible that I won't have a reference from the one person who counts the most - the supervising MD of my first NP job.
Apparently I'm not nearly as competent as I thought - at least in their eyes - and for all intents and purposes I've only had my NP job for 4 and a half months, not the 6 that my resume would indicate. I'm nervous about having to explain the situation and worried it will look awful on paper that I'd be leaving after only 6 months.
Or would you recommend just quitting even without a new job lined up? I don't know what's riskier: staying in an unstable job with the potential of getting fired (until I find something new), or leaving before finding a new job and not knowing how long I could be out of work. :/
Thank you for responding.
All I can do is speak for myself. Looking at my situation, I think I would have been much better off to have resigned. Since I didn't, I am now trying to overcome the fact that I was terminated. As this was my first advanced practice position, this effectively ended my NP career. Also, I'm finding the fact that I was terminated a difficult hurdle to overcome.
Again, I think Psychcns gave you excellent advice. Meeting with your supervising physician to discuss your departure might be helpful. If this fails, or he or she is unwilling to meet, you should consider meeting with a labor lawyer to better address your options.
Thank you. It's all been verbal. At least they've said "We've gotten some complaints, we've heard about this, we've heard about that..." We've had 3 meetings. I received "minutes" from the first one - a synopsis of what was discussed that I signed and gave back to them. The first meeting was innocuous enough. The things they said were surprising, but relatively gentle, and I took it as a call to be more introspective and focus on my practice more thoroughly. But since then, they've backpedaled a lot with some of the things they've said and can't offer reasoning or rationale behind some of the other things. And their criticisms are getting harsher and largely unfounded.
I constantly want to improve my practice and my relationships with my co-workers, but - yeah - it's really fishy. I asked someone at the practice, who I really trust, if she had heard anything and she said no and that she was incredibly surprised and really admired me and the way I practice.
So...yeah. I think they just want to get rid of me. Thanks again.
Largely unfounded? But some allegations are true? Correct these at once.
Look for other work, don't just wait to be fired. Yes, you could collect Unemployment but might have to give it back if the former employer contests it and wins.
Although - getting fired isn't necessarily the worst thing. Can you collect Disability? It's hard, although not impossible, to get Social Sec Dis, but do you have short-term and/or long-term disability insurance through a private insurer? If you're old enough, you could start collecting Social Security. I'm thinking you are pretty young, though.
Don't believe your coworker didn't know about your troubles or would tell you the truth if she did. She's got her own life, her own troubles, would likely catch the devil if she were to actually back you up. Don't expect your "friends" at work to come to your aid. It's not fair to them. You are on your own.
It would be nice to know what actually happened to cause you to be viewed in the current light instead as the water walker you were at first. Were you hurt on the job? Can you still do the job?
Staying there will likely become more and more upsetting and anxiety-producing as they continue to ride you and behave like the evil demons they sound like. Try to look at the matter from their perspective, though.
Start looking right away for another job. Get your doctor and a couple of other workers to give you written letters of recommendation with live signatures on letterhead stationery. Of course, they could always say you faked them, but might be willing to help you.
Best wishes. Probably good to act sooner rather than later.
Thank you. It's all been verbal. At least they've said "We've gotten some complaints, we've heard about this, we've heard about that..." We've had 3 meetings. I received "minutes" from the first one - a synopsis of what was discussed that I signed and gave back to them. The first meeting was innocuous enough. The things they said were surprising, but relatively gentle, and I took it as a call to be more introspective and focus on my practice more thoroughly. But since then, they've backpedaled a lot with some of the things they've said and can't offer reasoning or rationale behind some of the other things. And their criticisms are getting harsher and largely unfounded.
I constantly want to improve my practice and my relationships with my co-workers, but - yeah - it's really fishy. I asked someone at the practice, who I really trust, if she had heard anything and she said no and that she was incredibly surprised and really admired me and the way I practice.
So...yeah. I think they just want to get rid of me. Thanks again.
It could be that the powers that be could be trying to get rid of you...because you are going part time.
Appears you had a serious injury. Could your change in performance of duties, now be a result of a cognitive deficiency from that injury?
Is there more to this story? I'm sensing a non-sequitur in the sequence of events you describe that could account for the hot and cold treatment you are experiencing from your co-workers. You went from hero to goat with the only interveneing factor being an absence of 2 months due to an accident. I don't get it.
Needless to say it's a blow to one's self-esteem, sense of competency and ability to trust that the people you work with have had your best interests at heart.
I think it would good for your overall well being to discuss with the supervising M.D. just why, given the polar opposite reviews of your competency and patient interaction, what has precipitated this professional and emotional rug pulled out from under you.
You see the "not a good fit" is a pitiful cliche excuse to get rid of you when I believe as a professional and colleague what you should expect is a heart to heart constructive discussion with your detractors that will empower you to be in the position to evaluate their statements to be valid or not.
If you do this you will at least leave the practice with your dignity intact, possibly knowing what steps to take to improve and understanding that you do not have to walk into the night asking youself, why?
I would resign if I were you. Make it two weeks for the sake of formality. Signing minutes of any kind of work meeting is the biggest red flag of all. If u wanted to fight fire with fire, you should have brought a tape recorder during those meetings and repeatedly reminded them of your great performance in the beginning. But personally I would just cut ties and go. I wouldn't expect nor would I beg them to give me a good reference. What they're doing to you is very demoralizing especially for a new grad.
When i left my first job, I gave two months notice and when I needed the supervising MD to fill out a recommendation form in my second job he gave me a hard time. Made me wait for two weeks so I couldn't get credentialed for a month! So when my second job asked me how was resignation. I told the truth that he was upset that I didn't find him an NP to replace me. I stated that I'm not HR. Im not responsible for filling a vacancy and they understood.
Specializes in Family Medicine, Tele/Cardiac, Camp.
OP,...I think it would good for your overall well being to discuss with the supervising M.D. just why, given the polar opposite reviews of your competency and patient interaction, what has precipitated this professional and emotional rug pulled out from under you.You see the "not a good fit" is a pitiful cliche excuse to get rid of you when I believe as a professional and colleague what you should expect is a heart to heart constructive discussion with your detractors that will empower you to be in the position to evaluate their statements to be valid or not.
Thank you for your response. I did actually ask her a few meetings ago what was different - what had chanaged. And she essentially told me these issues had been there from the beginning. I then asked her why it was never brought to my attention so I could have known about them and addressed them. She muttered something about how nobody likes to bring up these things. It still doesn't make sense to me. I don't think I'm a hero and I don't think they thought that either, but leaving the place feeling like there really weren't any criticisms toward me and then coming back to this was very jarring.
We've met something like 5 or 6 times since that first event and every time we now meet I feel a lot clamer. While I continue to try to be introspective and improve my practice, I deeply feel as though they are just trying to find fault when no fault is there. I was spoken to the other day for asking the woman who handles our referrals if there was someone local who handled bariatric surgery requests (something I've only had a patient request once) because I should have known the answer. That kind of stuff. With a little distance from it, I see the "not a good fit" statement as likely being what it is it. If they don't think it's a good fit, then I'd be stupid to try to force it. So, yeah. I continue to reflect on their criticisms and try and improve (I don't want to sabatoge myself) while I look elsewhere. Thanks again.
Specializes in Family Medicine, Tele/Cardiac, Camp.
I would resign if I were you. Make it two weeks for the sake of formality....When i left my first job, I gave two months notice and when I needed the supervising MD to fill out a recommendation form in my second job he gave me a hard time. Made me wait for two weeks so I couldn't get credentialed for a month! So when my second job asked me how was resignation. I told the truth that he was upset that I didn't find him an NP to replace me. I stated that I'm not HR. Im not responsible for filling a vacancy and they understood.
Thanks for your response. We have a 6 month probation period that ended up getting extended since I was out. I'm in the process of trying to figure out if the 3-months notice that is mentioned in my contract still applies if we're still on probation. Don't know how to approach HR with that one. My supervising MD didn't know and neither did my office manager.
I'm sorry you had such a lousy time leaving your previous jobs. I've spoken with some friends and older relatives who are familiar with hiring and firing and HR processes and have formulated some good responses for how to tackle the "why'd you resign/why were you fired?" questions.
I just need to find a new job. Can't afford to quit without a new paycheck on the horizon.
Honestly I'm the most nervous about being employable with less than a year at this job.
Specializes in Family Medicine, Tele/Cardiac, Camp.
It could be that the powers that be could be trying to get rid of you...because you are going part time.
Appears you had a serious injury. Could your change in performance of duties, now be a result of a cognitive deficiency from that injury?
Thanks Been there, done that.
No cognitive issues. Just pure difficult-to-ambulate-for-too-long injuries which my doctors have suggested I address by working part time for now. I think it is entirely possible and likely probable that at least part of this stems from them being frustrated that I can't work full time.
Don't walk away from this job, run as fast as you can. The drastic change in your performance evaluations after your time off along with the signed meeting minutes and the "this isn't a good fit" talk from the MD are all red flags that this is no longer a good position for you. If you haven't begun searching for a new position already I would do so immediately and once you have accepted an offer I would provide your current employer with 2 weeks notice (or whatever amount of notice you agreed to in your original employment offer/contract).
This is such a wonderful career. It is important that you enjoy it - and of course you are not enjoying it now. I assume you have asked what the changes have been in your performance pre and post accident. And that you have asked what you need to do to return to their good graces. Since you say you are working part time I am guessing you have some physical or emotional sequelae from the accident. Are you able to perform at 100% during the hours you are there? Could there be a post concussion syndrome? Is your employer trying to avoid having a "handicapped" employee and the potential modifications that might need to be made for you? Or are they just unhappy that you are part time. Anyway, I am sure there are many factors involved in your decision on whether to quit now or stick it out. If you really need the money you probably need to keep working. If you can afford to quit, and feel you can get out with a good recommendation, that might be the best approach. It is hard on your psyche to work when you know your efforts are not appreciated. And it is hard for you to do your best under those circumstances. If you feel you can get back into their good graces then you might want to keep working at it. It is a wonderful career. Do everything you can to ensure that you continue to enjoy it.
chare
4,370 Posts
All I can do is speak for myself. Looking at my situation, I think I would have been much better off to have resigned. Since I didn't, I am now trying to overcome the fact that I was terminated. As this was my first advanced practice position, this effectively ended my NP career. Also, I'm finding the fact that I was terminated a difficult hurdle to overcome.
Again, I think Psychcns gave you excellent advice. Meeting with your supervising physician to discuss your departure might be helpful. If this fails, or he or she is unwilling to meet, you should consider meeting with a labor lawyer to better address your options.
Again, best wishes as you work through this.