Hi fellow nursing colleagues.
I have just graduated from nursing school with a BSN degree (w/ honors!) three weeks ago. Life was happy for me as I got an interview for a nurse aid/tech float pool position at a great hospital that I really want to work at, in the middle of April. This was due to a job fair that this particular hospital was holding at a local elementary school back in January. I have also volunteered over 300 hours of working for various departments at this hospital prior to (even during high school!), and during my nursing school years. Right out of school last month, I have also applied to several other hospitals in my area to work as a nurse aid/tech, since you have to go this nurse aid/tech route in order to even apply for a new RN graduate program (and I'm talking about HI nursing work environment).
As of now, I am still studying and prepping real hard for the upcoming NCLEX-RN exam. I am still awaiting my ATT.
About two months before I started nursing school, which was back in 2012, I was working as a part-time sales associate for a clothing department store at a local mall. After two semesters of nursing school has passed by, I said to myself, "hey, why are you working at a department store, when you should be doing something more related to nursing?" Prior to the summer after my third semester of nursing school, I have applied for a summer internship at a local hospital. I got a call to interview for this summer internship at the hospital. After the interview, i honestly felt bummed out, because I thought I screwed up. However, I got a call the following week, where the hospital offered me a position as a summer intern for one of their med-surg. units.
I didn't even expect myself to even get into this summer internship program.
Hence, I applied for a CNA job at an assisted living/long-term care facilities for elderly people. Did the background check, and eventually got hired to work at this long-term care facility. They expected me to work full time, but with the summer internship hire, I eventually had to only work on weekends at this long-term care facility, since I had my hospital internship Mondays-Fridays.
My hospital internship went well, and completed the last day of this internship, in middle of August of last year.
The long-term care facility job as a CNA, HOWEVER,....turned out to be a bullying work environment, and complete NIGHTMARE where my complaints to the DON about certain co-workers and their un-professional behavior towards some of the residents, back-fired on me. Things deteriorated about one-month after starting the job at this long-term care facility. I was one of two male CNA's, and the only non-Filipino CNA in the skilled nursing facility (SNF) at this assisted living place.
I also recalled one of the scheduling manager who was also mean to me. There was one instance where she told me to come in at 2PM for computer training. This was one week after I started working at the assisted living center. When I arrived at 1:30PM at her office, she said, "oh sorry, but you were supposed to go to the other facility." It would have been great if she was more specific.
Getting back to the co-workers, some of them would make me do all the work, and when it was the end of shift, some of them would order me to take so-and-so to the restroom, while they all clocked out and left. I was really ****** off. So I typed out a complaint to the manager and the DON. I mistakenly included "Mr. So-and-so" (I actually wrote his lastname) in my typed out complaint to the DON, and guess what? She wrote me up for HIPAA violation.
It got to a point where one day, towards the end of my time working at this assisted living facility, where I asked another CNA to help me transport a resident from the bathroom, back to the dining area, because she had to use the restroom while eating her breakfast. She also suffered a stroke, so she couldn't walk. The other CNA simply said, "lalalala, do your own ****" and walked off. Then she started to converse in Tagalog/Filipino language with another Filipino co-worker. It's also against facility policy to speak a foreign language other than English, outside of the break room. Also, mind you, this resident whom I had to transport is a heavy resident. Just because I'm a male, doesn't mean that I can fully lift her up with one arm and change her soiled diaper, and then place her in the wheelchair.
I then met with the DON in her office that morning, since I worked the overnight shift that day, and explained to her everything. She said to submit her a typed out complaint.
I had to work the following day, night shift again, so I showed up to work at around 11:30PM, just before the midnight shift began. The nurse on duty gave me stink eyes, and three CNA's were giggling at me. Another co-worker, and LPN whom I worked with and got along with well, told me that i wasn't supposed to come in to work. HUH?!!! Nobody told me this, because on the schedule print-out, it clearly stated that I had to work that night shift. So I called the manager's house,...remember the scheduling manager I have mentioned earlier in this post, who told me to come in for computer training, and then told me that training is cancelled when I arrived at her office? Well, I called her cell phone, didn't care if it was almost midnight, because I was infuriated that I drove one hour, 17 miles, from my house to go to work, wasted my time and gas, only to be told to go home. Rather than apologize to me, she said, "oh well, that's not my problem" and slammed the phone on me.
The following morning, I reported all of this to the DON and also emailed the HR manager, regarding the scheduling manager. HR manager called me and told me to come to the facility that afternoon at around 3PM. Arrived at the facility, and sat down in the conference room with the DON of the SNF unit, and the HR manager. HR manager then handed me a letter and told me that I was terminated from working at the facility. I was really stunned, and enraged at the same time. But I kept my composure, and asked them why the scheduling manager is not being talked to, and why other CNA's have been ostracizing me. Basically, my questions fell on both deaf ears. They both said that my remaining pay-check will be mailed to me. I didn't want to waste time and argue with them. So I asked the HR manager that if I apply for a job in the future, what will you disclose to the potential employer. She said quote-in-quote, "I will only disclose your position, the dates you were employed with us, and maybe, your hourly wage, But nothing else will be disclosed."
Hence, I would not mind listing this long-term assisted living facility on future applications of places that I have previously worked. Plus this is the only job where I worked as a CNA, and although a long-term assisted living center, it's better than having no CNA or nursing-related job experience.
When I was filling out my online application for this hospital that I really really want to work at, i listed this long-term assisted living facility, along with department store job, and the summer internship job at another hospital.
For the reference section of my online application, I only listed my nursing school instructor, the nurse manager of my summer internship program, and the manager of the volunteer program at the hospital I'm trying to work at.
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Fast forward to last week, I called up the HR office of the hospital where I want to work as a tech in the float pool department. I was curious as to what was going on with the background check process of my application, as it was taking loner than usual for them to get back to me. The hospital HR office secretary called me back, and told me that the background check company contacted all places that I've worked at.
Guess what? The secretary told me that the long-term care center trashed me, and gave me bad ratings across the board.
She also had a tone of voice where she thinks the HR nurse recruiter manager at this hospital I want to work at, will take back their initial nurse aid/tech job offer.
Sorry guys, but I am fuming with anger right now. I didn't know that the HR manager of the long-term assisted living facility would stab me in the back, and lie to me that she will only disclose my position and dates of employment.
Honestly, I feel that my reputation with the HR office of the hospital I want to work for, has been slandered by whoever from the long-term assisted living facility responded to the background check company.
I am jumping the gun right now, and I don't know the final decision of my job offer yet. However, i am pretty sure that my job offer will be rescinded.
If that happens, then I cannot eventually apply for the new graduate RN program, because it's only offered to in-house/current employees of the hospital.
All my dreams and hope of eventually working as a future RN for this hospital has gone down the toilet because of the negative job report/reference from a previous employer who has also tormented and bullied me.
What can I do?
My parents and I are thinking of hiring an employment attorney to iron this out. Because I was expecting this job, I have a wife and a child to feed, and have nursing school-related student loans that needs to be paid starting July!
I also called and met with the HR manager of the assisted living center (she still works there) yesterday. She "swears to God" that she didn't disclose negative information about my work performance. The finger pointing then goes to the main company's HR office. She said she will call the main company's HR office to find out, and then will call me back. She called me back yesterday, and told me nobody from the main company's HR office gave out bad/false reference about me.
Something is not adding up here, but my reputation with this dream hospital has already been tarnished by the long-term care facility. I am also guessing that i will not get the nurse aid/tech job. Hence, my hopes of even applying for this hospital's new graduate RN program is dashed, and I will have no money to feed my family and start paying my student loans.
Please feel free to talk about your guys' past experience with negative job references, and how were you able to find a nursing job?
Did some of you seek legal help in this kind of situation??
