Please help-I cannot get a job (LONG)

[blackIrish]

Hello everyone.

I will try to make this long story short, so if I leave something out, I will try to clarify.

Dh and I moving halfway across country for dh's job promotion. I moved him and house out there, flew back to work out 2 week notice at my job. Kids and I stayed at grandma's. (fun:uhoh3: )

On my 3rd from last night, I get a phone call at 2am, halfway through my shift. LITERALLY as my patient is beginning to code on me, my phone rings, is paramedics from new State-dh was in bad car accident. Don't know what is going on yet-on the way to hospital in ambulance. As my patient's sats are 75%, resps are in the 60's and he is turning grey.

SO- Obviously I have to take care of my patient-once I get supervisor, RT, ICU supervisor, and everyone else, the pt is transferred to ICU. From start to finish, this took about 1 1/2 hours. (don't ask-whole other thread-grrr:madface: )

On my way back from ICU-I call MY supervisor and say-I need to leave-she already knew about accident w/ dh. She tells me I cannot leave at this time of night-I had no clue if my dh was critical or not yet.

Long story short-she calls meeting w/ all other RN's on, calls big supervisor, big mellee(sp?)

I call hospital-find out dh is banged up, but NOT critical. I call supervisor and tell her I will finish my shift. (BTW- I never would have left w/out making sure pts were taken care of, charting was done, etc. NEVER would have abandoned anyone)

I now have 5 days off. Mom watches kids, MIL and I go to dh-in new state. Granted, he survived w/ NO severe injuries. But he was in ALOT of pain. He had NO car. We decide to stay an extra day.

I call supervisor to see if I can switch my last 2 days (Thurs and Fri) and I will take someone's weekend. (We switch ALL the time and noone has an issue w/ it) She puts up a wall and says no-after a 5 minute conversation about how I'm expected to be at work for my scheduled shift, me trying to explain I was in another state w/ hubby who was in a car crash, I will do whatever and work for whoever-I was trying everything to make this work-she finally says to me-very condescending-"From what I understand, your husband is JUST FINE"

She never asked me at all in the whole conversation one thing about my husbandor me for that matter.

This was when I said"you know what, I won't be back" She then explained how I would not be eligible for rehire-I did not think this would be a problem, considering the extenuating circumstances.

Fast forward 2 months. Now, since I am "unrehirable" in my previous job, I cannot get a job.

I explained to HR in the prospective hospital the whole situation-she was empathetic. But when it came down to it, she said she could not offer me a position w/out a good reference from them-nonrehirable is not a good reference.

Please offer some insight-I understand HR's postion, but come on- we all have families and most of us would have done the same thing.

I never had any issues at all either-no complaints, no problems w/ cowokers, nothing-in fact, I just had my eval. and it said great things about me. BTW-they will not send me a copy of that, I already tried-

bbuff

[n_g]

Sorry to hear about your situation. A good employment lawyer can help you if you get to your wit's end.

[DidiRN]

Can you get some former coworkers to write up something, like a letter of recommendation, for you, that you can provide to whomever you apply to in the future?

[weetziebat]

So sorry about your situation, and glad to hear dh is recovered.

How long did you work at the last job? Is it possible to just leave it out of your resume - say you were traveling, or stayed home, or some excuse. If you've weren't there too long, and have good references from previous employment, maybe it would be better to just not mention the previous job.

Good luck

[gstrahan]

Try talking to the hospital administrator at the hospital you were working. He/She is less likely to have an axe to grind and has the power to change your re-hire eligibility status after a review of your employment records.

Good luck,

Gina

[llg, PhD, RN]

I would get a lawyer to get a copy of your old employee records. Your old hospital would probably not deny a lawyer's request. I would also ask that lawyer's advice on whether or not you have a reasonable case to file suit against them.

If your lawyer does not recommend filing suit ... I would at least have a copy of my files to show a prospective employer and a short, succinct explanation of the circumstances of your departure. I might also consider submitting brief documentation of your husbands accident as proof that you are not making the story up.

The key is to keep it all brief and factual. No prospective employer wants a big bunch of another person's troubles dumped in their laps. So be brief -- but have the documentation of your story available for them to see.

Remember too, that all it will take is 1 employer to give you a chance. It might not be your ideal job ... but if you do it well for a little while and get a good recommendation for THAT employer, you will be back on track.

Good luck,

llg

[Drysolong]

Remember too, that all it will take is 1 employer to give you a chance. It might not be your ideal job ... but if you do it well for a little while and get a good recommendation for THAT employer, you will be back on track.

Good luck,

llg

Is working in a non-hospital setting for a while a feasible option? (i.e., LTC, doctor's office, agency) to develop a good recommendation as llg suggested?

PS: why do managers and supervisors act like this, deliberately interfering with a person's means of livelihood?

[blackIrish]

Thank you so much for all of your replies-

The nightmare this has been so far has me seriously questioning my skills or worth as an employee/person. I know that is stupid- but it feels like noone "wants" me.

My previous supervisors all liked me-used to compliment me on my job performance. It was just this Floor Supervisor that I got at a bad time. I talked to other supervisors after this happened and they said they were there when I was on the phone, and they don't know what got into her. Said she was in a bad mood that day.

Anyway, I already had some coworkers and supervisors on my reference list, but she said that didn't matter.

Is this prospective HR just a little, I don't know, "by the books"- But in an extreme way?

I would love to get an attorney, but I am worried about the cost-

I should also contact previous HR, just to let them know what really happened. Would they even care, 3 months later?

And I'm gonna have to work somewhere else if I can't get this solved. I really love hospital nursing-

Thanks again everyone!

buff