I can't believe this. I've been working at this awful job now just short of three months. The State is expected any day now, and no kidding, they will be shut down in five minutes flat. The place has been without nurses for six months, can't keep the nurses it does get, and the only reason I've stayed so long is because I didn't want to jump from the frying pan into the fire, so been looking carefully for a 'good' nursing job.
Guess the problem started because I was in administration. Not a good place for me, especially in a for-profit environment. All they care about is the money, and all I cared about was the patients.
The caregivers as well as nurses got NO orientation, no inservices and had to pick up skills such as taking blood pressures (manual machines) from other caregivers. Who also did not know how to do it, but afraid to say so.
But they won't say anything. I'm not like that. I was supposed to be admin. and I thought they needed to know, and do something about, all the deficiencies.
I tried to do my best in a department that would need to stop the clock and then spend about a year getting it all up to snuff before starting anew. I was overwhelmed, frightened for my license, and determined that things be set right. I was also all for the caregivers.
So, today, just before quitting time, I get called into the office. It is the end of my three month probationary period, and they decided it was just 'not a good fit, and here's your final paycheck'. Well, I told them in no uncertain terms that 'fit' had nothing to do with it.
And went into detail about all the administrators (none of whom have a nursing degree) making the nursing decisions, while ignoring, backstabbing, or going around the nurses. For example, a recent very serious med error was made by a part time, but 'favored' nurse. No incident report, no investigation and not one word about how did I feel about what should be done.
I am seriously happy to be out of there, and was actually going to give my notice in on Monday, after getting some details ironed out about my new job offer, but it still hurts to know you are a dang good nurse, but if you don't play 'the game' with the corporation, you are put down as a bad fit.How dare I be fired?!?!
I am seriously pissed! :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire :angryfire Thanks for letting me rant and rave.
thank you, friends. i've had an offer of a job last week that sounds really good. just waiting to see if we can up the hours a bit. hopefully will hear about that ?tomorrow.
"being a good nurse is not always the same thing as being a good employee"
When I first got on this site, a year ago, somebody quoted somebody else that was a regular here and had this on their sig line. I LOVE the quote:
Being a good nurse is not always the same thing as being a good employee.
I sure wish I could attribute that to somebody.
But, if somebody fired you BECAUSE you put being a good nurse over being a good employee - well, aren't YOU better off?!
I would consider that to be nuthin' but a thang. And I'd move on without losing a single wink of sleep.
~faith,
Timothy.
Timothy, that used to be my sig line here. I don't remember where I originally heard it- wish I did. That quote has always struck a powerful chord with me.
Weetziebat- I was fired once, years ago from a hell-hole very similar to where you were working. I had a post CVA contiuous G-tube feeding pt who was coughing frequently, and had rales and rhonchi. We tried to keep her head elevated, but she was confused and would twist herself around in bed. I feared aspiration pneumonia. I stopped the g-tube feeding, flushed the tube and capped it off. I called her doc @ the GI clinic, but it took him 6 hrs to call me back.
I was an LPN at the time. I was fired for "practising beyond my scope by holding a G-tube feeding without a doctors order."
Well, not only was holding the feeding appropriate under the circumstances, I feel it would have been negligent not to hold it. The DON told me that I had put the pt at risk "nutritionally". Nevermind that the pt was about 60 lbs overweight, and the feeding was only off for 6 hours previous to the docs order.
When I finally got a hold of the doc, he said to do just what I'd done- continue to hold the feeding, continue to moniter the pt and he would squeeze her in at the GI clinic in the AM.
I did not practice outside my scope. I feel the DON used this as an excuse to fire me, because I was the only nurse there who refused to clock out at the end of 8 hrs and then go back to the station and do all my charting and phone calls for free.
I feel I was fired for being a good nurse, but a "bad" employee in the eyes of that twisted DON, and I think the same thing happened to you.
I know you will feel bad for a while. But, you will get an even better job- one where you are appreciated for your knowledge, and concern for pts and staff.
(ps. the pt was seen @ the clinic, had a different type of tube placed and was fine).
I did not practice outside my scope. I feel the DON used this as an excuse to fire me, because I was the only nurse there who refused to clock out at the end of 8 hrs and then go back to the station and do all my charting and phone calls for free.
Why do nurses do this? So many times we can be our own worst enemy. One of the reasons I believe nurses won't get what we deserve till we have more men in the profession. So many of us females being such good little, well-behaved, do-what-your-told-cause-we-want-to-be-liked ninnies gets us treated like servants.
Good for you standing up for what was right! That was in no way overstepping your bounds and what if she had died from aspiration pneumonia because you didn't turn off the feeding? Then you would have been fired for not using your nurses training to know how dangerous the situation was.
When 'they' want you gone any reason will do.
Wondering.......do you guys think some people go into nursing not caring, just wanting to get into administration so they can be in charge and have power? Or do good nurses somehow get promoted into admin. and then just get power happy and greedy, forgetting what nursing is all about? You know - all that stuff about power corrupting........?
Sorry to hear about you being fired, but you will find like the others said it is for the best.,
I too have been 'fired' this year my contract was cancelled because I was injured in a MVA and cant work at the moment......at the moment being the operative word. I did nothing wrong I never asked to be injured but they said bye bye.
I dont really care I never liked the place anyway:roll
I was fired a few months ago after I requested an investigation into an incident between my clinical director and I. She was fresh out of nursing school, had no business in her position and was only hired after everyone that was qualified laughed at the administrator after hearing the pay. The administrator was a bit unqualified for her position as well. This is a small place and had been becoming toxic by the day. Anyway...it was the best thing they ever did for me....since then, the clinical director has been caught in lie after lie, dropping the ball in so many areas the doctors are getting upset with her, people are leaving left and right. The first thing that tipped me off to her negligent and oblivious ingnorance in the nursing field was when she TOLD me that I HAD TO give medications to a certain doctor's patients, after a policy went in effect that no nursing staff is to ever for no reason dispense medication to any patient. It had to be done by the physician in person. We had a doctor to get chewed out by a patient and rightfully so and the clinical director didn't want to tell him he would have to give out his medications to each patient since his office failed to do it prior to surgery like they are supposed to do.
I refused and she went to PACU and told them they would have to....they refused and told her that she was not going to put their licenses on the line because she was ignorant of the law and our own facilities policies. IDIOT!
She had even told us that she wasn't used to MANUAL labor after she failed to staff appropriately and had to actually circulate a room..this is a nurse out of school for not even a year and half....clueless I tell ya! What was administration thinking....and to think they fired me because I knew if they checked out what happened they would have seen what an idiot she was then but no, I lost my job of 3 yrs....she had been there 4 months. She would surprise us with changes that put our patients at risk as well as our own safety and I was very vocal about it and made my own nursing decisions about how to transport patients in regards to how well they ambulated and such. She didn't like that I looked out for my patients, myself, and the surgery center...in the end...something bad was going to happen and it was probably going to result in a lawsuit but you couldn't tell her or administration that....I was supposed to do what she said and not use my own 7 yrs of nursing experience to decide what was the safest mode to transport my patient. Wasn't going to put them at risk just because she was in an authorative position and just ignorant on top of that. It gets better and probably happened to lead you in a better direction.
I found a better job and put in my 2 weeks notice and was fired that day. I was then told that this was a frequent occurrence at this hospital. My fiancee also resigned ... and was fired as well.
I too have been fired for not allowing wrongdoings to go on under my nose. As the night supervisor at a large facility, I had a nurse who was stealing narcotics from the patients and giving them to the DON and ADON. Many of the nurses where aware of it, but also aware that everyone who had broached the subject with the administrator was subsequently fired for some silly reason. When the DON found out that I knew what was happening and was going to report it to state, she called all of my nurses looking for a reason to fire me; asking if they had seen anything inappropriate or had any greivances with me. She couldn't come up with anything. A day later I was "let go" and when I asked why the response after a good minute of stammering was "well, we uh, just have to let you go, uh well we've just heard some things, ." When my response was "Heard what?" and the had no answer other than "Uh, well, uh, well" and they could come up with nothing. I told them that was not a very good reason and left. The only reason they did not make their drug supplier the new supervisor was because all of the other nurses told them that if they did they would quit. It took me a week to start another job that pays more without a third of the underhanded stuff that was going on there. Nursing fires people more than any other profession. Most typically it is for the higher ups to cover their butts. Unfortunately, if you are in a right to work state like I am there is nothing you can do about it. They don't have to have a reason to fire you. You just have to hope that the job you want has people doing that hiring that are aware that everyone is being fired and that often the ones who were fired were the good nurses who care about the patients. If they are not people who realize that then they are probably ones on the other side who are covering up and just out to improve their station and you probably dont want to work for them anyway, lest be fired again for standing up for the rights of the patients.
Specializes in hospital,hospice, and office nursing.
I was terminated from my hospice job in October 2006. I was a very good employee who went above and beyond for my boss. I had always had very good reviews and was told my nursing skills were excellent. The problem was family complaints of my being too overbearing, too direct in my communication tactics. I have been a nurse for 18 years and never had this problem or complaint when I did hospital nursing. I was never given any examples of what I said or did, so I really don't know how to change. Needless to say it was a real blow to have been fired, and feel like it will follow me the rest of my career. Every application you fill out asks if you have ever been terminated from a job before. I am very truthful and honest, so I always say yes and go into detail. How can I get the umph to get out there and get going again. Some words of advice please.
I was terminated from my hospice job in October 2006. I was a very good employee who went above and beyond for my boss. I had always had very good reviews and was told my nursing skills were excellent. The problem was family complaints of my being too overbearing, too direct in my communication tactics. I have been a nurse for 18 years and never had this problem or complaint when I did hospital nursing. I was never given any examples of what I said or did, so I really don't know how to change. Needless to say it was a real blow to have been fired, and feel like it will follow me the rest of my career. Every application you fill out asks if you have ever been terminated from a job before. I am very truthful and honest, so I always say yes and go into detail. How can I get the umph to get out there and get going again. Some words of advice please.
Jamie Calder, RN
So sorry about the pain that you are in. Big hugs to you,:icon_hug: while you recover. It must be especially hard to be fired for such a vague and non-specific complaint. Can't fix what you don't know. Nice of them to give you a chance to improve, huh? But you are eligible to get unemployment, and they have to pay part of it, at least in the states that I've worked in... So take your time and look for a better job, one that has a union!!!
I graduated in Aug 06, passed NCLEX Sept 06. I resigned (given the option between fired or resign) from my first job as a nurse in Jan 07 after 4 months. I worked in LTC at night with a typical load of 40 pts. I was not given a very good explanation of why or any specific cause (but my imagination has filled it in and those who have done lots worse them are still working there). Just told not to seek work in LTC and to work at a hospital. Which the local hospital was in a hiring freeze until Jan 07 and that would have been my first choice any way. I have had 2 interviews since then which niether resulted in an offer of employment. This is the most humulating experience of my life, all my fellow classmates from the fast track program are employed, all be it all but one in other parts of the state. Most of the class we started with in the fall of 04 which graduated this May have jobs lined up. I am not moving anywhere as my husband is a tenured proffesor at the local university. Constant questions of "Where do you work" when they find out your an RN let alone a BSN. I don't know what more I can do to get a job at the hospital as they keep telling me they review all resumes for every position. The one interview at the hospital seemed like it went well. Did I do something wrong? Utterly embarassing. So I am back to working as a HHA at the place I worked for while in nursing school. They give me work as a nurse when they can. Foot clinics and covering for their head nurse otherwise it's back to HHA. I keep telling myself I will get a job, meanwhile my skills are becoming distant memories.
Is it possible for you to work in another area part-time? Is week-end an option? How about a state job? This is a difficult and stressful situation for you I am sure, but visit the local employment office, sign up and start looking. Good luck.
But you are eligible to get unemployment, and they have to pay part of it, at least in the states that I've worked in... So take your time and look for a better job, one that has a union!!!
weetziebat
775 Posts
thank you, friends. i've had an offer of a job last week that sounds really good. just waiting to see if we can up the hours a bit. hopefully will hear about that ?tomorrow.
"being a good nurse is not always the same thing as being a good employee"
yeah, i like that!!