WildIvy

I was just hired at a SNF as the RN unit manager. First day on the unit and the director of nursing who hired me and who is my direct report will not look at me or speak. She did this twice and I said hello to her. After that the same silent treatment. I observed her interactions with others and she is friendly with the other staff. I do not feel apart of the team now and I do not care to go back to work there.

I was terminated during orientation. I leave it off my resume. I do include it on the application. When asked why I was terminated I honestly answer the question.

Hi Nurse Beth, I smelled a rat because I have experience in nursing and was being told I needed "recent" experience. All the while these hospitals have been hiring much younger nurses right out of nursing school with no experience. This is age discrimination and out here in California all forms of discrimination are alive and well. This is very much against the law and older nurses need to be on the lookout. The job I was fired from replaced me with a new graduate. I have a new position and I work with older nurses who are experienced as well and they cannot get an interview at local hospitals. These older nurses are the backbone of this profession and should be in place as preceptors so out patients receive the best care we have to offer. This is not happening. The preceptors I had from the job I was fired from had very little experience and viewed their jobs as simply getting tasks crossed off the list. We all know this is not what nurses do. Nursing goes much deeper than checking the box and our patients lives depend on our assessment skills and ability to recognize and act on changes in patient condition...this old fart was fired for doing her job.

My discussions with this nurse manager were not professional growth oriented. It was more like bullying. She wanted to see me suffer by saying things like "I don't think I'm keeping you around, I need to talk to more people." I have been a nurse for a long time and have been in leadership positions. This should have never been tolerated by this organization. I had a patient going septic and he was in bad shape. I called the MD and was yelled at for doing so. Patient safety and good care should always be top priority.

Hi Nurse Beth, Update. I relocated and got my fresh start. I was hired on a med neuro unit in a community 70 miles south. The trouble continued. The nurse manager called me into her office and was very unpleasant. She told me she may terminate me because she must protect the unit. She called me at home and told me this as well. I continued on with my orientation feeling awful. I was able to get three written evaluations form my preceptors that were positive. The nurse manager had 5 people write me up. I was never told what was said and I did ask. She forwarded everything to the DON and called me on my day off and told me I was fired. The write up stated I was argumentative, defensive, and refused to follow direction. Also I gave patients medication with out telling me what I was giving them. This is simply not true. I have never in my entire nursing career be accused of these things and I have never been fired from a job. I contacted the DON and she called a meeting with me, her and the HR director. We met for two hours. Then and only then did I find out what the accusations were against me. This is just flat out wrong and awful. What is going on here and why does the manager need to protect the unit? I asked her and she wouldn't say. This is all very devastating. I was really happy to have this job and what I thought to be a new start.

It happened to me. I turned down a job offer and applied for a position that I was better qualified for. The HR director called my home and told me, "never apply to [my] hospital again." As a result I took a position in a different city and just about to complete orientation. The nurse manager called me into her office and told me I was argumentative, defensive, and I did not follow direction. She told me she had to "protect the unit." I have three written and signed weekly evaluations from three different preceptors with positive statements and nothing negative. Despite the positive evaluations I was fired. I have been a nurse since 1991. I have never received a negative evaluation or been fired from a job in my life. 2+2 = blackballed by the HR director at a different hospital. I knew it when it was happening and if I could prove it I would sue them.