Terminated because of my Attention Deficit Disorder

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Specializes in LTC.

Just needed to vent a little. What a rough day today, I was terminated today because of may ADD. I made this clear with the DON when she was terminating me if it was based on my work performance and she said Yes. I have just recently been diagnosed and started on meds and still trying to find the right dosage. She is aware of the diagnosis and I reminded her of this again.

I am upset and hurt and she was not willing to work with me on this until I got my meds straigthen out. She has said before how I am such a strong nurse and I can do the job but I just need to be more organzied and have better time mangament. Now she does not want to work with me on this.

Thanks for listening.

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Was there a patient error? Time management can be dealt with easily, how long had you worked there? If she said work performance I am assuming she didn't mean ADD however I can see your ADD contributing. I have worked before with nurses with similar diagnosis and they did great however. I would 1. request termination papers.. reason for termination in writing if you don't have. 2. If this can be attributed to your ADD you might have a case for discrimination. especially with you still adjusting your medication.

At the very least IMO they could ask you to stay off work until your medication is adjusted if a large issue with things not getting done.

I am upset and hurt and she was not willing to work with me on this until I got my meds straigthen out.

I would be also! I hope things work out for you.

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Specializes in Aged care.

That's awful. I can't offer any constructive advice, but it sounds like discrimination to me. You'd think that they would offer help rather than sacking someone, especially in an industry where the whole purpose is to help people. Sounds like the DON is very uninformed about your condition, like many people.

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Specializes in LTC.
Was there a patient error? Time management can be dealt with easily, how long had you worked there? If she said work performance I am assuming she didn't mean ADD however I can see your ADD contributing. I have worked before with nurses with similar diagnosis and they did great however. I would 1. request termination papers.. reason for termination in writing if you don't have. 2. If this can be attributed to your ADD you might have a case for discrimination. especially with you still adjusting your medication.

At the very least IMO they could ask you to stay off work until your medication is adjusted if a large issue with things not getting done.

I would be also! I hope things work out for you.

No there was no patient error. I had my first annual review about 6 weeks ago and at that time they put me on a 60 day termination plan. It was a year this past Dec. Everything was good and I had been told I was doing a good job for the first 7 to 8 months then something planned and I'm not sure what and managment had been totally different towards me. I was constantly getting called into the office because I am not getting out I time and I'm not doing this right. Just things like that, whatever I did was wrong and I can't seem to please them how hard I tired. I was getting out late also in the "good months" and it wasn't an issue but all of a sudden it was. So after a little bit of this I kept wondering what I was doing different from everyone else and why can't I get out on time. I would mention bits to my doctor here and there but in Nov I told her that I needed to do something because I think things are getting seriously bad where I think they may start looking to get rid of me. We did some testing for other things because I thought I had something else but come to find out I have Attention Deficit Disorder. I was diagnosed in Feb. 20 and got my review March 5 which at the same this I told them I was just diagnosed with the ADD and tired to tell them I was started on a medication and my DON did not want to hear it. She stop me and told me she has two kids with ADD and I just need to have better time managment and be account for my time. Pretty much everything on my review is a result of my ADD and my doctor agreed because I brought it into her to see it. When I called her today she suggested I get a lawyer and she will provide me with any documention needed.

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Specializes in LTC.
That's awful. I can't offer any constructive advice, but it sounds like discrimination to me. You'd think that they would offer help rather than sacking someone, especially in an industry where the whole purpose is to help people. Sounds like the DON is very uninformed about your condition, like many people.

Well she says she has two boys with ADD so I can only think of another word for her right now...

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Specializes in Med/Surge, Private Duty Peds.

:heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeatso sorry that this happened to you. maybe you needed the break to let the meds work. some people just don't understand any type of mental disorders at all.

i know it is hard to be terminated, but maybe it happened for the best. learn and move on. use this time to adjust and take care of yourself.

:heartbeat:heartbeat:heartbeat

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Specializes in Aged care.

I agree somewhat, maybe the DON could have arranged leave rather than termination, which doesn't look good on a person's resume? Not to mention the emotional stress that being sacked can cause.

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I'm sorry you are having to deal with this situation.You might want to ask the DON if they are reporting you to the BON. This reminds me of another nurse on allnurses who was terminated because of stress/new antidepressants, even though she made no errors.

They should have at least offered to let you go on family leave act til your meds were adjusted.

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Specializes in LTC.
I'm sorry you are having to deal with this situation.You might want to ask the DON if they are reporting you to the BON. This reminds me of another nurse on allnurses who was terminated because of stress/new antidepressants, even though she made no errors.

They should have at least offered to let you go on family leave act til your meds were adjusted.

I'm pretty sure she would have told me if she planned on doing that. She is upfront on things when it come to that.

What grounds would they have for reporting someone to the BON for stress/new antidepressant with no errors made? Do you know what the result was?

Besides who doesn't have stress in there life. I haven't done anything wrong to be reported for.

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Specializes in ER.

Have you ever thought about working in an ER? I know several nurses with ADD that thrive in the ER environment.

Good luck with your situation.

Peace

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Specializes in OB/GYN, Peds, School Nurse, DD.

It might be worth your while to seek out the advice of an attorney who knows disability law.

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