A Cautionary Tale (Feedback and advice would be appreciated....):
Just wanted to say I was recently terminated after a 12 week orientation. The reason given was that I was not able to handle the level of acuity and pace of the unit. The managers did not believe I would be able to succeed, based on their experience with "hundreds" of new nurses. They suggested I apply for less acute units in the hospital or in the associated clinics, but did not offer any referrals. I was told to clean out my locker. This was after receiving no formal written performance appraisals and having passed all my orientation classes. My preceptor had told me I was not picking up things as quickly as I should at about the 10th week, but never mentioned the possibility of termination. She verbally suggested I work on "focusing to prevent distraction and organizing my workload". She wanted me to try the night shifts to see if I would do better with less distraction. She did say that 10 weeks was the new length of orientation and I was already at the end of that period. (My orientation book said it was 12 weeks -- apparently old information.) No one mentioned the possibility of termination -- not the preceptor, the manager, the supervisor, or the nurse educator.
Termination after orientation can happen. This was my first job after graduation and a very difficult transition for a new grad, an older-age one at that. It has been extremely demoralizing to be fired. I wonder if I should quit the profession and give up, but I have invested too much in time and finances, and have staked too much of my future on becoming a nurse.
It is disheartening to hear the comments (on a different topic thread) that it is very rare for a nurse to fail orientation. I do feel like a failure. Looking back I see that I could have done some things differently. I did not come home and study or study on my days off, which now I believe I should have done. My excuse is that I was too tired and stressed from the exhausting and overwhelming hours at work. Often it was 13+ hours straight, with 6 to 8 hours before a break or chance to eat. (When really busy, nurses worked 9 to 13 hours straight through, counting extra time for report and charting, with no breaks at all). And there was the constant bombardment of new information to digest. It was just full-tilt boogie for the whole shift. It would take me all of the available hours before the next shift just to recover my energy and clear my head.
My advice: If you truly want to keep your job, you must push through the exhaustion and stress and study. Ask for written evaluations early on and if you are not at the expected performance level, ask for a remediation plan and regular reviews of progress. If you sense something ominous in the wind, speak up and ask what's going on. These things I did not do, since I expected a chance to review my performance with the supervisor and manager and to remediate if necessary. (Part of me did have a growing fear that I might be terminated... This is when I should have point-blank asked!)
There were many things in the way my termination was handled that I could complain about, but I don't wish to dwell on that here. I need to learn the lessons and move on, whether it is to continue in nursing or not. It has been a little over a month since my firing and I am still trying to get over the emotional trauma.
Good luck to you! (I don't know how old this post is. I hope you've succeeded and gone on to become a great nurse.)
