terminated from FMC

Published

Background: 2 years ago I made a big leap of faith and left Hospital nursing for Dialysis. I started out in Acutes in the Hospital, but quickly found this was not a good fit as I had no dialysis experience. Transitioned to chronic clinic.

I absolutely loved my job! I love my patients and felt like they were my family. We took over a restaurant next door to our clinic and our little clinic was growing. We had 11 patients but moved into a new clinic that would soon have 22 patients.

Well one of our technicians moved to another clinic. Regular days consisted of 2 technicians and myself as RN for 11 patients. I have been initiating/discontinuing treatment for 3 patients on top of being responsible for all 11 patients. I was averaging 50+ hours/week since starting my job,extremely stressed out, never seeing my family and tired, so tired.

Well I missed signing the water book in October 2015. I was given a written warning. I know it was crazy busy, but I owned it and did my best to keep up.

October 2016, I again missed signing water book. STUPID, I know, was given final written warning by new manager of 3 months. ( With only 1 year experience in Dialysis)

The night that ended my career:

I come into work and both of my regular technicians are not there. One's Father in-law had died, the other had Strep throat. I found myself working with new manager and tech from another clinic. Still I am responsible for 3 patients on/off their treatment. Manager doesn't know how to do water, tech from other clinic won't take responsibility for it. Manager turning off alarm for 1 hour instead of finding reason. I call BioMed and convince tech from other clinic to talk to him regarding issue Beyond Stressful as I have never been taught the in's and out's of water room, and was worried my patients would start dying.

Airlock in two of my machines: Manager ignores me trying to fix problem. Finally get conductivity up after 40 minutes to get two of my patients' on, all the while being called for "HEPARIN!" and running to give meds before their treatment ends.

New manager did not chart on any of her patient on ending tx. except getting numbers off machine. I ask her their weight, She doesn't know. I have to estimate weight on all her patients' and do her charting to close the shift. So I am now charting on 7 patient treatment in addition to being responsible for all of them.

MY BIG MISTAKE! I put two syringes of heparin on top of one patient's machine to close their catheter. As I have been running around giving all the meds. Well I put a syringe of heparin and a syringe of HECTEROL on the machine. I thought I had given the medication in my frenzy and had signed it off. My manager calls me over as this is her patient, to show my syringe, while I am basically taking two patients off at the same time. I have no time to talk about it. I have to finish what I am doing with these two patients.

She did mention that I had signed off the med. She was on the computer a long time and stupid me thought she was taking care of it for me. The patient would receive another dose at her next treatment. I made a huge error, and I own it. She mentioned it ONE time to me.

I ended up working 11 hours that day, doing everything I could to finish everything. It honestly left my mind with all I had to do. Again the next day, She and tech from another unit worked with me. Again, she did not mention the incident again.

A week and a half go by, I have been working on 5 admissions, 19 care plans due in November. Manager is never on the floor, never assists us though we are drowning. Never speaks to me at all. November 7th, I come into work and am told they need to "talk" to me. Manager and District Manager tell me that I am terminated for falcification of documentation. She did not unchart the med and neither did I as I thought she was helping me. To be honest I have been so stressed out and tired I did not know what they were even talking about until they reminded me. She NEVER tried to help me, never even mentioned it more than once. I would NEVER knowingly do something like that, especially as my Manager was the one to find my error.

I talked to district manager otp after being fired. She said Manager told her she had spoken to me which never happened. I don't know what I should do now???? Yes I made a mistake, do I think my job needed to end this way? No I don't. If I had known I needed to fix it and wasn't so stressed out I would have in a second.

I now find myself without a job, 4 classes short of my BSN, with no money to pay for classes and I have been out of the Hospital setting for 2 years now so I am not a good candidate. There is one other dialysis clinic nearby that is not FMC, I want to apply, but am afraid of what to say. I want to stay in dialysis as I love it and the patients, but there is ONE place that is not Fresenius who I am not eligible for rehire now. My district manager actually told me "Well you don't have to tell anyone you were fired, we aren't going to say anything" What do I do??? I am so depressed. I don't even want to put down new manager's name as my past supervisor as I feel she will talk bad about me. She never even got to know me, to know that I love these patients and would have done anything to keep my job. I don't know what kind of work I can find now and feel lost. I am crying writing all of this, Sorry it's so long........... Signed Devastated Healer4life :(

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Specializes in LTC, Orthopedics.

First I just want to say that I am sorry to hear about your incident. Sometimes there are managers that are not willing to show support and are quick to throw you under the bus. I understand about the missed water check because those are very important. However there has been countless times I've seen people leave meds on top of the machine, and it's usually because they get interrupted in th e middle of med administration. I believe everything happens for a reason and that may not have been the place for you. If there is another non FMC clinic around then apply for it. People bounce around all the time for Fresenius Davita, DCI etc, so please don't hesitate to make a move. Good luck to you and best wishes :)

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Specializes in Dialysis.
...I have never been taught the in's and out's of water room...

So your employer never trained you and then held you accountable? Apply for another job, be honest, and if you are not hired I would contact a lawyer. The only thing your employer can legally say is that you are eligible/not eligible for rehire. Any other details would involve slander and defamation of character. However, calling the state to report safety violations and threats to patient safety would be a public service.

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Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
So your employer never trained you and then held you accountable? Apply for another job, be honest, and if you are not hired I would contact a lawyer. The only thing your employer can legally say is that you are eligible/not eligible for rehire. Any other details would involve slander and defamation of character. However, calling the state to report safety violations and threats to patient safety would be a public service.

I take it you mean the OP should call the state about such an unsafe facility. Not that anyone should call the state about the OP. And I completely agree. What the OP described is an absolute nightmare.

So, yes, OP, apply for another dialysis job. You probably won't be the first nurse they've heard from who has been in your shoes. They are probably well aware of what is going on at your previous facility. Your post makes you sound like a conscientious nurse who was thrown under the bus. If I was a hiring manager, I wouldn't hesitate to give you a shot. Good luck.

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Specializes in Peds Critical Care, Dialysis, General.

The dialysis community is a fairly closed, but well connected one. Other clinics are probably aware of problems within other clinics/programs. I work in a smaller city and trained in a much larger program. Same company, and they know all about what as going in our little corner of the world.

Just be honest and frame your answers very carefully. Get input from trusted friends, if possible.

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Thank you for your replies. I know I was stupid not signing the book. I'm sure I was freaking crazy busy those 2 nights too. I really have been doing my best Working 50+ hours a week really screwed me up. Irony is in 11 years as a nurse I have not made such a stupid mistake med error wise. I actually received an award from the pharmacy from my last job, for "Making a good catch" regarding a coumadin/lovenox order. I am distraught. I have number to file a complaint so they can do an Investigation not that it will help me any. It's been almost a month and I can't bring myself to tell anyone, not even my Mother. I am so embarrassed by this. And I want to be honest but don't know how the heck to even answer the little box on an application for "reason for leaving" without sounding like a freak! I appreciate your input With the Kindest regards. :)

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Specializes in Nephrology, Cardiology, ER, ICU.

I'm an APRN in a nephrology practice and am not employed by dialysis company. Please take this for what its worth:

Its not a big deal if pts have to wait 10-15 minutes to be put on the machine. It IS a big deal to make an error because you are so rushed.

Take your time, be safe with the pts. Thats the bottom line. There is no need to rush.

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So they say everything happens for a reason. Well it does. I have decided to leave my little town in Ohio and we will be moving to California to live near my brother. It's a big move, but the time is right. I found a job still doing dialysis and think this is the change we need. Thank you all for your advise. Once in awhile you can get shown the light in the strangest of places if you look at it right. Determined to learn and move on from this awful experience. Thanks again

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Godspeed to you, Healerforlife. May your next experience be better and better staffed. Dialysis patients can really get into your heart and become close, but good luck in your new place!

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