Terminated/Resigned after 1 week orientation in the ED

[littlemissRN24]

Hi everyone, this is my very first topic here and not a positive one. Today was the worst day of my life, I recently got my dream job to work in a well known hospital here in Hawaii. It took me a year to get in because it's pretty competitive in here especially I just moved from the Main land. After about a week of orientation, the managers and the director pulled me in from the floor and told me they needed to talk to me, I had no idea what it was about since I did not made any errors or kill any patients while working. Then they told me that I did not meet the minimum requirements they needed. That I do not have enough experience (Emergency department) experience that they thought I had. I explained that I do have little experience but they said their decision is final. So same day today I was terminated, they actually gave me the option to resign so that It wont look bad on my part and re apply for a different department.. I am so devastated and I just could not believe it.. How do I move on from this and any advice would help.. I love it here Hawaii but it is not easy to get a job at the Hospitals..

[littlemissRN24, BSN]

I will presume you were honest about stating your ED experience in your job application and resume. If you weren't honest, then you got what you deserved.

If you were honest, the hospital screwed up big time. Why in the world did the hospital hire you knowing you had little experience in the ED, and yet one week later fire you for not having enough experience in the ED? Why hire you in the first place then? That makes zero sense. It appears as though someone in the hospital dropped the ball in verifying your experience against the position. Or they were expecting the impossible from you. And in doing that, they ended up setting you up for failure.

Anyhow, let yourself mourn for a little bit, then work on your next steps. If the ED is eventually where you want to be, then you may need to work your way there over time. Do as they suggested and apply for a med-surg position. Get a year or two of med-surg experience, and then try applying to the ED again. Or maybe instead of going into the ED after that time, transfer into a higher acuity specialty (PCU, ICU, etc.) and get some experience there as well, before you hit the ED.

And of course, keep an eye out for any ED training programs. Some hospitals offer them as a way to train experienced nurses who are interested in changing specialties. But key word: experienced. You'll need to have at least a solid year or two of experience in acute care or another specialty before you're eligible to apply.

Best of luck.

I did tell them (RN Managers) on my interview that I have little ED experience so that is why I was really happy when they hired me. It's so hard for me that day when they "let me go", they did tell me that If i do resign it is better because I could still apply at the same hospital. (I did make a resignation letter same day).

Anyway, thank you so much for the advice! I have an interview tomorrow at the Med Surg dept. Wish me luck! And I hope this hospital has more supportive people and environment!