Travel RN, fired from first assignment?

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Hello, just looking for some advice on this situation... I just started a travel assignment. After four days working, I got a call from my agency saying I was cancelled due to "concerns with my nursing practice". Which totally blind sighted me. I had no negative feedback from the staff, and had never been told I was incompetent with my nursing practice. ( I have been a nurse a year and a half before this). My agency was helping me figure this out and the unit manager gave some bogus reasons why I wasn't competent. Half weren't even true! So they are trying to help me get a new job. But this is really messing with my head.. and shaking my confidence.. why would they do this? Has this happened to anyone else??

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Specializes in ICU.

Happened to me before. It was an ICU assignment. Also my first. 3 days in to it I got canceled due to something similar to yours. That was about 13 years ago. When you travel it happens a lot. Sometimes it has nothing to do with you. It could have been a hire of a nurse with experience that day or day before. When hospital breaks a contract with a traveler it's always traveler's fault. So don't worry. Ask your agency to get you another assignment. That's what I did. Traveled for 7 more years before I settled down.

Take care and be strong.

Traveler

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My agency was helping me figure this out and the unit manager gave some bogus reasons why I wasn't competent. Half weren't even true!

Does that mean that the other half were true? I've never worked as a travel nurse, but I'm curious what reasons they gave you.

I hope you're able to find something else soon.

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Review your contract."concerns with your nursing practice" is not definitive as to the reason you were canceled.

What were the the "reasons" ..bogus .. or not? Which HALF was true?

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The half that were true were so minute, they were things easily fixed.. " I didn't turn a pt every 2 hrs" and he was angry, and didn't want me to turn him. I had to ask for help. " I didn't know how to give blood", I never gave blood in training, so when I had to on my own, I asked the charge to help me so I did it all correctly. Stuff that I don't understand how I can get fired for, I wouldve easily tried to fix them..

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Not knowing how to give blood is kind of a big deal. I can understand the charge nurses frustration in having to teach a traveler such a basic skill

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Not knowing how to give blood is kind of a big deal. I can understand the charge nurses frustration in having to teach a traveler such a basic skill

Giving blood is easy. Obtaining consent, product acquisition, scanning, and documentation are very institution specific and I wouldn't expect a traveler to know it right away.

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When a facility brings on per-diem or travel nurses they are looking for someone ready to hit the floor. They do not need someone who they have to train or invest a lot of time in, which is why they are paying a lot of money for short term staff instead of just hiring someone and training them.

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Specializes in Med/Surg/Infection Control/Geriatrics.
Hello, just looking for some advice on this situation... I just started a travel assignment. After four days working, I got a call from my agency saying I was cancelled due to "concerns with my nursing practice". Which totally blind sighted me. I had no negative feedback from the staff, and had never been told I was incompetent with my nursing practice. ( I have been a nurse a year and a half before this). My agency was helping me figure this out and the unit manager gave some bogus reasons why I wasn't competent. Half weren't even true! So they are trying to help me get a new job. But this is really messing with my head.. and shaking my confidence.. why would they do this? Has this happened to anyone else??

Yes. If you have time, read my blog on Travel Nursing. It's a journey. You aren't alone.

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L. .

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Giving blood is easy. Obtaining consent, product acquisition, scanning, and documentation are very institution specific and I wouldn't expect a traveler to know it right away.

while the things you listed will vary slightly by facility, as a traveler, one would have a general idea of the process and can fill out the appropriate forms. The OP has never actually given blood. That is quite different from procedural differences.

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You sound like a relatively inexperienced nurse. You probably should have waited a few more years to start traveling . As a traveler you are expected to hit the ground running. Your unit should not have to train you to be a nurse. I would be very concerned if a traveler on my unit did not know how to hang blood. Get a few more years under your belt and try again. I am shocked they hired you with such limited experienced. Don't beat yourself up over it but try to understand where the facility is coming from.

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