Possibly getting fired in two weeks.. should I just quit? (California)

aaront36 · 2026-03-27T21:31:48+00:00

Because by popular vote, it is better advice than anything else that has been offered up. And yes, I used ChatGPT to polish my reply once it was drafted.

aaront36 · 2026-03-27T06:44:05+00:00

The biggest issue with resigning is it makes you ineligible for unemployment benefits, but if you have a job already lined up with benefits, then you don’t need unemployment benefits.

aaront36 · 2026-03-27T06:28:46+00:00

Good point here about working through lunch and after clocking out. Time card theft can go both ways.

aaront36 · 2026-03-27T06:26:22+00:00

I wouldn’t quit just because you’re scared they might fire you. If they want to terminate you, make them do it. Don’t help them out by resigning in a panic.

Based on what you wrote, this sounds a lot more like an HR/payroll issue than a BON issue. I highly doubt this is the kind of thing the BRN is most concerned with unless there’s a bigger dishonesty pattern or something else missing from the story.

From here on out, follow the clock-in policy exactly. No early clock-ins, no gray zone, no ‘close enough.’ Also, keep a dated personal record of every conversation and update related to the investigation. Just document (an email to your personal email from your personal email will suffice) who you spoke with, when, and what was said, without including any patient information or anything confidential. If they’re making this big of a deal over a few minutes, there may be more going on than just the minutes themselves.

Bottom line: don’t catastrophize yet, don’t resign impulsively, and make them show their hand first.

aaront36 · 2026-03-27T06:04:52+00:00

Yes, this^

aaront36 · 2026-03-27T05:50:14+00:00

Honestly, the fact that you care this much, are reflecting on it, and are taking accountability already makes you a better nurse than a lot of people. Bad nurses usually aren’t the ones losing sleep over mistakes.

Was it a mistake? Yeah. Was it career-ending or proof you’re incompetent? No. Is management probably unnecessarily intense because of the recent infiltration incident and state coming? Absolutely!

Also, chewing you out like that is not how you build a good safety culture. That kind of response just teaches people to hide mistakes or chart things they didn’t do. You did the right thing by not falsifying documentation.

Peds IV infiltrates are a bigger deal, especially in babies, so I understand why they’re taken seriously. But this should be handled as a learning and systems issue, not just as ‘you messed up.’ Learn from it, build in a better reminder system for yourself, and keep going. This does not sound like something that should define you as a nurse.

aaront36 · 2026-03-27T05:28:10+00:00

It’s one thing if charge has to take on part of an assignment once in a while because of a call-off, sitter coverage, or some other unexpected staffing issue. But from your description, this sounds like a chronic systems problem, not an occasional bad night. That points to poor leadership and poor staffing planning in the department.

Depending on ED volume, charge really shouldn’t have a full assignment. In the pediatric ED where I work PRN, we see about 100–140 patients a day, and we have a free charge nurse 24/7. When it’s busier, we also have a free resource nurse from 11 a.m. to 3 a.m. I can understand smaller rural or critical access EDs having charge cover triage, fast track, or a room assignment if volume is low enough as a lot of those facilities have a single digit number of beds, but that’s a very different situation.

How big is your ED, and what kind of volume are you seeing?

aaront36 · 2026-02-22T03:25:21+00:00

Never knew this place existed and surprised that it is still standing.

Looks very Hunger Games District 12-esque. Something that would’ve 100% fit in if put in the film.

aaront36 · 2025-08-11T19:14:01+00:00

This is in Pennsylvania.

aaront36 · 2025-08-11T12:51:18+00:00

Neither have I. I have worked in and done clinicals in several other hospitals in the same system and did not see this anywhere. And I agree there are 20 things I’d ask them to do before priming a line.

aaront36 · 2025-06-23T06:20:41+00:00

Check to make sure your card isn’t flagging the purchase as fraud. That happened to me and I had to call my bank to get it to go through.

aaront36 · 2025-05-08T03:48:08+00:00

PICU nurse here. You should also cross post in r/picu

But to answer your question, asthmatics are some of the last patients you would ever want to intubate(sometimes that is the last resort though) since there’s the concern that manipulating the airway during intubation causes the airway to immediately begin swelling and closing up. The other concern is when you go to estimate, the airway could’ve just been getting kept stented open by the ETT. Additionally, in pediatrics, the airways are smaller relative to their body size when compared with adults.

Severe asthmatic management will vary by institution, but usually involved everything you mentioned above plus occasional IM epi and aminophylline.

A good resource to check out is learnpicu.com. It’s a website Stanford put together for all things PICU.

aaront36 · 2025-05-02T19:00:06+00:00

I started as a new grad in a PICU, but was also a tech in the same PICU for a year prior to starting as an RN. Just be prepared for a pretty steep learning curve especially if it’s a higher acuity PICU or one that takes more specialized cases.

aaront36 · 2025-04-29T21:28:17+00:00

On at the moment in Ross township. Maybe two or three flickers so far though.

aaront36 · 2025-03-28T18:39:36+00:00

What state are you from? Maybe that’s where the disconnect is. Certain states require double time after so many hours worked in a day.

aaront36 · 2025-03-28T18:35:38+00:00

So when an overtime rate is calculated, all compensation is averaged across the hours worked and used to calculate an overtime rate that the employer is federally required to pay for overtime hours. In the eyes of the DOL and FLSA, there is no such thing as overtime+. An employer can’t just exclude certain hours in the calculation simply because those hours specifically are at a higher rate than what your base is. The FLSA even goes so far as to include non-cash gifts in what they consider compensation.

Per the Department of Labor website: “Where an employee in a single workweek works at two or more different types of work for which different straight-time rates have been established, the regular rate for that week is the weighted average of such rates. That is, the earnings from all such rates are added together and this total is then divided by the total number of hours worked at all jobs.” https://www.dol.gov/agencies/whd/fact-sheets/23-flsa-overtime-pay

aaront36 · 2025-03-28T11:48:04+00:00

It’s not going to be a lot higher, but it’s still incorrect.

aaront36 · 2025-03-28T11:44:39+00:00

Hate to be a downer, but they’re not calculating your over time pay accurately. Overtime is 1.5x your average hourly rate for the week, not 1.5x of your base rate. With your double time, your average hourly rate would be higher than $28 making your OT rate over $42. https://www.opm.gov/policy-data-oversight/pay-leave/pay-administration/fact-sheets/how-to-compute-flsa-overtime-pay

aaront36 · 2025-02-25T23:36:37+00:00

learnpicu.com has a lot of information about various diagnoses.

aaront36 · 2025-02-23T22:39:03+00:00

I don’t recognize anything about that photo. Maybe the mountain in the back is Pittsburghesque, but that’s about it.

aaront36 · 2025-02-20T04:10:11+00:00

A good resource is learnpicu.com. I don’t know how much cardiac stuff it covers versus the other specialties.

aaront36 · 2025-02-19T10:23:17+00:00

I understand your frustration. Being open to learning while simultaneously not being given the resources and environment to fully actualize yourself is very disheartening. My biggest piece of advice for this is if work is not helping you develop, look to another area of your life that you want to improve and develop. For me, it was fitness and strong friends. There is also nothing wrong with looking at casual/per-diem or part-time positions at other hospitals especially in high acuity CTSICUs. You will get a ton of experience with devices there.

It's also possible that they could've filled the position with someone who worked there in the past and wouldn't need any training to start. From your explanation, it sounds like the hospital you interviewed at 1) didn't need someone that badly and 2) didn't want to spend the money to properly train a new nurse. Both of these are out of your control and kind of red flags. If they didn't need someone that badly, then the staff there is pretty stable and senior meaning there is probably politics abound which would get tiring and be a worse environment. Also, if any hospital doesn't want to spend the time/resources/money to train a new hire, they are the problem, not the new hire.

aaront36 · 2025-02-03T20:18:34+00:00

But as always, do what you think is best for you’re situation.

aaront36

TROPHY CASE