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Martinamarie Asked October 2016

I live next door to my parents (Mom died and had dementia in 2003). My dad has been very depressed since then.

I've been a nurse for 28 years.  I worked up to December 2015. I was out for a week after having trigger finger. Surgery. I hated my job. I hated nursing after taking care of my mom for all those years. When my daughter got out of diapers, my mom needed diaper/depends. I've been overwhelmingly depressed. After I returned to work after my trigger thumb surgery, I showed my "return" to work note to the 2 assistant nurse supervisors. They thought I didn't appear "right". I was escorted to human resource, had to give a breathalyzer and urine drug screen panel. That was october 3rd 2015. My Dad became very ill and needed to be hospitalized 10/6 and was discharged 10/8. I hadn't really slept that weekend. My work called and said my drug/breathyzer were fine. They would let me come back to work after I had a psych evaluation. I did that 10/10/2015. The psych evaluation cleared me and said I was fit to go back to work. My boss called me later asking me if I wanted to return to week the following Monday. But after my dads illness I was on FMLA until December 2015. I couldn't go back. I never will know exactly what was said or observed to make others believe me to be "impaired". I got a job May 2016 as a clinical nurse educator. It was a contract job and I was chosen to go around the country to various surgical settings in the United States. I had one week of training, and then went into a hospital to educate fellow surgical members on a new device. I loved that and that was from 9/19-23 2016. My next assignment was scheduled 10/2-10/7. And then 10/10-14. On 9/30/2916 I was called telling me I did something said something against my contract and they were cancelling my contract. Again, don't know what I did or said. I feel like I'm living in a body with no meaning or purpose. I think I'm a waste of space. I'm not actively suicidal but I want to die.

GardenArtist Oct 2016
Another thought: contact your state's unemployment compensation bureau and find out if you can still file for unemployment from the hospital where you initially worked. Be sure to mention that you were on FMLA and were terminated after that expired.

To the best of my knowledge, hospitals have regulations on terminations; see if you can work up the chain of command to at least get some reasons why the termination took place.

GardenArtist Oct 2016
Martina, what was the reason given for termination of the contract? You wrote "I did something said something against my contract and they were cancelling my contract". What specifically was that? Reread your contract and see if it's an event of default that would trigger contract termination.

Contracts also typically have provisions allowing for termination w/o cause, especially employment, which can be considered "at will" employment and not subject to specific justification for termination.

If you don't recall the reason, contact the company and see if you can get someone to elaborate, or at least just repeat what the justification was.

The company may decline to discuss the issue, which probably would be the case, but you could also tell them that you'd appreciate knowing so you can address the issue and move forward.

Also check to see if your contract allowed verbal termination or if it required written notice. If the latter, the contract wasn't terminated properly.

In addition, were any evaluation sheets completed by people attending the "classes"? If so, and assuming they're anonymously completed w/o identifying information, you could ask if there were issues raised by the attendees. That might help narrow it down to whether it was the people in the class of the company that made the termination decision.

You might also want to consider contacting a plaintiff's employment law attorney to see if you have a case for specific performance under contract law.

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Martinamarie Oct 2016
Yes I take antidepressants. I used to be a psychiatric nurse and if I were er admitted to a psychiatric unit I would really make depression worse. I think my depression did not overlap with my past jobs. I was great at wearing a smile and was cheerful around others. Yes I probably did appear "different" after going back to work after my thumb surgery, and I agree I hated the job. Being a full time caregiver for my parents and then on my feet all day n the Operating Room, was bad. I was excited when my doctor told me I needed trigger finge release surgery and I would be off for a week. Oh well, thanks for answering my question. At least I know the members here really DO care. ☘️☘️☘️

cwillie Oct 2016
Are you seeing someone about your depression? If it is spilling over into your workday enough to be noticed by others and to cause a termination of your contract job you need urgent care. As a nurse you know the protocols and what advice you would give to someone else, accept that you can't do this on your own and get yourself to a psychiatrist. And I'm not sure how labour laws are written where you are, but you may have some recourse about the terminated contract if you are diagnosed with a mental illness.
Pick up the phone and call your doctor, walk in to ER or urgent care, call a mental health hot-line. Just do it!! ((hugs))

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