ProNurse

I'm a full time agency/contract worker and it's the best thing I ever did and wish so much I'd done it sooner. 

That's just to show every cloud may have a silver lining.

Talk to the agency for advice before you fill in the form.  Tell them everything, warts and all.  Don't try and hide anything, and remember you're not the first and you won't be the last person to be maliciously accused of something they say they didn't do.  Give them your side of the story.  If you're accepted by the agency, then that's all that matters and you should have no need to disclose anything to anyone the agency sends you to. 

Speak to your union for advice on wording.  Obviously try and highlight your ten years (unblemished??) record before all this happened, and your shock when an accused.

Will anyone from the ward act as a referee for you?

Croatan.

They have to give you a reference.  Even if it isn't a great one - they can't give you a bad one - then if you pre-warn the agency your reference might not be wonderful it will do you no harm. Often the agency is more worried about things like timekeeping, attendance, sickness, training etc rather than what a superb team player and leader you are.

There's good and bad about agency work.  Never quite knowing what you might earn is too much of a worry for some; being called out at short notice (though of course you can always refuse) can be a pain; going into situations where you're unfamiliar with everything can be very scary - my rule, which I rarely break, is I'll only work on a new ward/unit if there's another nurse on that day/night.  When I'm more familiar with the place, I might be prepared to do it on my own, but by then everyone will know me and I'll know them.  I'm always very clear about what I'm not trained to do or have never done.  Most wards are understanding.  Never do anything you're not confident of doing.  Apologise lots for being slow or unfamiliar with the ward, be humble, people don't like over-confident newcomers who try and do things "their" way.  Go with the flow, if the ward does things a certain way then even if you think you can do it a better way, don't.  You can be the best nurse in the world - and I'm far from that - but if you rub staff up the wrong way, you won't be asked back.  Cultivate your people skills, let them know you will do anything you can do that they want you to do, however menial (remember, you get paid the same for brewing up as you do taking charge of the ward) and chances are you'll be asked back.

Of course, you can never be guaranteed work, though if you do a job and the ward likes you, then you tend to be requested by them by name.  Have that happen at a few places and you'll never want for work.  Good things are, obviously, the money.  £1000 a week gross is pretty easy to make as a band 5.  Hammer it and you'll be holidaying in the Seychelles every year :-)  Go somewhere you don't like, then refuse to go back.  No extra, often unpaid, jobs or responsibilities; freedom from office gossip and backstabbers (though as agency, you are likely to get blamed for everything); no working extra hours for free, no disapproving looks or pressure to work extra hours; mileage allowance (lovely lovely mileage allowance), and expenses; and of course, no working Christmas if you don't want and no begging for leave when you want it. Yay!!!

It's not for everyone, clearly, but quite often I find the only person smiling when I go to a ward is me.  The permanent staff so often seem to be complaining about the shifts, managers, F grades, bank workers, nurses, lack of staff, stress, car parking fees, wages, holidays and everything inbetween (just like I used to do when i had a permanent job).

Croatoan. 

Very sorry to hear what happened.

I am not sure that an employer is required to give a reference. If they give a bad one, then you may be able to sue, eg for loss of earnings. You can discover what is in the reference by doing a subject access request under the 1997 Data Protection Act. (Google this to find out how.) References are meant to be 'confidential' but you can hit the recipient with the DPA.

In the culture which exists within the NHS, where bullying may be seen as a legitimate management technique, the type of treatment which you experienced may be becoming very common. Have you thought of going to an employment tribunal? I guess this is the next step? You could call the person who was a witness against you to give evidence in the court on oath.  

Again very sorry that this has happened but in a way, it may be for the best as agency work may be a better option.