[lizzieB05]

I have been a nurse on a cardiac care unit for 9 months now. A few days ago my supervisor approached me and asked if I would be interested in taking the clinical supervisor position for our sister floor (the floor below that is cardiopulmonary). I smiled at the flattery but said no. I cant fathom being a supervisor when I havent even been a nurse for one full year. WOW! I am 30 and I have a 2 year old a home, so the hours and money are appealing but seriously. Is that doable? Am I nuts for turning it down or am I right in thinking is just too soon? Plus the MAIN reason I like my job is because or the people I work with. New floor means new people.

[Suesquatch]

Either the place is seriously short-handed or you are seriously smart.

Only you know which.

[caliotter3]

Suesquatch is probably right. You could have been going to a hell hole, no win situation as the only candidate thought young and dumb enough to go for it. Yet on the other hand it might have been a testimony to their evaluation of your skills and abilities. I would be more inclined to believe the former. You are wise in staying where you are familiar to gain more experience. There will be supervisory opportunities in the future when the time is right for you.

[HM2Viking]

"Drink no wine before its time"

In other words its wise to feel fully grounded as a professional before taking a supervisory position.

[CHATSDALE]

1. i think that you are right to decline the offer
2. supervisory jobs are rough a lot of responsibility
and a lot of headache, you ae caught between the staff and the phb
time will bring this around again

[RN1989]

Originally Posted by lizzieB05

the hours and money are appealing

Please learn something very quickly - MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING! Particularly in nursing. Also, when you take a supervisory position that says you have great hours like M-F, etc. - don't count on it! As a supervisor you will spend more time at work than the staff working OT - at least you will if you are a good supervisor.

You were asked to take this for several reasons:
1. Your age - you have a little bit of life experience compared to a 21 year old RN. The maturity level is better than a new but younger nurse and staff respond better to older nurses being their supervisors than ones that are still kids.

2. You are still a newbie and thus more prone to be flattered by the request and take the job. More experienced nurses know better and run the other direction when they were asked to take the job. I can almost guarantee that a more experience nurse, or 2 or 3, were asked to take the job before you were but they know the game and being a supervisor isn't fun and it is even more stressful than being staff.

When you become a supervisor, you can also lose some protection that staff nurses have. You will be held more accountable, even though the understaffing and poor staff education isn't your fault.

Get some more experience before you step into a position like this. It isn't all it's cracked up to be. Why do you think that hospitals go through supervisors/managers like kleenex? Only the crappy managers stay long term. They are the only ones who are willing to put themselves in the line of fire because they will always do what the facility wants but not necessarily what is right or safe. Thus the hospital is willing to defend them in court. Good managers will have the hospital sell them out so those managers leave before a lawsuit happens to them. Or they get so burnt out that they simply can't function in that role anymore (speaking from experience). Sorry to burst your bubble of flattery but you need to learn a bit more how it works and not go walking into that trap blindly.

[TheCommuter]

I worked at a large skilled nursing facility for 2 years. The administrator had promoted a new nurse (LVN) who had only been licensed for approximately 3 months to the managerial position of ADON (assistant director of nursing). I also think her youthful age and controlling personality contributed to her reasons for accepting this position. She was only 21 years old at the time, and felt the need to be in control of other employees. This person also served as the facility's DOSD (director of staff development), so she could control who was hired.

She was also the most incompetent nurse manager I have ever worked under.

[lizzieB05]

Thank you all for the feedback. I honestly was flattered for about 15 minutes at the offer and then looked around me. It's just not the right time and I'm not so sure that management is what I am searching for. I think my supervisor was just hoping that my desire to work 7-3 would be enough to pull me in. So, I will stay and I will learn until I find the right 7-3 work for me. Thxs again.

[mmurphy]

I totally agree with you 1989.

[jjjoy]

I was offered a charge nurse position in small sub-acute facility even though I was completely inexperienced! It was for a lousy shift and low pay, but I didn't mind that because it was a nice, well-staffed facility. What I did mind was that they seemed to only want a warm body with a RN license and didn't seem concerned that I wouldn't know up from down for who know how long while technically in charge of the LPNs and all of the patients in that facility. The weekend charge had been hired as a new grad and had managed but I just wasn't comfortable with being the go-to person at the facility when I was so inexperienced myself. It's just crazy that it can be so easy to get hired to a position that you may not be qualified or ready for!!!