advice for new charge nurse

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Specializes in Med/Surg.

What advice would you give to a new charge nurse? Not in terms of how to do the job but as a staff member what would you like a charge nurse to do for you? As a charge nurse what would you like of a new charge? As a manager what would your expectations be? What would show you you made the correct decision in hiring someone?

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

oooh oooh me! pick me! I know the answer! (seriously, we survey our nurses each year to get a handle on this) This is what our nurses want in a first-line leader / charge nurse / team leader

BE FAIR - don't give the best jobs to your buddies. Don't let your buddies get by with stuff that you won't take from anyone else. Give everyone a chance. Share the compliments and credit with the whole team.

STICK UP FOR ME - take my side when I'm getting yelled at by a doc, family member or anyone else. Always assume that I am trying to do the right thing; we can sort out the details in private afterwards.

RESPECT US - ask my opinion and listen to me. Never share anything I have told you in confidence. Never engage in gossip about someone else - that means I can't trust you with my secrets either. If you are correcting me, do it in private. If I am doing something wrong, tell me right away before it becomes a big deal. If you are giving praise, do it in public.

PITCH IN - Keep an eye on what's happening and if I look like I'm going under, come over and help me out. Don't just stand by and watch me sink and then lecture me about time management. You should always be the first one there and the last one to leave... making sure that your team is OK.

TELL THE TRUTH - be honest with me. It's OK if you don't know the answer, but don't ever try to fake it. If you lie to me once, I will never forget it.

WALK THE TALK - your actions speak for themselves. Don't expect us to follow the rules if you don't.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Dialysis.
oooh oooh me! pick me! I know the answer! (seriously, we survey our nurses each year to get a handle on this) This is what our nurses want in a first-line leader / charge nurse / team leader

BE FAIR - don't give the best jobs to your buddies. Don't let your buddies get by with stuff that you won't take from anyone else. Give everyone a chance. Share the compliments and credit with the whole team.

STICK UP FOR ME - take my side when I'm getting yelled at by a doc, family member or anyone else. Always assume that I am trying to do the right thing; we can sort out the details in private afterwards.

RESPECT US - ask my opinion and listen to me. Never share anything I have told you in confidence. Never engage in gossip about someone else - that means I can't trust you with my secrets either. If you are correcting me, do it in private. If I am doing something wrong, tell me right away before it becomes a big deal. If you are giving praise, do it in public.

PITCH IN - Keep an eye on what's happening and if I look like I'm going under, come over and help me out. Don't just stand by and watch me sink and then lecture me about time management. You should always be the first one there and the last one to leave... making sure that your team is OK.

TELL THE TRUTH - be honest with me. It's OK if you don't know the answer, but don't ever try to fake it. If you lie to me once, I will never forget it.

WALK THE TALK - your actions speak for themselves. Don't expect us to follow the rules if you don't.

A mouth full was said right there! No further explanation necessary :yeah:

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Hospital Education Coordinator.

AMEN, HouTx. You said it, girl

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Speaking from my purely non-nursing supervisory experience...... Management is dynamic. You will learn and grow in the position and with the people that you manage. A management style that works for one person might not work for another. It's important to recognize that people are different and do your best to reach them on their level. It is also important to remember that it may be impossible to please everyone. Some people have a hard time seeing the big picture, and some people have unfair expectations. Do your best, keep communication as open as possible, and be prepared to make mistakes (though not on purpose, of course :D).

Up Vote Up Vote ×

Nicely said HouTX!! Awesome advice for the future :)

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Med/Surg.

Thank you for all the replies. I have to say I'm very excited for this opportunity. All of the co-workers i have talked to are excited that I got this position, I am definitely one who would never ask anyone to do anything that i would not be willing to do myself. The hardest thing I think will be ensuring that i'm not perceived as "playing favorites" as i am close friends with several people that I work with. Not that I would give preferential treatment, but I believe in doing what's best for the patients, one nurse may do better with a complex "skill-driven" patient, while another may do better with a walkie-talkie "emotionally needy" patient.

The issue I'm most worried about is the fact that I do try to get people to do what's best for the team and develop a sense of being a team player, so if there are two nurses who can take a patient I usually talk to both to see who is most able to take the patient. I HATE when they both suddenly act completely overwhelmed and ask for the other one to take the patient, even when they were sitting talking 5 minutes earlier.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in Oncology, LTC.

The issue I'm most worried about is the fact that I do try to get people to do what's best for the team and develop a sense of being a team player, so if there are two nurses who can take a patient I usually talk to both to see who is most able to take the patient. I HATE when they both suddenly act completely overwhelmed and ask for the other one to take the patient, even when they were sitting talking 5 minutes earlier.

This is the one issue that always gives me heartburn during the shift. I used to always take the patient if the nurses were busy, but then I was busy with this new patient for the remainder of the shift, instead of doing my charge nurse duties, and things would tend to fall apart in the unit and I couldn't help the others. Always always approach the nurse and say they are getting an admit. If they are clearly swamped, then try to do the actual admission part of it (the paperwork, info gathering, med rec, etc.) and then hand off the patient to the nurse that was supposed to get the admit. Leave the assessment for them to do as well. This alleviates work for the nurse and keeps the flow in the unit by not having you tied to this new patient. Just introduce yourself as the charge nurse, state who the patient's nurse will actually be (and have the nurse come into the room and introduce herself to alleviate confusion later), and what you will be doing. This helped me a lot!

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

It was already well said, but one thing I can say is....

Don't DO for them. be a leader. yes, of course help. I think a good charge nurse gives guidance, and doesn't just do the tasks for the primary nurse.

Where I was a bedside nurse, the hospital only had charge in the ER and ICU. I was a rotational charge nurse, but we took patients AND admits that we kept. Therefore, the primary nurse pretty much dealt with their patients on their own.

Where I became a NM, the charge nurses did pretty much everything for the primary nurse, including calling doctors and getting orders. I didn't like it. The primary nurses didn't even know who to call for a low HGB. The answer was "the charge does it, I don't know"

Guide them, teach them, be fair, and know that fair may not always look that way to some.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ICU.

Oh, and congrats to you. Your peers are excited because they know you will do well.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in med/surg.
Thank you for all the replies. I have to say I'm very excited for this opportunity. All of the co-workers i have talked to are excited that I got this position, I am definitely one who would never ask anyone to do anything that i would not be willing to do myself. The hardest thing I think will be ensuring that i'm not perceived as "playing favorites" as i am close friends with several people that I work with. Not that I would give preferential treatment, but I believe in doing what's best for the patients, one nurse may do better with a complex "skill-driven" patient, while another may do better with a walkie-talkie "emotionally needy" patient.

The issue I'm most worried about is the fact that I do try to get people to do what's best for the team and develop a sense of being a team player, so if there are two nurses who can take a patient I usually talk to both to see who is most able to take the patient. I HATE when they both suddenly act completely overwhelmed and ask for the other one to take the patient, even when they were sitting talking 5 minutes earlier.

Maybe at the start of the shift you can put on the assignment sheet who gets first, second , third admission etc. That way there is no arguement over who takes the admission.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
+ Add a Comment