Performance Review Gone Wrong!

Nurses General Nursing

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Hello all, I need help on this subject. Recently, I received my performance review. It was the worst review I ever received. I sat down with my unit director and we went over the topics. She couldn't tell me why many of the negative comments were included in my review. I earned my BSN and my med/surg certification but neither were included in my review. I told her that I want to advance my career to perhaps a clinician, nurse practitioner or patient care coordinator but I need the develop the confidence to do so and she put this in my review saying that I have shown to suffer from low self confidence and that I am not able to focus on the task at hand. She said that I do not go above and beyond. However there were multiple time I was mentioned in our weekly updates as having gone above and beyond. Also, there were wonderful patient comments that about me that were sent to the CNO of our hospital. I let my unit director know all of this. She kept assuring me that I got a very good review because although she put these negative comments in my review, in each section that these comments were listed, I received either a solid or superior performer rating. At the end of my review I did write my rebuttal to the comments that were made but I don't know what good it will do. I told her that I am not going to be able to advance my career because when a prospective employer sees my review they will not consider me for any positions. Any advice on how I can fix this?

Specializes in Pain, critical care, administration, med.

Everything is in the delivery. Obviously your manager doesn't write in a way to show it as growth potential. Her comments are in conflict with her scoring. The rule to a performance evaluation is constructive feedback year round not during your yearly. I wouldn't let it bother you just move on.

Ha! "I never give (a 10/10, 5 stars, A's, check-plus, etc.) because there's always room for improvement!"

While it's true, it's incredibly annoying.

ok so I was a manager in a different field for a long time.....I am here to tell you that if I wrote flowery reviews for all my peeps my boss would send them back down and literally force me to think of negative things to write......also if I had 100 excellent empoyees they could not all be rated excellent........10 could be excellent 20 could be exceeds, 50 average, 20 needs improvement and 10 not acceptable......this could be what is going on here....

Thanks for the responses unfortunately I work for a major corporation and if I wanted to switch positions the hiring manager would have access to my performance review so I'll just do like you all have said and work on making my review more positive this year

Was part of your review goals and objectives for the upcoming year? Sometimes there's less than stellar comments regarding performace as a basis for performance improvement. So an effective manager will tie in the "needs improvement" issues with goals and objectives. I would even be bold and ask for interventions. You need to be able to establish that performance issues were brought to your attention, that your goals are reflective of wanting education regarding same, and that this is how you are going to do it. Never be afraid of asking that unless the manager can give examples, how is it that you are to change it? ie: subjective "never goes above and beyond" comments--in all seriousness, you have proof that you are often cited for "going above and beyond" therefore, it makes the manager look foolish for even bringing that up.

Additonally, if you are seen as someone "lacking confidence" (do you feel this way?) then perhaps setting personal goals would be in your favor. Take some leadership courses. Ask that you are part of some committees that you would enjoy that could showcase your abilities to make changes, policy--whatever it is that you would enjoy being a part of.

I am not sure you can change what is already done. However, be 100% sure that this year, any and all points of negativity have been addressed in one form or another. And be sure that it is reflected on your new evaluation. If it is not, then this would be an HR issue I would think.

In the meanwhile, be sure that the information regarding your certifications are correct (meaning they do need to list your correct credentials) Again, I would have a discussion with HR regarding this.

I would look at it as you are an invaluable employee who your current floor doesn't want to lose to **gasp** alternate levels of nursing. It is a "low blow" to attempt this by shaking your confidence and use of subjective terms. I would take this to HR so that you can be assured that the review is correct, and that you have the option of assessing and amending any new goals.

Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

There are a lot of factors at work in any performance review process, depending upon the 'marching orders' that your manager has received.

It is not uncommon for organizations to tell manager that their performance ratings have to fit a specific range... ex: no more than 15% "excellent", 60% "good", etc. They then have to make sure that their results line up with those ranges. This is very common if raises are tied to performance reviews. In other organizations, they are supposed to rank order everyone from top to bottom, and give 'bad' ratings to the lowest rated folks in an attempt to get them to quit voluntarily. I didn't say any of this was fair, just that it is the reality.

Managers may be biased... their favorites will get great ratings no matter what they do, and the not-so-favored will not get good ratings no matter how wonderful they are.

Manager inexperience also plays a role. Inexperienced managers may be more likely to try to exert their "manager-ness" by making sure you know who is boss. They are going to point out everything you are doing wrong because it enforces their own sense of power. They haven't yet learned that their most important role is to provide support for their staff .

Unfortunately, many organizations do not provide any real training or development for managers. They just tell them how to fill out the forms.

I understand your frustration. You are certainly not alone. Back in the day, I had to deal with a critical care manager who placed a great deal of emphasis on emptying trash cans... seriously. Even if the day was filled with back-to-back codes, there was no excuse for having full trash cans.

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