What did your manager do for you?

[KerriMcDaniel]

I am moving from an inpatient nursing position as a charge nurse on a Pediatric oncology and bone marrow transplant floor to a supervisor/manager position in a Pediatric/NICU Stepdown unit. Making the move after getting my masters and the hospital I currently work at would not let me advance and use my new degree, so I am going to a hospital that will. I have been a charge nurse for 3 years now but this position will be a little different. Please tell me what your managers do that make a difference in your lives? What do they do to help? What do they do that brightens your day? I want to be a good manager and it's important to me to make my nurses I will be managing feel respected and feel that they are making a difference. Any suggestions would help!

[jordiRN]

Not necessarily work related, but my dad and I were visiting a family member in the hospital I work at one day I was off, and my dad had a seizure and coded while we were visiting. Somehow word got around to my manager that it was my dad (whom she'd never met) that coded, and she came down to the ER to check on us and see if we needed anything. A small gesture, but I SO appreciated her taking time out of her day for that.

[Ayvah, RN]

How can a manager truly understand the needs of the unit unless she will occasionally work the floor herself? One of my old managers would try to 'help' by answering call lights, and instead of taking care of the patient requests, or directing the requests (i.e. bathroom) appropriately to the tech, she would call the nurse, every time, and of course, we were expected to drop what we were doing since it was the manager calling. It was not helpful.

Not working the floor occasionally will mean your perspective and skills will atrophy. There is a high level well educated nursing administrator that came to me about implementing a new program not too long ago. I was really taken aback with how many assumptions she had of how things were done that were completely wrong. She was very unhappy when I tried to tell her this because she spent a lot of time to get the program put in place. It essentially required more work for staff with less favorable patient outcomes and was scrapped. Had she occasionally worked the floor with us she would never have made that error in the first place. Its very frustrating when you see that your administrators have little idea what you do or how you do it.

The best manager I had actually did worked the floor with us, would take a full load of patients, etc. I'm not saying to do this daily, but, say, a shift or two a month. That will keep the manager updated on the realities of patient care and the unique needs of the specific unit. Plus that goes a LONG way towards morale of the unit, knowing that their leader can work the trenches with them and understands how to advocate for them.

[cinlou, BSN, MSN, RN]

get to know your staff, if they are qualified don't micro-manage, respect and trust them, if they are new make sure they have appropriate support, mentors, and preceptors. Give compliments in front of all. Speak privately to the ones that you need too. Do not discipline the entire staff for the behavior of one. Be honest with your staff, let them know what is going on. Listen to your staff, you may not be able to make the change but at least listen. Treat all equally, do not show favoritism. Support continuing education. Do not be afraid of someone knowing more than you, if you do your job well you want those that are at the bedside to have that skill. You develop your skill and they theirs. Definitely drop in on the night shift. I used to go in at night and give the night shift their staff meetings during the middle of their shift, so they did not have to stay over or come in early or on their days off. Ask for their opinions, ask your staff what they need in order to do their job well. Let them know what your budget will allow for and the staff will be able to help stay within the budget, they understand. Honesty, respect, transparency. Generally if I received this from my manager I did not expect them to work the unit as well. But don't stand there while the phone is ringing and not answer it or the call light. Be your nurses advocate, don't back down to the Doctors or administration if your staff are right stand with them. In public stand with them and behind closed door discuss the issues that need to be corrected.

[joanna73, BSN, RN]

Implement changes gradually and explain the rationale to your staff. Allow them to have some decision making power and be open to new ideas.

In other words, don't micro manage.

[rnfostermom, BSN, RN]

Well, I can tell you what I hate about my current manager and what I liked about my favorite one. What I (and most of the other nurses on our unit) hate about our manager is that she doesn't "have our back." We feel that we are good nurses and smart women (no men on our unit) who work hard and do our best to make good decisions that are patient centered. Yet no matter what, she will tell us that the problem or delay we experienced was somehow our fault. For example, someone who had incidental OT or didn't get a lunch break was at fault for "not calling the flyer" (who can be very hard to get) or else she will point out that Nurse Favorite has "great time management skills -- you should talk to her about how she does it." We used to have this annual survey hospital-wide and most of the nurses on my unit gave our manager very bad marks in this area -- I was surprised to realize that I was not the only person who thought this! The word I could use to describe my current manager most often is "discouraging" or "disappointing." What I loved about my favorite nurse manager was that she didn't sweat the small stuff and she really stood up for her nurses. She is a very calm person and this conveyed to her staff, so we relaxed too and did good work without interference. She also made very insightful comments to me about things about me that she especially appreciated or thought I was good at. Boy, I would go to the ends of the earth for that manager, and still would even though she's not my boss anymore. More than one of the nurses I worked with under her said they would probably quit the unit when she retired!