Charge nurse is a low performer!

[mfarmer88]

I am fairly new in to my position (6 months) I am a nurse manager of a floor, with a director over me. The director has been there for 32 years. One of the charge nurses on my floor is absolutely terrible in that role. She was in that role before I came, and I don't know why she was elected to be there by the previous manager. She has been on the floor for 25 years, so I'm guessing that is part of the decision.

My issue is she is a very low performer. She frequently disappears, does not get her charge duties done, will not ask the other nurses if they need help, and if you ask for it you are told "no, I'm too busy doing my 'charge work papers'" even if I have already completed them. She will only have 2 patients at this time, while all the nurses have 6 and the techs have 10 each. The nurses have to do their own discharges and admissions when she is charge, so I'm not exactly sure what she is doing. Being charge she gets the benefit of a set schedule and does not work weekends. My other employees, both days and nights (because she is constantly there until 2000, 2100, 2300 every night (we work 12 hour days)) complain about her constantly. I've asked them to please document everything, but they all feel it's more annoyances and not actually worth writing down.

I will tell my director about these things, and she is appalled, but then we won't follow up on them. I cannot do it myself, and she says she is too busy to do something. A fellow manager she is over told me that my director asked if this person is really that much of a problem or am I making it all up. So I feel a little bit like it's a "good ol boy" society thing and I will never get anywhere. I am at risk of losing my high performers because they are tired of dealing with her.

What issues are genuinely worth documenting and not just personal issues? I could write novels on the ways that I feel she is failing as a charge nurse, I get complaints from her patients, and from physicians, but I need my directors backing before I can do anything. I have documented med errors and complaints from June, but I almost feel like I've been holding on to them for too long to address them now.

[caliotter3]

An LVN got rid of our house supervisor on the night shift by going to the DON and complaining about just one thing: on nights the supervisor went off to sleep on duty. Her big mistake was to criticize that LVN for sleeping on duty. The LVN didn't mention that tidbit to the DON and the RN was fired. An example of workplace politics. Sounds to me that you may be dealing with some level of politics. Insure this is a battle you want to engage in.

As an aside, my husband had a position one time where there was a nonperformer and it was his responsibility to deal with this. There were some real obstacles to getting rid of the person according to the labor laws. He took the time to research what he needed to do and dug in. It took a full two years, but he was successful. It could take you a very long time, but you should be able to deal with this if you think it is worth the effort. If she is just a "good 'ol girl" or a cousin of the boss, you may not want to take on the task. Good luck.

[psychRNmom2]

I would get HR involved. Give them all of the evidence and have them assist you on an exit strategy for moving her out-starting with a performance improvement plan with successive discipline when she is not meeting expectations.

[jdethman]

You are lucky that is an easy one. You have a clear mission they must go. Every day ask your self "what have I done today to help her move on?

[kayern]

A few points to discuss.....

What do the nurses say about her when she is in charge?

Is she facilitating the flow of the unit?

Does she make patient care rounds? What do the patients say about her?

Is there a peer review process in place? Is there a charge review process in place? Altho I find not everyone is willing to be honest so everyone gets great reviews.

My advise to you is to document, document, document the present your case to your AVP/Director? You ARE the manager, check her file and she what is in it. Its your unit run it your way.

Keep us posted