Charge nurse with less than a year RN experience???!!

Specialties Management

Published

Recently one of the nurses I work with began training to be charge on our 30-bed (very busy!) med/surg unit. But here's the kicker - while she's very pleasant to work with....it hasn't even been a year yet since she graduated from nursing school (not previously an LPN or related field; never worked in medicine before), and has only been off new grad nurse orientation for 6 months. She is the newest and least experienced of the nurses that work her shift. She only oriented once and is already charging on her own.

This just seems ridiculous to me. A nurse who hasn't even been a nurse for a year is not someone I'm going to for help.....she has had litte experience with IVs, foleys, NGs, she has NEVER seen/experienced a code. The charge nurse needs to be someone with experience and good critical thinking skills - something that often a new nurse has not yet mastered. I'm just appalled. Scared. And a little angry that management would think this is a good idea, especially when this particular unit already has an abundant amount of new nurses working it. It's like having the blind leading the blind.

Just needing to vent, or maybe get some replies on why this isn't such a bad idea!

Specializes in Psych, Med-Surg.

I understand when they day you might never "feel ready" but I think that you do need a certain amount of experience. I'm in my second RN job now, 5 months into a different specialty, and I'm really just beginning to feel more comfortable. I think with each new specialty you should get 6 months to learn to be a staff RN. That's really giving you about 4 months of learning your new job.

I think I would quit before being put in that situation. I want to protect my license at all costs. Not worth it.

Specializes in Emergency.

well i do see what you are saying. but i guess im looking at it as this person being completely chastized. but okay.

Specializes in Cath Lab, OR, CPHN/SN, ER.

It might just be how that nurse is perceived by mgt.

My husband is a nurse in an ICU. He was about 6-8 months off orientation when the (new) manager asked how long he had been there. Had he been there longer, she wanted to put him in a charge position because he was level headed during a crisis and has great critical thinking skills (and I'm not saying that because he's my husband :lol2: ). She honestly thought he had been there much longer than that. Obviously, he didn't do charge and I don't think he would have taken the opportunity at this point, but did tell her that he was honored to know she thought that of him.

Specializes in Med/surg, pediatrics, gi, gu,stepdown un.

The only reason they let a new nurse take this position is because it is more cost effective for the hospital. She probably doesn't make as much as an experienced nurse. I feel it adds chaos to an already busy floor. It can be unsafe for the patients as well.

Specializes in telemetry, medsurg, homecare, psychiatry.

This hapenned to me when I first started nursing. Maybe YOU should ask to be in charge. Perhaps, she'd appreciate it. I know I was told I had to do it, and no one else would accept the responsibility. I actually feel sorry for her. But on the bright side, she'll learn alot!

Yes, I know a few hospitals who wouldn't give you a choice. Charge nurse responsibilities are part of your job description (falling under leadership) and everyone gets assigned on a rotational basis. I don't agree with it at all but it does happen.

Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.
I know of Magnet hospitals around here that throw people with less than a year experience into the charge position w/o training. and they do it!

For sure! The name Magnet does not = to nurse friendly.:down::banghead:

Specializes in Emergency.

well my question is, why wasn't anyone else on the unit asked to be charge before her? she may be new to the unit with nothing else under her belt, but maybe management found her more appropriate for the position...for whatever reason. i graduated in 2002, didn't take my boards till 2004 and started my first job in 2005. within 7 months of working there they asked me to be charge. when they offered it to me i was terrified, but willing. it wouldn't take me out of patient care because our charges still would take patient assignments. i asked my manager why she chose me over any one else, and she basically told me that i was best suited for it. i was very level headed and mellow when things got more dicey on the unit. she continued to say i was always willing to help my fellow co-workers without hesitation, and that my critical thinking, prioritizing, and time efficiency skills were well above par. i was completely baffled. but i had to remember that she had already started using me as a preceptor before this....which i also found odd at the time. when it came to the more experienced nurses on the unit, i can remember most of them shirking extra responsibility. they were always "too busy" to help other coworkers when asked, and even some of them who were relief charge nurses were HORRIBLE at that job. When they offered me the charge position, i surpassed two veteran nurses who were relief charges, and they were ******, but the manager told them flat out why they weren't asked. also, you don't need to have done hundreds of ng's, foley's, and iv's to be qualified to help someone out with them. see one, do one, teach one, right? a charge nurse doesn't have to be the best at these things, they just need to know how to do it. people's skills will vary GREATLY from nurse to nurse. a nurse with 30+years experience may be great at foleys but horrible at iv's. a new nurse might be the opposite. as long as this girl knows how to do it, it wouldn't bother me personally. if i have a hard stick i may not ask her for help if she isn't that great at them, but that doesn't mean she isn't qualified to be charge. i'm in no way saying that someone with as little nursing exp. as this girl is the best choice all the time, but if you're really that upset about why you or someone else more seasoned wasn't asked, i would ask the manager. my guess is that she has a very good reason to give you. if she doesn't, then i would take it further.

Specializes in ER/EHR Trainer.

We know it happens but it shouldn't! Each state has it's own nurse practice act outlining responsibilities, in NJ if you knowingly accept an assignment and something happens it is YOUR FAULT regardless of what the facility states. My facility has a form for instances like these-unsafe situations-I have filled them out consistantly when assignments were unsafe, in my opinion a new nurse-especially a new grad is being placed in a precarious position sitting in the Charge spot(even with orientation) How can they be the resource person, when they don't know all of their resources? I think calls to the DOH and other governing agencies would be in order.

Remember when you are in court that facility will CYA theirs, not yours. The first thing that lawyer will say is that you should not have accepted an assignment that you were not oriented to, the second is that as a professional licensed nurse you should know the rules governing your practice, and that when you took that assignment you took that responsibility. This is especially true if you did not refuse or question it-make sure you do, then write it down with names and times. Have it for just in case.

This isn't a slight against new grads, young, old, or nurses new to an area-it's common sense. You can't be a nurse without the smarts and ability to change to face new situations-I believe nurses can do anything! This is one area in which you can't draw from any existing knowledge, it must be provided to you by those in the Know. Thank God nothing has happend to you who were forced into the situation with no backup or orientation.

Every time I sit in the Charge seat I pray it will be a safe day for the patients, the staff and me. Although I don't have an assignment I make rounds and try to be on top of everything that's going on! With all the extra I do, I don't feel safe and never relax during the whole shift. Again, it's not a job I chose; but am chosen for. No one wants the responsibility and we have unfilled PCC positions due to the instabilty in the department.

Good Luck to all

M

Specializes in medical.

on my unit, nobody wants to be a charge, it's not worth it, so people are forced to do it, and nobody seems to care. It's sad...

Specializes in critical care, telemetry, ER.

Yeah, I was put in charge on a very busy tele floor less than 6 months after graduating and even less time since out of orientation. Usually it was only in the evenings after the charge nurse/supervisor left for the day at 3pm. So, not only was I in charge, but also had 6 patients of my own. I would also have to be in charge all day on the weekends.

This usually happened because I would be the only RN on the floor, or even more scary the most experienced.

Not only was I in charge, but being in charge on our floor also meant that I was on the rapid response/code team and had to respond to any that were called in the hospital. Sometimes leaving the floor with no RN or leaving a bunch of new grads by themselves. Not safe!!!

Specializes in OB, NICU, Nursing Education (academic).

Back when I was a new grad (1984), I was given (I wasn't asked) the responsibility of relief charge within 6 months of getting my license. I was horrified and asked why.......my nurse managers reply? "You have the BSN". Didn't seem like a good reason then, and still doesn't.

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