Charge nurse with less than a year RN experience???!! - Page 3

I don't know, but I wouldn't want to work under a charge nurse with no experience to find out!

The charge role is not the position to be getting experience. You need the experience PRIOR to taking on a charge position, and it isn't something you can simulate in a lab or learn in a classroom.

haha good point. but i just feel like shes being attacked. and honestly what would you do if you were on the floor and they appointed a nurse with no experience would you quit, or what would you do. not being sarcastic, a serious question.

That's tough. I would seriously think about going up the chain of command and/or looking for another job. If a hospital is willing to put a nurse with no experience in a role like charge nurse, then it's probably not somewhere you want to work anyway.

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.

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

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 ). 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.

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.

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.