Leaving Management Role

Specialties Management

Published

I have finally made the decision that nurse management is far too involved and requires, if not demands far too much time. The deicison I have made is really related to the fact that I am no longer willing to give away hours of my life to work as a manager when it is never enough. I am exhausted, emotional spent and never have any time for my kids. Time to bid management goodbye.

Not sure when my last day in management will be as I have left it opened ended so they can replace me with someone competent and I can help orient them. I have a great group of nurses and we have worked very hard to turn around the operation of the unit, but I can't put in the massive amount of hours that is needed anymore.

I will still frequent this forum and still offer advice though. :)

Specializes in Hemodialysis, Home Health.
Actually, I am content to remain on the floor as a nurse. I am looking into ER opportunites and once I have my BSN completed, I plan to teach as an adjunct faculty member at the local community colege. I is a big relief to know this responsibility will be off my shoulders soon. Big relief!

Yes. .. the loss will be noticable, indeed. Yet you MUST have a life beyond work. I'm with you all the way.

I wish you all the success in the world, and know you will do just FINE.

Now BREEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEATHE.... and feel all that tension ease from your body !

Wooohooooooooooooooooooooo !!! :balloons: :) :balloons:

Specializes in Nursing Education.
Patrick - I'm so sorry you are changing jobs! Like someone else said - this is the unit's loss! Maybe teaching will open new worlds for you? I know several of my friends who have done that and so appreciate it. I wish you the best in whatever you decide to do. What about case management? You still get the patient contact but not all the responsibility and its usually compensated at higher rates - take care...judi

Thank you Judi ... it was not a difficult decision once I finally came to a place in my mind where I realized that I simply no longer wanted to have an outside influence control my life.

Hi Patrick,

I remember the days when there was a head nurse on each shift and a supervisor for the floor. Now 1 person is doing the work of three. I too was in management about four years ago. I had held the positon for about three years. One day I went for my annual physical and my doctor informed me that my blood pressure was elevated. By the end of the week I had handed in my resignation. My blood pressure returned to normal limits. So good luck.

There are different recipes for being a manager. You know you will be held extremely accountable and responsible for many facets of your units or departments you supervise, e.g. budget, payroll and non-payroll, performance appraisals, ordering supplies, meetings, competencies, mandatory training, tracking certifications, patient concerns and issues, nursing relationships, care delivery, customer satisfaction, surveys, quality improvement, reports, staff development, staff meetings, recruiting, interviewing, hiring, orienting and the list goes on. You must always find time for you. Remember that your own health and the heatlh of your personal and family relationships are proportional to the balance of your professional life and career. Your employer/boss must support you and give you the added help you need in your department to make it work. Delegating and dividing up assignments and following up timely on the competion of assignments by your assistants or staff is important. Keep your finger on the pulse of your department. Keep lists of your priorities, although I realize that the phone can ring and reset the entire plan. You will need to be ready and tolerant for changing course at a moments notice. Patience, trust and being a good listener are pieces of your management puzzle. Empower others to assume ownership, set goals, timeframes and lead. The frustrations seep in when you start feeling overwhelmed, unable to complete assignments, especially when something else gets loaded onto your agenda or calendar. Teamwork works! The team just needs to be willing to chip in when the heat is on and the work starts to pile. Those of you willing to stay in the mainstream of nursing administration are respectfully commended and those of you recognizing that you may be suited better for other positions, you are equally important to our health care arena. This is what makes it tick.

I was a nurse manager a few years ago. (Actually that's about the time I joined this BB.) I resigned from my position and took a few months of doing nothing. I wanted to decide what I really wanted and if I was just burned out from being in the same place for so long. The best decision I ever made was to go back to being a staff nurse in a different hospital. You are so right about having control of your life. I am no longer responsible for the actions of all the other nurses who work on my ward. I don't have to report to the administrator about why someone else did something that they weren't supposed to do. I am responsible for myself and when I go home at the end of the day I leave it at work until I get back.

Look forward to the relief and be happy! :beer: :yeah:

It's a hard decision to leave a job, but I am sure you will succeed at whatever you decide to do.

I do have a comment though, reading through the postings. ( I am a lurker, not a poster typically). I recently re-entered nursing management after seeing a parade of temporary managers pass through our ED over the last 7 years.

Now, what I have found is that while most of the staff has been supportive and helpful. Some of them are constantly pushing the limits of what's acceptable and then daring me to do anything about it.

I took a slight pay-cut ( no shift diff/no overtime/) to take this job. I am at work 6 days a week ( from 3-12 hours shifts) now and was happy to do it. If I don't do well at this job, there is doubt that I will be able to return to the floor ( our admin frowns on this). So, this was a big risk for my career and lifestyle. I know that these are all typical complaints of nurse managers.

Nurses and managers need to be empathetic to one another. I am finding that management views the nurses as money-hungry, lazy and apathetic. While staff sees management as frivolous, incompetant and heartless. I am a little discouraged that there is so little understanding between the two factions.

How do you rise above this and not get caught-up in the "nurse hating" of management or allow yourself to be a victim of a group of nurses bent on breaking you down?

Thanks for letting me vent!:bluecry1:

Sorry you have decided to step down from the unit managers position. I know the unit will miss you. I wish you luck in your new position and hope the teaching is something you can do soon.

I am a nurse in management. I am very intersted in all your posts. I must say that I too work more hours than I should and am payed less due to shift diff, OT etc. That said I think it is important that we find a way to be managers and still have a life. If we don't we will not continue to attract bright talented people into our ranks. Only an insane individual would be chomping at the bit to take some of the jobs you describe. The best nurse manager IMHO is the one who can be relaxed and happy and who's unit operates seamlessly whether she or he is physically there. Just my 2 cents.

EEYORE :)

Specializes in Cardiovascular.

I have been in management for a little over a year and am finding the posts in this thread very helpful. I have to admit, I am beginning to wonder what I have gotten myself in to?! I love this role - but the divisiveness between staff and administration and all of the gossip that goes with it is becoming exhausting! It doesn't matter that I just worked two twelve hour shifts over the weekend to make up for sick calls (3 RN sick calls on ONE shift alone), it doesn't matter that I hear from the staff how tired I seem to look, it doesn't seem to matter that they see me here long hours every day - during the week and sometimes on weekends. It doesn't matter that I haven't called in sick once since I have had this position. I could go on and on. What does seem to matter is that is if anyone has a bad day (which means busy day with patients and staffing), it is managements fault.

Even though I have my doubts ... I have to say, that I have never found another position so challenging, rewarding and motivating. It has been one of the reasons that I have gone back to school to get my MSN. Even though sometimes I want to run out of the place and never come back - it hasn't "licked" me yet and I hope that I can turn this challenge around. I am hoping that I am going to gleen information from some of the posts here that will help me to improve things on my unit. One of the most amazing things I am finding is the amount of gossip and "meanness" that I hear about. I guess as staff nurse, I would come in, do my job, go home and didn't "notice" it as much. It just amazes me in the things that I hear about different situations that seem to get more embelished as they go round the rumor mill.

I think overall, my unit does have a good group of people - so my goal is to try to build up the positives and try to work on the negatives.

Are there any of you who manage a group of people where there is mutual respect between staff and management? Where management and staff sees each other in roles that are different, yet vital to the work of the unit? Is there anyone that has done something that they found was successful to bring this change about? I would love to hear about it!

Specializes in LTC.

I was a unit manager of a medicare unit in a LTC facility for 4 years. I was responsible for over 35 nurses and CNAs. I was literally on call 24/7. When my phone rang, if I didn't answer for whatever reason, I had to explain to the DON why. I couldn't take vacations or time off unless I made arrangements to cover my unit --myself. I was responsible to cover ALL call ins on my unit, nurses and CNAs. The endless meetings! The unnecessary phone calls in the middle of the night from my nurses who seem to have forgotton they went to nursing school just as I did, the politics involved-fair and unfair, dealing with state surveyors asking you to do unrealistic things and perform miracles, dealing with families and their guilt-ridden complaints. I HAD to step down to save my sanity and to save my love of nursing. But to have to think about the job 24/7 was leading me to BURNOUT.

Specializes in Nursing Education.
I was a unit manager of a medicare unit in a LTC facility for 4 years. I was responsible for over 35 nurses and CNAs. I was literally on call 24/7. When my phone rang, if I didn't answer for whatever reason, I had to explain to the DON why. I couldn't take vacations or time off unless I made arrangements to cover my unit --myself. I was responsible to cover ALL call ins on my unit, nurses and CNAs. The endless meetings! The unnecessary phone calls in the middle of the night from my nurses who seem to have forgotton they went to nursing school just as I did, the politics involved-fair and unfair, dealing with state surveyors asking you to do unrealistic things and perform miracles, dealing with families and their guilt-ridden complaints. I HAD to step down to save my sanity and to save my love of nursing. But to have to think about the job 24/7 was leading me to BURNOUT.

This is a pretty old post, but I am glad you joined the discussion. I have been out of management for several years now and have to say it was probably one of the best decisions I made. I still work for the same hospital. Interesting point, during the last several years that I have been out of management, anytime there is turnover in a management position, they call me to sit as the interim manager until they hire someone. Most of the time I will do the termporary thing to help out. But, everytime I do it, it reminds me why I am happy just working the floor.

Best of luck to you as you in whatever it is you decide to do!

Patrick, First I want to thank you for your informative posts esp about hppd. It helped me tremendously. I left my managment role in November because I was totally exhausted and burned out. I know how you feel. It saddens me that this has to happen. Best of luck to you, dear. Enjoy your sleep and actual days off!!!

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