As some of you may know, I work in a SNF with three units divided among two managers; myself and my colleague.
Lately, I've been getting asked many times to help out with my colleague's patients, even though my colleague is readily available. When I ask them if they've approached her, they state, "No, she's mean, can you help?" or "I didn't go to her because she's very unapproachable."
While I don't mind helping out--especially if she is gone or busy--this often means taking on an increased workload that is actually her responsibility.
Wondering if this is something you would address? What would you say to employees who persistently approach you, even after redirection to the right manager? Would you bring forth concerns to your supervisor, and potentially ask them to speak to ypur colleague?
Again, I want people to feel like they can approach me for help. Certainly, if the other manager just isn't available, I'll step in. At the same time, I feel they need to be able to reach out to both of us, not just one.
I am surprised nobody has said the obvious yet. Redirect those staff coming to you to the right manager. A simple "you need to ask so and so about that resident" works. Unless of course it's a situation that truly does require immediate assistance in which case anybody who is available should step in as needed.
Yes, I've been doing this a bit more. Occasionally, this has actually worked. However, sometimes I'll hear that my colleague is in a bad mood, so they haven't reached out to her. In those cases, I'll say they should still ask her first, but if they don't get anywhere, they can ask me again if they absolutely need something. In other cases, they'll tell me they've tried to reach out to the other manager multiple times, but she's nowhere to be found. Sometimes this is the truth--no one knows where she is, so depending on the circumstances, I'll just step in (e.g. obtaining orders for a high blood sugar that needs to be corrected in a timely manner). Other times, my colleague has told me that some of these nurses are lying; they never tried reaching out to her, either in person or by phone. I suspect in some instances this might be case. However, since I have no way of knowing the actual truth, I'm just trying to take things on a case-by-case basis and step in only when/if needed.
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
On 2/1/2022 at 7:40 PM, JBMmom said:
I don't know of any entry level nursing programs that provide leadership training. And even those that go on for master's degrees in areas like leadership and executive management don't get the practical skills necessary for the job. Conflict resolution, having difficult conversations when necessary, how to really lead so that people feel supported but empowered- these are important leadership skills but are not taught. When I graduated, I worked in long term care for five years. I went back to speak to fourth semester students getting ready to graduate with their ADN. I warned them that just because they had their RN, facilities would tell them they were qualified to take a supervisory role without ever working on the floors. These nurses sometimes were successful, but very often they struggled with how to make clinical decisions with no practical clinical experience. They were often not accepted by staff that knew they did not have the skills needed to do the job well. It's unfortunate for the nurses put in these positions, and their coworkers and patients. But, often facilities only need to check their boxes and put a "RN" in supervisory roles, they don't really care how well it works out in the end.
It's good that you recognize where you could use some additional reading or training. Glad that NRSKarenRN had some good resources for you, good luck!
We had a leadership class and clinical for my BSN.
Absolutely take it up the chain to your manager. A good manager would counsel her & if necessary show her the door. I've worked with my fair share of bullies and they continue until there are consequences.
I would not confront her directly or alone. At the minimum you can ask for Employee Assistance to attend the meeting.
I agree. While I acknowledge that part of being a manager sometimes involves difficult conversations, I'm uncertain that this individual would be receptive or willing to listen to any feedback. Others have told me that when they do reach out to her, she is quick to blow them off. Occasionally, I've experienced this myself, in that she is sometimes quick to cut off and end a conversation. Also, as I am her colleague and not her supervisor, I am not sure it is my place to do so in the first place.
Her intentions are good, in that she wants a well-run unit that ensures residents are receiving good, quality proper care. She is a highly strong, knowledgeable clinical nurse. However, her need for excessive control (e.g. everything that happens needs to go through her first, no one but her should be contacting the providers, rearranging pre-set assignments to meet her preferences, etc.), being prone to "blow up" when asked a question, frequent unavailability (in that she can't be found for long periods of time or just isn't at work altogether) and picking unnecessary battles get in the way of her good intentions. Those are my observations, but again, I feel they would be better addressed coming from her supervisor, rather than just a colleague. My dilemma is deciding the best way to bring this forth to our supervisor in a way that addresses the problem without demeaning her.
At the same time, I don't think any approaches to upper management will go anywhere. While the floor staff tend to find me more approachable, I believe that upper management respects my colleague more and prefers her over me. It could be a misinterpretation on my part, but I've noticed they tend to be more willing to help her out and listen to her. Any conversation I have with them usually lasts only 5 minutes, while I've noticed they'll make 15-20 minutes of time for her. They also seem to do a better job of finding her help when she needs it, while I'm pretty much on my own whenever we're short staffed.
As a side note, they are going to be assigning me more LTC and hospice patients, while she'll have strictly subacute rehab patients. It sounds as if they are needing more rooms for the LTC/Hospice patients and my unit's rooms have better window views, but it does make me wonder.
So while I still plan on bringing this forward, I'm not confident it will go anywhere. For some reason, my superiors respect my colleague more, and I'm not sure what I can do to change that. This isn't to say that I don't want them to respect her, but I would like to be seen as being on an equal-level, if that makes any sense, and I somehow suspect we aren't.
My colleague does have a stronger, more assertive personality than I do. It's possible that my supervisors like that about her. Even though I'm an RN and she's an LPN, it's possible they want her to have more of the rehab patients because she is stronger than I am.
Or it could be that the assignment of the LTC and hospice patients really doesn't have anything to do with me or my colleague as nurses and has everything to do with location. Both of us are qualified to take care of these patients
I think it's a perfect opportunity for you to set boundaries. Not sure on how are you gonna execute it exactly, but that is the only way, or you'll gonna end up with more responsibility on your plate.
At the same time, I don't think any approaches to upper management will go anywhere. While the floor staff tend to find me more approachable, I believe that upper management respects my colleague more and prefers her over me. It could be a misinterpretation on my part, but I've noticed they tend to be more willing to help her out and listen to her. Any conversation I have with them usually lasts only 5 minutes, while I've noticed they'll make 15-20 minutes of time for her. They also seem to do a better job of finding her help when she needs it, while I'm pretty much on my own whenever we're short staffed.
As a side note, they are going to be assigning me more LTC and hospice patients, while she'll have strictly subacute rehab patients. It sounds as if they are needing more rooms for the LTC/Hospice patients and my unit's rooms have better window views, but it does make me wonder.
It could indeed be a misinterpretation on your part. Have you considered the possibility that upper management seems to take more time with her and find more help for her not because they respect her more than you but because she needs it more than you?
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SilverBells, BSN
1,108 Posts
Yes, I've been doing this a bit more. Occasionally, this has actually worked. However, sometimes I'll hear that my colleague is in a bad mood, so they haven't reached out to her. In those cases, I'll say they should still ask her first, but if they don't get anywhere, they can ask me again if they absolutely need something. In other cases, they'll tell me they've tried to reach out to the other manager multiple times, but she's nowhere to be found. Sometimes this is the truth--no one knows where she is, so depending on the circumstances, I'll just step in (e.g. obtaining orders for a high blood sugar that needs to be corrected in a timely manner). Other times, my colleague has told me that some of these nurses are lying; they never tried reaching out to her, either in person or by phone. I suspect in some instances this might be case. However, since I have no way of knowing the actual truth, I'm just trying to take things on a case-by-case basis and step in only when/if needed.