Bad experience with previous manager

[smrfett76]

Ok, I just wanted to take the time to vent and see if anyone else has had a similar situation. I worked at a hospital for almost 3 years on the same floor. I was well liked by my peers and supervisors. I recieved greeat reviews and had a wonderful attendance record. Everything seemed fine until the new manager came in. She started in Feb 2006. She always came off as being very judgemental and interrogating to most everyone I spoke to. At one point I thought that I would like to stay on the floor as a new grad because I loved my job and my patients, so I applied for the new grad internship to start in January 2007. When I mentioned off hand that I had applied and had not heard anything about an interview, she mentioned that there were no internships in January on my floor but that she would see what she could do. This was in November. (She had told me in Sept that she wanted me to stay after I graduated.) She then asked me why I hadn't said something sooner and if I thought she was hard to come to. I made the mistake of being honest and told her yes. That she intimidated me and I was scared to say anything. Needless to say our conversation went on for over 90 minutes and she appoligized for coming across so harshly. I thought everything was ok. (FYI- our floor was speaking to HR 1:1 regarding decreased morale coinciding with the new manager hire.) In December I was told that she wanted me to stay on as a tech, with an RN license??? She told me I could ask her director if she could make an exception and add an internship spot for me. I did and her boss said ok, if it was ok with her. The next week I was told that they had decided to not hire any new grads and I was stuck in my tech job. I gave a 3 week notice and left on what I thought was good terms.

Fast forward a few months. I am applying for internships, studying for boards, ect. I still have a very good friend who works on the floor who mentioned me for the June internship. The manager then said that she had not received my application. So I called the nurse recruiter who very abruptly informed me that she believed that the manager would refuse to interview me because of our "history." I called HR and was reassured that I was rehirable on their end.

Needless to say I have accepted a job closer to home and start my internship in June. I do still love that old hospital and would like to return someday, but feel that I have bees branded a "bad seed" without just cause. I keep thinking that I have done something wrong and feel awful. I don't think I should have been honest, even though it was done very respectfully. What would you do?

[TRAMA1RN]

Been there done that! The only thing that can help is time away, until the manager is no longer there. I was actually fired after 4 years at an ER, I workeda at a place that was non union and they can do whatever they like. I grew up very conservative and never thought I would be pro union but having been involved in something very similar to you, (though I am a very experienced nurse) I now work for a union employer.

[TazziRN, RN]

You would probably not be hired back to that floor as long as she is still there but nothing says you could not return on another floor.

[Agnus]

Ok I'm confused why do you want to work for this manager? From what you describe I do not get why you think this would be a good place for you to be.

[Daytonite, BSN, RN]

smrfett76. . .if there is anything i have learned over my years of working as a nurse it is that as people come and go, the nursing team changes depending on what the new person has to add (or subtract!) from the team. unfortunately, with this new manager coming onto your old unit it's never going to be the same. and, even if she eventually leaves, which is likely, and you go back there in 3, 5, or even 10 years from now, it is never going to be the same place it was as when you worked there. this is life. all i can say is that you need to pick up your happy memories and move on. working at other places is a good thing anyway. you will meet new people, get different and new viewpoints on things, and see other ways of doing nursing stuff. this is how you will blossom. so, i say start your new internship at that job closer to home in june, have fun learning new things there, make new friends and thank goodness you didn't burn your bridge at the old hospital. maybe someday you can go back to the old place.

as far as this manager is concerned, i have a few things to say. jack nicholson said in a few good men, "you can't handle the truth!" and, this manager certainly couldn't. why she even asked to be told the truth is strange. maybe she thought it was the right thing to do. maybe her manager suggested she do it. but, for whatever reason, she certainly didn't handle the information very well. she's not a very honest person.

from my world experience i'm going to suggest that her problems are just starting. she got her manager job in february of 2006 which means she probably got her 6-month evaluation in august which means by september the defecation was hitting the ventilation which is when all this turmoil between you and her started. if she can't handle the truth, what else can't she handle? hopefully the director is asking the same question. it will be interesting to see how long she lasts as a manager on that unit, especially since i think, based on the timeline, that someone who is managing her has already pointed out her flaws. her way of dealing with it shows immaturity and her reaction to whatever you said to her was not only taken with anger, but she turned around and made it into a personal vendetta against you. that's not an indication of someone who is willing to change their behavior. i have a list of desired characteristics employers want to see in employees and three of them are (1) positive attitude (2) capacity to learn and (3) the desire to develop professionally. there are others that probably apply here as well, but these three kind of stick out at me as i'm looking at my list. her reaction to what you told her was negative, it seems like she didn't learn anything from it and she sure didn't develop her managerial skills from it by going around to the nurse recruiter and bad-mouthing you. she did that out of spite in a deliberate act of misusing what she thought was her authority and power to attempt to make sure the nurse recruiter never hired you. that was vicious and childish. she better watch herself because she can get into a whole lot of serious trouble if she does back-stabbing stuff like this to the wrong persons. that is an abuse of authority and power and i sincerely hope that the nurse recruiter told the director of nursing that she did this. my guess is she waited until after her yearly evaluation to rag on you to the recruiter because she's been in the job for a year now and things would have heated up for her a lot more by the one year evaluation if her manager thought she hadn't made some improvement. she's probably sneaky and good at hiding her faults. now, if you want to heat up your bridge a little. . .a letter or call to the director of nursing or hr who was investigating her. . .there's no way of knowing if it is going to make a difference. . .consider this, too. if the powers know she is like this and continue to leave her in this position, what can you say about them? in a case like that, you're best out of there.

good luck on your new job!

[smrfett76]

Thank you so much for the advice. The only reason I was considering going back there was that I had heard that things had gotten better. She was not riding the techs like she was before and had seemed to soften up a little. Plus since I had been there for almost 3 years it was my comfort zone and I figured it would make an easy transition. I loved the patients and my coworkers and was well liked by my peers.

Also, I was able to get an interview with another floor through another recruiter, but he knows my old manager so I am sure that he has talked to her. The interview went very well, but I have heard nothing so I am sure that she said something to him.

[stillpressingon]

Been there done that! The only thing that can help is time away, until the manager is no longer there. I was actually fired after 4 years at an ER, I workeda at a place that was non union and they can do whatever they like. I grew up very conservative and never thought I would be pro union but having been involved in something very similar to you, (though I am a very experienced nurse) I now work for a union employer.

Yeah, it's amazing how pro-union we become after a bitter experience, eh? I never thought I'd actually get to a place where I CAN'T WAIT to be union!