Do your nursing supervisors do anything?

oldiebutgoodie, RN · Apr 15, 2008

I have a question. What do your nursing supervisors do for you and your floors? Do they merely walk around looking cool,having the title,not wanting to be bothered? Or do they actually still do some nursing things? I was just wondering if they are all washed up has beens who can't handle the floor anymore or if any of them actually still do some nursing things to help the staff out in a pinch.

At my hospital, they either lock themselves up in their offices, or they walk around looking for "transgressions" committed by the nurses, who are usually up to their ears in work. Heaven forbid they should lend a hand.

Another reason I no longer work the floor. As I have said before, floor nursing is like having a test with 3000 questions, and if you miss one, you flunk.

Oldiebutgoodie

mianders, RN · Apr 15, 2008

It depends on what you mean by supervisor. The clinical managers do help out in a pinch. The directors spend most of their time in meetings. You might see them breeze through for a minute once or twice a week.

AuntieRN · Apr 15, 2008

Some are better then others. We have a couple who also work in ICU or the ER. They will come help move pts if they need to be moved from one area to another. you can get them to start IVs and stuff. If we have a pt going bad they will come help with that. I have actually never have one not help when I have called them. Think we are one of the few lucky hospitals. Heck even my nurse manager will come out and help if you ask her to.

Quickbeam, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2008

From tirednursedude:

I was just wondering if they are all washed up has beens who can't handle the floor anymore

What scares me..... really scares me..... is the nurse supervisor who has never actually practiced nursing! I had many of those in my day. Maybe it is better now, I don't know. Throughout the 80's and 90's I had a number of nurse supervisors who had shot straight through an MSN program and then took mgt jobs without any clinical time.

Right now I have a supervisor who is a non-nurse and she is 1000% better at understanding my (community health) professional issues than any of those former managers. Maybe because she listens.

Blackcat99 · Apr 15, 2008

Sometimes the nursing supervisor does great and helps out. On other days, she bugs me all day telling me to do this and that. :bugeyes:Of course, with her bugging me all day I can't get my own work done and then I get stuck doing overtime. Of course, when I do overtime then the administrator gets mad because they have to pay me overtime. :banghead:

mamason · Apr 15, 2008

I have a question. What do your nursing supervisors do for you and your floors? Do they merely walk around looking cool,having the title,not wanting to be bothered? Or do they actually still do some nursing things? I was just wondering if they are all washed up has beens who can't handle the floor anymore or if any of them actually still do some nursing things to help the staff out in a pinch.

The supervisors I have been in contact with are very supportive with our unit. They are there in a jiffy if you need help with something. They listen to your needs and take them into consideration when placing patients or trouble shooting. I find them very helpful.

RNperdiem, RN · Apr 15, 2008

Probably like any other population you will see a bell curve of a small number of exceptionally good supervisiors at one end of the spectrum, a small number of really bad ones at the other end, and most of the rest in between the two extremes.

How you feel about it also depends on your expectations.

K98 · Apr 15, 2008

Ours are pretty good about helping out, sometimes they are assigned the same as the staff nurses. Our unit Director and our unit Educator also take assignments from time to time. Thank heavens our supervision is not overbearing. Working in SICU is stressful enough.

hikernurse · Apr 15, 2008

Ours are good. They work on the floor usually once a week so they don't lose their skills. They will also serve as a resource when you have a problem. Maybe they fuss about it behind closed doors , but I've only seen them happy to jump in. I must admit, I've been very impressed, I know not all places are like this.

All of our supervisors have worked in our department as nurses for years so they understand what it's like.

getoverit, BSN, RN, EMT-P · Apr 15, 2008

we are so fortunate, our nurse manager (MSN, CCRN, etc) is the BEST!! He rarely ever passes up an occasion to turn things into a learning opportunity. there are times he comes up and says "i noticed your __ infusion was almost complete so I checked the orders and hung another bag." he helps us change linen. He works HARD to be an advocate for us to his supervisors.

I am here to say he is the best I've ever seen, and I've seen plenty that were awful. Took credit for things the hadn't done, sat in their office all the time, had no actual clue as to what was going on most of the time, tried to "help" with patient care and generally made things worse until they gave up and went back to their office, etc...the list goes on and I'm sure you guys have all seen the same thing.

emnicams · Apr 15, 2008

My director and clinical manager are AWESOME. They are 95% of why I chose the floor I did.

My director does stay in her office and meetings a lot, but, well, that's her job. :) She comes out frequently though to check on us, make sure everything is going smoothly, asking do we need help, she will answer call lights too. She is a patient advocate but she is also a nurse advocate. She will take patients if we are short on nurses.

My C.M. is rarely in her office. She is always walking around and asking if we need any help, and is eager to step in and do any nursing job, whether it's helping clean up a pt or starting an IV or pulling arterial lines. I love her! She is also an advocate for us and implemented self-scheduling on our floor (which is awesome, awesome, awesome...)

I can't imagine what it would be like to not have the resource of good management on a nursing floor. It's a very depressing thought.