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[RN1982]

I'm sick of management playing favorites. I've been on my unit for two years and there is a nurse with less time on the unit than me and they are going to let her be charge. It's ridiculous. There are other people on my unit who would be more deserving of a position. But whatever. I can't trust management anymore. Oh yeah, and they get rid of anyone who says anything "negative" ...an agency nurse who is a very experienced ICU nurse who speaks his mind and points out what is lacking in our staff and things they can improve on....they get rid of him but they will keep all the incompetent nurses just because "they are nice"....I'm slightly depressed..

If this is what nursing has come down to, then we are going to hell in a hand basket..

[country mom]

I see where to OP is going. Hope it changes at some point for the better.

We had a similiar problem also.

Luckily everyone loved our NM but she had a following of nurses.(They were good and most were preceptors but it felt like a sorority) When the clique dispersed and the NM went to another floor, everthing resolved.

Our problem was not so much a person getting a position that was not qualified but getting a cold shoulder and being intentionally left out of work related gatherings because of not being a part of the "group".

Sorry had to vent a little too.

A prime example of lateral aggression, aka "workplace bullying", a severe and pervasive problem in our industry, I'm afraid. All the more reason why any leader, including charge nurses, must be selected carefully and with great consideration to leadership skills. Any less does a disservice to the entire staff. Great thread, btw.

[highlandlass1592, BSN, RN]

OK. I am compelled to put my two cents in on this comment. I am in upper management (ADON) at a LTC facility. Many times floor nurses who have horrible attitudes, a horrible work ethic, and very bad communication skills are not promoted to management positions for exactly that reason, not because of a lack of experience. Experience is needed to make a good manager or charge nurse, but many other skills are also necessary. It only takes one negative, unprofessional, and unreliable department head to make a facility or unit fail. I understand that part of my responsibility as a Department head means (among other things) I may have to work long hours and deal with many unpleasant issues. During state surveys I am the one who had to answer difficult questions concerning floor nurses and worked (5) 16 hour days in a row (with out getting paid a dime extra) while the floor nurses worked their normal scheduled hours. During the hurricane the DON and I worked 48 hours straight to orchestrate the addition of 98 displaced residents; meanwhile I did not know if my house would still be standing when I went home. When a floor nurse leaves her shift at the end of the day, she leaves her shift. I, on the other hand, get calls from staff all hours of the night and on weekends. Again, I understand and except that this is a part of my job. It takes everyone i.e. floor nurses, charge nurses, cnas, housekeeping etc. to make a facility successful. I am so thankful for the wonderful kind caring individuals that I manage. Sooooo when you see your department heads going out to lunch, or maybe getting some kind of other perk, just remember their job my entail many, many, duties that a floor nurse may not even know about.

Ok definitely have to reply to your post. You speak of the long hours you work, how your nurses can leave at the end of their shifts while your responsibilities carry over 24/7 (my paraphrasing not a direct quote). You speak of your sacrifices regarding working long days during a state survey while your nurses didn't have to work beyond their regularly scheduled shifts. You also speak of sacrifices you made during a hurricane period (I'm guessing you went on lockdown due to the weather...based upon my experiences in hurricane alley). While I commend you for your work ethic, what you are describing is a part of your position. I would be interested in speaking with the nurses who staff at your facility. How many times have they worked short to see that care is continued?? How many times have nurses come in extra to help out? How about supplies, are they always plentiful? These things and many many others of course impact how able your staff is to carry out their jobs.

I guess what bothered me most about your post is that you speak of department heads getting perks and staff nurses not knowing all about what goes on behind the scenes in those management positions (again, my paraphrasing...not a diret quote) so those perks are deserved. While it may NOT be the case in your case, I've worked under too many managers who abuse their staff to the point that mass exodus takes place. Bonuses for coming in under budget forcing staff to work short and sacrifice basic care, displaying a lack of caring attitude re: what the staff is experiencing, not even having a basic understanding of what staff goes through to provide care, these are some basic points many managers I've worked under exhibit. I would submit to you many members of management have no clue what the staff nurses endure...why don't they deserve perks as well? Lunches, a pat on the back, a thanks for a job well done...all are deserved for the staff nurses as well. I just have serious reservations regarding your arguement.

[kajunnurse]

In response to your statement "While I commend you for your work ethic, what you are describing is a part of your position" , my reply is, yes I understand and accept the fact that long hours etc. is part of my position (and I repeatedly stated this in my statement). I agree that indeed there are managers who are unfair and promote individuals based on friendship or other unfair reasons. This is definitely a sign of a poor leadership and it is wrong and unfair. That kind of leadership builds resentment and bitterness from the staff they manage (as evidence by all the many statements posted in this thread) . I have worked on both sides of the fence. I have been a floor nurse and I have been a department head. I will be honest, I use to complain about the DON and ADON. Until I walked in their shoes I could not fully comprehend the many aspect of what a DON and ADON are responsible for. I hear nurses complain about department heads getting little perks all the time (and in the grand scheme of things I consider a $10 dollar lunch a little perk). I would like to share an experience I had with a nurse who worked in my facility. She had a habit of making comments about the "perks" department heads get. She worked the day shift (7am-3pm). She made a comment to me one day when I was leaving for the day (at 2pm) that it must be nice to he leaving so early. Little did she know I had been at the facility since 2 am. I was called in the middle of the night to handle a personal emergency with one of the night shift nurses. I kindly explained to her how long I had been at the facility. This is what I mean by sometimes things go on that everyone is not privy to because simply it is none of their business. Working short staffed and low on supplies is wrong and personally that sounds like a place I would not work at. Our supplies are plentiful and our nursing staff rarely works short staffed. In the event of a call-in, our nursing department heads work the floor. So the nurses who work under me ( if they are honest) will tell you that they do not have to deal with the issues you mentioned. Everything is not perfect though. In the jungle we call the work place many things are unfair and just plain wrong. Many facilities are only about the bottom line and unfortunately when that happens, everyone suffers. All I can do is try to treat everyone the way I would want to be treated, but I simply can not help if some interprets something the wrong way. In a perfect world everything and everyone would be fair. I am sorry for your bad experiences.

[EverNurseRN]

i'm sick of management playing favorites.

i used to work with this one nurse who was absolutely terrifying with residents..i mean we're talking total moron i wouldn't trust with my dog type bad...i won't go into details b/c it's irrelevant but i will say that i finally figured out why she still had a job despite all of the complaints and write ups on her: she was buddies with management.

office politics are everywhere you go but ethically speaking, i don't see how some nurses let others get away with things that are dangerous to patients just because they're buddy buddy. i am good friends with a couple of the cnas i work with, we work out together and our kids go to the same school, but they know that business is business and we keep our personal life seperate. i really peeved one of them good one night when i had to make a judgment call that she wasn't happy with, but she respected it and we remained friends. i wouldn't want to be friends with someone who expected me to cut them slack and compromise patient care just cuz we're buddies...

[Jules A, MSN]

I am wondering...objectively speaking, are the nurses that are more experienced also better* nurses?

Good question and I have found that yes, more experienced nurses are better on the floor generally speaking. Not in every case of course but years of experience, repeatedly doing the same tasks and seeing the same variety of patient presentations does cement in a fair amount of skill and intuition even in a dolt. The old timers can also be tired, burned out and jaded but even still I'd have to say that their skill set is superior and preferrable especially for the complicated cases. New grads come in with all levels of competency also but without the actual time on the floor they just are not as competent...yet, imo.

[whipping girl in 07, RN]

Ya know, where I used to work, everyone wanted to be a charge nurse until they actually had to be in charge! There were days we'd fight over who had to be in charge. There were a few who liked it and were actually good at it. One of them was a total byotch but she was very good at the charge role and while I personally *HATED* her, I never minded when she was in charge because she was always fair with assignments, she stood up to the nursing supervisor when necessary, and she made sure the aides did their work instead of hiding out. She helped me out one time when I needed to leave because my child was in the ER and she even let me leave at 12:30 on Christmas because she thought I'd gotten screwed because I'd worked the year before but had to go home sick so they made me work the next year too. There were several who liked being in charge but were terrible at it, but most of us didn't really want to do it, but we'd take our turn and we weren't too awful. Truthfully, it's usually a thankless job that is not worth the extra $0.50 or 1.00 they throw at you.

If you are truly interested in becoming a charge nurse, ask your manager what sorts of things you should do to give yourself the advantage. If it's truly political, decide if you want to play the game. I am not a fan of politics, but the reality is they are everywhere and you can either play the game or suffer the consequences of not playing along. Is it fair? No. Is life fair? Generally not.

Unfortunately, if the tide is generally against you, you may have no choice but to leave and go to a different unit or even a different facility if you want to move up.

Hang in there!