A nurse for 9 months and already offered a supervisor postion....scary!

YellowFinchFan · Mar 17, 2008

I was offered a charge nurse position in small sub-acute facility even though I was completely inexperienced! It was for a lousy shift and low pay, but I didn't mind that because it was a nice, well-staffed facility. What I did mind was that they seemed to only want a warm body with a RN license and didn't seem concerned that I wouldn't know up from down for who know how long while technically in charge of the LPNs and all of the patients in that facility. The weekend charge had been hired as a new grad and had managed but I just wasn't comfortable with being the go-to person at the facility when I was so inexperienced myself. It's just crazy that it can be so easy to get hired to a position that you may not be qualified or ready for!!!

It's unreal how bad it is - the nurse mgrs/asstsmgrs/charge RNS all burn out for good reason - horrible pay horrible stress (but not quite as bad as having patients all going south) but still :no:

classicdame, MSN, EdD · Mar 17, 2008

well, I will probably get flamed over this but here is my philosophy: Management and floor nursing have similar qualities but are NOT the same. Why do you have to excel at nursing to be a good manager? Some nurses are NEVER good managers (and vice versa). If your supervisor recognized traits in you that could result in a positive career change, I would consider it. Remember, every job is temporary. Some last longer than others. You can always go BACK to doing what you did before.

GadgetRN71, ASN, RN · Mar 18, 2008

I'm in a kind of similar situation...I took a job at my hospital and didn't realize until I was working there that I'd be running the board on my shift. (evenings)When I got this job, I had been a nurse for a year. Had I known of the circumstances, I would have taken the day position instead but I decided to see if I could do it. Thankfully, my boss is well aware that I'm still relatively "new" and I get plenty of support from her and most other people. It has given me a stronger backbone too.

I think it certainly isn't the ideal, having a new grad in charge but I think in the right environment, with the right support system in place, it could work.

nurseklw72 · Mar 18, 2008

I was offered a med/surg supervisor position after being a nurse for about 3 years. Like you, I was flattered and jumped on the offer thinking about money and better hours. I thought since I had been a charge nurse for 3 years and could lead the unit without a problem, this wouldn't be that big of a change. Boy was I wrong! I was made the supervisor of a floor that had serious problems. Half of the staff had already quit leaving the floor seriously under-staffed with no float pool or registry to pull from. I had one aide for 20 patients on day shift only. I had 2 nurses maybe each shift if we were lucky. I ended up working the floor every day because I knew it was too much on the staff. On top of that, I had my supervisor duties such as staffing, payroll, scheduling, evaluations, etc. I didn't get a raise and was actually making less money as a med surg supervisor than I did working as a charge nurse on a critical care unit because of critical unit differentials. I only stayed in the position 2 months before I just had to get out because I was informed that my unit was more important than my home life (I'm a single mom) and I needed to work a 16 hour shift if necessary.

I spent a long time thinking I was a failure and simply not management material. I finally realized that the administration in my facility is completely unrealistic and will throw anyone under a bus if they can.

bollweevil · Mar 18, 2008

Please learn something very quickly - MONEY ISN'T EVERYTHING! Particularly in nursing. Also, when you take a supervisory position that says you have great hours like M-F, etc. - don't count on it! As a supervisor you will spend more time at work than the staff working OT - at least you will if you are a good supervisor.
You were asked to take this for several reasons:
1. Your age - you have a little bit of life experience compared to a 21 year old RN. The maturity level is better than a new but younger nurse and staff respond better to older nurses being their supervisors than ones that are still kids.
2. You are still a newbie and thus more prone to be flattered by the request and take the job. More experienced nurses know better and run the other direction when they were asked to take the job. I can almost guarantee that a more experience nurse, or 2 or 3, were asked to take the job before you were but they know the game and being a supervisor isn't fun and it is even more stressful than being staff.
When you become a supervisor, you can also lose some protection that staff nurses have. You will be held more accountable, even though the understaffing and poor staff education isn't your fault.
Get some more experience before you step into a position like this. It isn't all it's cracked up to be. Why do you think that hospitals go through supervisors/managers like kleenex? Only the crappy managers stay long term. They are the only ones who are willing to put themselves in the line of fire because they will always do what the facility wants but not necessarily what is right or safe. Thus the hospital is willing to defend them in court. Good managers will have the hospital sell them out so those managers leave before a lawsuit happens to them. Or they get so burnt out that they simply can't function in that role anymore (speaking from experience). Sorry to burst your bubble of flattery but you need to learn a bit more how it works and not go walking into that trap blindly.

It's not necessarily true that others declined the job. Maybe her boss just liked her attributes and thought she was the one best able to do the job.

To OP: Make a list of pros and cons. Ask to know more about the job, such as the pay, salaried or hourly, 24/7 responsibility, are you expected to work when no one else will, problems and good points the new floor has, the lowdown on the staff there - their strengths and drawbacks, training for doing the budget, stuff like that. Don't turn it down cold. It might turn out to be good. Ask if you can try it out before committing, maybe for 3 or 4 weeks. Get it in writing that you are only visiting and have the right to return to your present position if you find the new job just isn't for you.

How do you feel about being the boss, never mind that you are a new nurse? How do think you will handle jealousy of older or more experienced nurses, if you should happen to encounter it? One way is just to ask the jealous person why he or she didn't take the job. If you think you would enjoy making the schedule, going to lots of meetings, being a company woma, that is, protecting the boss, not siding with the workers but still keeping them reasonably happy, wrking M-F, well, hey, you might want to at least explore this offer. Good luck with your decision.

lizzieB05 · Mar 20, 2008

It's not necessarily true that others declined the job. Maybe her boss just liked her attributes and thought she was the one best able to do the job.
To OP: Make a list of pros and cons. Ask to know more about the job, such as the pay, salaried or hourly, 24/7 responsibility, are you expected to work when no one else will, problems and good points the new floor has, the lowdown on the staff there - their strengths and drawbacks, training for doing the budget, stuff like that. Don't turn it down cold. It might turn out to be good. Ask if you can try it out before committing, maybe for 3 or 4 weeks. Get it in writing that you are only visiting and have the right to return to your present position if you find the new job just isn't for you.
How do you feel about being the boss, never mind that you are a new nurse? How do think you will handle jealousy of older or more experienced nurses, if you should happen to encounter it? One way is just to ask the jealous person why he or she didn't take the job. If you think you would enjoy making the schedule, going to lots of meetings, being a company woma, that is, protecting the boss, not siding with the workers but still keeping them reasonably happy, wrking M-F, well, hey, you might want to at least explore this offer. Good luck with your decision.

Thank you for the positivity. I did decline the position simply because I dont feel ready and I have seen the stress in causes. I do feel like someday I would like to do more....just not sure what that means for me yet. When I was asked to fill the position I did ask my supervisor how many turned it down before she came to me. She said she thought of me first because she knew I was looking for 8 hour days instead of 12. Our floor is one with high turnover mostly because people get a years experience and then go to ICU, ER, or on to CRNA school. There are only 6 other nurses who have been there longer than me. So, what she says may be true...who knows. But I appreciate all of the insight.