Has this ever happened to you?

[Daisy Child]

i'm almost scared to even post this here, but i really need some advice. i have been a nurse on the l&d/mom-baby unit for 2 years. i've worked both units because, at one point, they were combined. our hospital delivers around 300 babies a month. we recently got a new nurse manager. she is over both units. she has come in and turned everything around. to say the least, employee morale is at the lowest it has ever been. slowly by slowly, she is taking away and changing everything. we just found out she has decided night nurses, who have been there for only 2 years, didn't receive the training she thinks they should have received. she is sending us to days to be trained again for 8 weeks. she thinks we will be able to learn new skills and be able to get to know the ob's. (apparently, we have a couple of doctors complaining that they don't know the night nurses and have trust issues with them. i think it is worth noting the ob's who have issues are only female ob's.)

let me also mention, we were all trained on days for 4 months and then trained on night for another month. in my opinion, if we didn't get to know the ob's in 4 months- how will we get to know them in 8 weeks?

some of these nurses have been nurses for 20-30 years in the ob field. (we only have 2 new grads.) this may not seem like a big deal to some, but it is a slap in the face to be told you aren't as competent because you are not a day shift nurse. with this change we will be losing our night shift dif's. that means our paychecks will be almost $300.00 short for 2 months. not to mention- the majorities are mothers and have childcare issues.. this has been one of the biggest strains in my nursing career. i have never had one complaint in the 2 years i've been there. how is this fair?

[iluvdetroit]

It sounds to me like she is trying to make a big impression and prove that she is "accomplishing" something in her new position and is more concerned about her career than how she is treating her staff. I have worked under supervisors like that. They rarely last, and when they leave, no one sheds any tears.

IDK what your options are in this situation, but no, it doesn't sound fair or necessary. And I think it's odd for those OBs to c/o "trust issues" with the night shift because they don't know you well enough. We all know that babies come at all hours of the day and night, so if anything, you would think that OBs would know the night shift nurses better than any other specialty area of physician. Something doesn't sound kosher here...

[nursinger]

Sounds like she's the one with the "trust" issues because SHE doesn't know you at all and yes, she is out to make a name for herself. We have one now that came in took over changed everything the way she wants it. No other unit does anything like we do and you can see that it's all about her "control issues". She's always patting herself on her back saying things like, "Aren't you glad I did this or that?" or "How wonderful am I for finding this?" 75% of the staff have put in for a transfer to other units, but of course no one is getting them. It's all about her and morale is lower than low.

[wooh, BSN, RN]

She's trying to look like she's doing something. And I'm sure her bosses will be uber-impressed with her, even though anyone with common sense knows it's stupid. And in this economy, when it's hard to walk, she can probably get away with it. The odd part is, every good manager knows to value their long-time nightshifters. It's a special breed that will work nights FOREVER. Maybe if you can come up with some studies on the dangers of rotating shifts, maybe convince risk mgmt that the hospital will be to blame when you all wreck your cars driving home after working those weird dayshift hours. :) It really sucks for y'all, maybe it won't actually materialize? (Has she given a plan as to how she's going to cover all those nightshifts while y'all are "orienting" on days? Maybe once the overtime budget required to cover those shifts gets seen by the bean counters, y'all won't have to do anything to nix it, they will!)

[Jolie, BSN]

I'm sorry for the upheaval in the unit.

I would ask that you keep your mind open to any suggestions she has for truly meaningful and helpful change.

In the meantime, try and ride this out. Chances are once she sees the logistical nightmare of trying to find night-shift coverage for those who are "orienting", this whole thing will go away.

If the docs need to establish rapport with the night shift nurses, invite them come in and sit with their laboring patients at night. They'll change their tunes, too.

[dscrn]

perhaps she doesn't want to alter her schedule...and yet, wants to see how nights function-of course, the point is moot...

[SunDazed, BSN, RN]

My situation is not exactly the same as yours, but our hospital hires, fires, rotates, redistributes unit directors faster than you would ever expect to see. There is little evidence of regard by administration, nursing or otherwise, that this is hard on the core nursing staff. New directors will spend an hour or two on the unit a couple of times and then decide they understand the issues and are ready to "fix" it all. If we do not let them change our schedules however it suits them with no notice or explanation then we are not responsive to change. We are negative. We are advised to not print the "published", aka approved, schedule when it is complete because it is subject to change. Literally, could change any time and we aren't going to notify you to look for changes. Seriously!?! I don't even have access to all the scheduling programs for work at home... so what... I should stop into work everyday to make sure my schedule hasn't changed?

It cracks me up. I would leave if I could... I can't. So I have to endure for a while longer. This hospital has a committee that meets to try to discuss ways to retain nurses... seriously? How about treating us like adults and/or professionals. How about some courtesy?

[janee214]

This sounds like something that should be brought to your nurse supervisor..remember, "chain of command"!

[fiveofpeep]

how inconsiderate of her. it sounds like she wants to make all these big changes but fails to see how they impact others

[PAROPPY, BSN, RN]

I was under the impression that babies were also born at night, or do the OB's not do the deliveries at night. Someone's out to make herself look like a force to be reckoned with.

[SunDazed, BSN, RN]

This sounds like something that should be brought to your nurse supervisor..remember, "chain of command"!

titles are deceiving... don't assume the chain is full of many links... some hospitals are creative in the use of titles.

[Daisy Child]

She's trying to look like she's doing something. And I'm sure her bosses will be uber-impressed with her, even though anyone with common sense knows it's stupid. And in this economy, when it's hard to walk, she can probably get away with it. The odd part is, every good manager knows to value their long-time nightshifters. It's a special breed that will work nights FOREVER. Maybe if you can come up with some studies on the dangers of rotating shifts, maybe convince risk mgmt that the hospital will be to blame when you all wreck your cars driving home after working those weird dayshift hours. :) It really sucks for y'all, maybe it won't actually materialize? (Has she given a plan as to how she's going to cover all those nightshifts while y'all are "orienting" on days? Maybe once the overtime budget required to cover those shifts gets seen by the bean counters, y'all won't have to do anything to nix it, they will!)

Those are some wonderful ideas!!! Her plan is to get volunteer's from day shift to come to nights for 8 weeks. She is going to rotate us out.. 3 at a time. So far she has had one Nurse volunteer and the Nurse is one who used to work nights. If she doesnt get more to volunteer they will be forced. She has really upset 95% of the entire unit. I'm going to do some research!