HELP should I step down???

Bird2 · Oct 15, 2005

Goodness sake your job does sound challenging and from the sound of your post you will probably make great improvements in time. My concern for you is your desire to continue your education and maintain such a time consuming job. I work in a management position for a LTC facility and I would not be able to commit to even one class at this time. If the NP education is your goal I would step down and not feel guilty about it. Good luck with your decision.

johnson0424 · Oct 15, 2005

Goodness sake your job does sound challenging and from the sound of your post you will probably make great improvements in time. My concern for you is your desire to continue your education and maintain such a time consuming job. I work in a management position for a LTC facility and I would not be able to commit to even one class at this time. If the NP education is your goal I would step down and not feel guilty about it. Good luck with your decision.

THanks,...Oh and to add to that I got the crappiest orientation and i dont even know where my policy book is...i am scared to go to floor nursing b/c i haven't done it in a while and i have such a take charge personality but i could maybe go into the charge nurse role. i love LTC and I had even thought about going back to the hospital but their shifts are 7a-7p and you dont get 40 hrs a week which i would need. right now even though i have the stress i have off the days i want to with my husband and their is some flexibility to the job as far as staffing goes but next fall i start my clinicals for school and i dont know what i am going to do then. i may stick with it till next fall but god i am such a nervous wreck and would like to enjoy the things in life...also the pay cut is an issue. i would be making $3.00 less an hour which comes to about 500 a month. i am so confused and i love the feeling of turning a unit around but i really want to focus on my NP stuff...

jsteine1 · Oct 15, 2005

Your decision needs to be based on which career track you want. If it's management, stay put. You are experiencing exactly what every person does when challenged with the unfamiliar. While management never gets easier, some subordinates will always test you in every way possible, the bar will continue to be raised by management, regs will create more work,your reaction to it absolutely will change over time as some of the craziness starts to look routine to you. Your emotional and physical responses to this stress will abate considerably. If this is not for you, dont worry about what others think or be concerned about letting anyone down, this is a highly personal choice and yours to make. Best of luck!

DG5 · Oct 16, 2005

Perhaps you need to give it a bit of a chance, as the previous poster stated, to bring the chaos into perspective. You wouldn't want to make a rash move right now when there is a window of opportunity for you to find clarity in the situation. I have been in a position for sometime where the facility was being run from the bottom up (staff motivating management to make the necessary changes) and it was VERY stressful doing that and trying to be a nurse at the same time, also running a busy family and taking a certification. Something gives! If you step down to charge nurse in a situation of chaos, you may find you have more to deal with as you have all the ideas and motiviation, but no real authority to make changes. I would make some clear and concise timelines and goals with each sphere of your life, sit down and look at all the possibilities. ie: Can you delegate? Can you trouble shoot issues with a colleague? Can systems be streamlined? Can you change the way you study to make most of your time? If you've looked at all the possibilities and still find it far too overwhelming, it certainly IS time to re-engineer your life. What we have to juggle in this time of our lives is incredible! Family - work - education - at some point there has got to be some clear direction. I find removing myself from all the clutter and chaos into a quiet place to pray in silence (like my car!) every day is so necessary to find the "Other" voice we miss so easily in this noisy life. It can be the still and small voice but it can make it all so clear.

snowfreeze, BSN, RN · Oct 16, 2005

Take a deep breath, you know how to manage people. You need to work but is this exactly where you need to be? If the hours and flexibility are what you need most in a job and this one fills that then possibly yes. You can start delegating duties, one flow sheet at a time. Listen to complaints which are filed on a complaint form you devise which makes each complainer come up with some kind of solution besides "fix it, you'r the boss". These employees seem to think they can run this unit, so let them do the work involved that allows someone to make decisions. Form committees to deal with the weekly and daily issues, you review each issue bi-weekly or monthly. Accountability is the head issue with everything.

jetsetter · Oct 16, 2005

Here's a thought. Delegate, delegate, delegate!!

Have some of the other staff each take a small, manageable task.

(this is what my manager does) Our last manager quit because she became overwhelmed thinking all of these responsiblities were hers. Guess what, there not!

BabyRN2Be · Oct 16, 2005

Here's a thought. Delegate, delegate, delegate!!
Have some of the other staff each take a small, manageable task.
(this is what my manager does) Our last manager quit because she became overwhelmed thinking all of these responsiblities were hers. Guess what, there not!

And if this doesn't work, it sounds like a little "housecleaning" might be in order, starting with your assistant down to a few CNA's who might be bucking you.

I really don't mean to be harsh to your employees, but this might be worth a thought if nothing else works.

johnson0424 · Oct 17, 2005

thanks everyone for the reply...i appreciate it...i want to give it more time but feel like i am digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole. i can delegate but the nurses always complain they are sooo busy which they are..our unit is so busy and we have alot of patients that require one on one that dont get it b/c we dont have the staff. it is the most dynamic unit i have ever seen. and i am constantly being pulled into the administration crap with meetings that take alll day long for 2 days it is ridiculous...help

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Oct 17, 2005

Geez! I'm reading your post and it was like deja vu. 12 hour days 6 days a week is where I would draw the line. I finally left a head nurse job for many of the same reasons. You are only one person and you are carrying the management burden all by yourself. I went back to supervision because it was more stuctured, got to clock in and clock out and go home. After I gave a report to the oncoming supervisor my work day was over. I think you already know this job is way over what you can give it right now. Which is more important, school or work? It's much easier to get a staff nurse position and pitch in to do some of that old stuff that needs catching up on a voluntary basis rather than have to do it as a mandatory part of your job. How are you going to handle when you have to write a thesis or do some sort of a research project for your NP program? I think you need to consider that.

gentlespirit · Oct 19, 2005

thanks,...oh and to add to that i got the crappiest orientation and i dont even know where my policy book is...i am scared to go to floor nursing b/c i haven't done it in a while and i have such a take charge personality but i could maybe go into the charge nurse role. i love ltc and i had even thought about going back to the hospital but their shifts are 7a-7p and you dont get 40 hrs a week which i would need. right now even though i have the stress i have off the days i want to with my husband and their is some flexibility to the job as far as staffing goes but next fall i start my clinicals for school and i dont know what i am going to do then. i may stick with it till next fall but god i am such a nervous wreck and would like to enjoy the things in life...also the pay cut is an issue. i would be making $3.00 less an hour which comes to about 500 a month. i am so confused and i love the feeling of turning a unit around but i really want to focus on my np stuff...

dear, how long have you been a nurse? let me guess.. you love the challenge, sometimes thrive on the stress, but do you really know what it is costing you??

prioritize your life. mine goes like this (short version):

1. god

2. family (and me!)

3. work

after you prioritize, do some serious evaluating of whether or not you are actually honoring your priorities.

then get honest with yourself about what it really means to you.

god bless you.

DG5 · Oct 19, 2005

dear, how long have you been a nurse? let me guess.. you love the challenge, sometimes thrive on the stress, but do you really know what it is costing you??
prioritize your life. mine goes like this (short version):
1. god
2. family (and me!)
3. work
after you prioritize, do some serious evaluating of whether or not you are actually honoring your priorities.
then get honest with yourself about what it really means to you.
god bless you.

yes, but sometimes the decision itself is not so cut and dry...work is the np courses as well as the job. the np course is working towards bettering her family...becoming the kind of nurse maybe she feels god wants her to be...the job needs a person like her...perhaps god wants her to be in that position at this point in time to serve his purposes in some awesome way. its not so cut and dry. which comes first? i think the op herself has figured it out when she said "but i really want to focus on my np stuff" that is her heart and soul and by doing what she really wants to do deep down, she will also serve god and her family (and herself) well.