Hiring Former Staff

[RNRy]

As a nurse manager, how do you respond to staff members who are upset that a former employee is being hired again? Said former employee electively left the facility on positive terms the first time.

Is it best to address the current employees' concerns with the former employee before he starts working again on the unit, or is it best to wait and see if previous issues arise again? None of the issues revolved around patient safety, mainly interpersonal communication techniques. Is it too much to ask to expect staff to discuss issues peer-to-peer before bringing them to the manager to solve? I would be very irritated if a staff member tattled to my manager before coming to me first.

Note: 90% of current staff are elated that former employee is returning to organization.

[Rose_Queen, BSN, MSN, RN]

If it's only a minority who are upset, I'd let it be for now. How long has it been since the employee left? A lot can change, including people developing better interpersonal skills.

[RNRy]

The employee left the organization about 1.5 years ago.

[jrt4]

I had a similar situation. I was hiring someone back after she had left for a few years. She had previously worked on another unit that we interact with a lot in a charge role. There were some concerns about communication. Fortunately my staff were able to get past that and see her good attributes.

- If you don't already I would encourage you to think about including staff in interviews...its extremely helpful...they think of things I would have never thought about. They also get the "real story" when I leave them alone to do a tour of the unit.

-My first response when someone comes with a complaint is "did you talk to X"...many times if they are coming to me, the answer is no. As the manager, you are not the complaint department...we are all adults and they should address concerns with each other...once you set that expectation people really enjoy that culture. Most of us want to know what we are doing to annoy the other even if it hurts our pride a bit. Its always better to know where you stand with one another though.