How can an rn with no nursing experience be a supervisor

Specialties Geriatric

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First let me say that I don't dislike this person. I think she is very nice and will be a great nurse. The problem I have is with the situation. I work in a LTCF and am somewhat new at nursing (14 months). My facility hired an RN supervisor that is just out of nursing school to be the supervisor on my unit. She has no experience except for clinicals while in school. So I am basically training this person. Every order she writes I have to fix in the chart and in the Mar/Tar. She is not comfortable with speaking with the doctors, families, or pharmacy. Basically she is not comfortable/capable of doing anything on her own. I am an LPN so she is making more money than me but I am doing double work. I think of a supervisor as someone who makes sure things are done and done right. someone that can advise me if I am unsure of something. This person can not do this. shouldn't a supervisor have to have some job experience? Like I said, she is a very nice person, and eager to learn. She will be a good nurse someday. But wouldn't It have be wiser to put her on the floor first. How can I respect this person as my supervisor when she doesn't know how to her own job.

Well evidently someone, somewhere, somehow felt this person for some reason or the other has the competency to handle the position. Yes there are high risk involved due to lack of experience and training however, I'm sure she did not walk in and say "I want to be a supervisor", she was appointed. So you should be blaming/questioning her superiors. Until then you don't have to respect, like or dislike her, rather respect her title......#I'mjustsaying!

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Specializes in LTC.

I would like to get my RN but right now I have to work full time. I don't know if I would have time. I have three kids and a husband to take care of. just not enough time I guess.

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Specializes in floor to ICU.
I would like to get my RN but right now I have to work full time. I don't know if I would have time. I have three kids and a husband to take care of. just not enough time I guess.

Yes, unfortunately "life" continues to happen. :)

FYI, when I went back (worked full time weekends and school during the week) I had a rambunctious teenager that ran away from home and Dh had a knee injury requiring surgery and wasn't able to work for 5 months. What a nightmare!

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Specializes in LTC.

I have a lot of respect for any one that has put in the time and effort to become an RN. I would hope that she knew what her job title was and her responsiblities would be before accepting the position. I'm not blaming her for anything. And I am not going to my DON and tell her who she should/should not have hired. But I suppose I could/should express my concerns regarding her job performance.

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

Look on the bright side Mozella. If something bad happens it will fall to the RN who is supposed to be "in charge". So you don't have nearly as much to lose as she does if something happens and it was not done properly.

If I was you I would make a contribution to the future of nursing by training this RN to be great. This benefits you, her and most importantly any patients that come under her care in the future.

You are right that this is not the way things SHOULD be, but it is the way they are. You can make this a positive experience that everyone benefits from if you can see that most of life isn't the way it should be.

Good luck and God bless and keep you all safe

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Specializes in OR, CVOR, Clinical Education, Informatic.

Sadly this is a scenario that will repeat itself as more and more emphasis is placed on the number of letters after your name rather than the number of years of experience you have.

I have not worked in LTC, but have lived the same situation in the acute care hospital setting. My facility was working toward Magnet status (what a joke) and we were required to have a certain percentage of nurses with a BSN or higher. So, step 1: close the hospital associated diploma school which had graduated it's first class in 1921 and had supplied knowledgeable, dedicated nurses to all five of the facilities in my system for decades.

Step 2: require ALL positions above bedside staff nurse to have a BSN within 3 years or else be fired or demoted.

Step 3: After 2 years begin eliminating staff that have not started school yet because they will not make the deadline to graduate with a degree. So, take the manager with 36 years experience as a nurse and 12 years experience in a management role and demote them.

Step 4: Hire brand new BSN who just passed NCLEX into manager role, because she is the only one available who meets the current job requirements.

Step 5: watch my favorite boss waltz out the door (and take her years of experience with her) because she is now expected to mentor the new BSN and to train her for the position that the old manager is no longer qualified for.

That is how a new RN with no nursing experience can be a supervisor. But it looks good on paper!

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Specializes in ED, ICU, PSYCH, PP, CEN.

I wonder if she is on allnurses saying "Oh my God, what did I get myself into, I can't do this"

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I have seen this in the LTC facilities where I have worked as well as in home health. If a person holds the license, they are often given the job title and the responsibilities, with no concern as to their ability to do the job. I have seen these people crash and burn and leave, and those who stay around only because some of their colleagues shore them up and cover for them. This happens in all lines of work, not just nursing. You can speak to upper management about the situation or you can do like one LVN I knew, "I will not orient an RN!", but don't expect any action to come of your complaint.

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i have experienced this in other fields too, but nursing is not the same. supervisors who have to provide patient care, but have no work experience are dangerous. if the supervisor did not have to provide any form of patient care (did not have to write orders, call doctors, give medications, start ivs, perform procedures, guide nursing staff to do the same, etc.), then experience would not matter. in this case, this rn was hired because he/she has a degree, a valid license, and is cheap. that is all.

if anything happens while the new grad is a supervisor, the facility will throw the new grad rn under the bus, roll over the broken body a few dozen times, then keep driving! a new grad should not be put in this position, it does not matter the degree! it is not fair to anyone involved, most of all the patients. :down:

i agree 100% that it is dangerous, i definitely will not knock that! however, i can guarantee you from personal experience that when you have a supervisor in the military who is leading troops in a war zone, and that supervisor (officer in this case) is put in a position with no training or experience due to the fact they hold a degree; that is just as dangerous, if not more. also from my time in industrial electronics, working with 15,000 + volts on a "small" unit, that is just as dangerous too. trust me it is dangerous everywhere! but due to the economy this is what happens.

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new nurse or not sounds I can't believe she is not comfortable with some of the basics--ummmm......calling the doctor? Talking to families??

I don't find that surprising at all. Not everyone comes out of school having had much experience dealing with the doctors. Assertiveness does not necessarily come naturally, and confidence usually occurs after experiencing success in one's endeavors.

I personally feel just as bad for the supervisor as I do for the OP. Don't you know she just tosses and turns every night knowing that she's really not ready for this situation and being fully aware that most of the nurses she is supervising know that and don't really respect her yet? I think I'd rather flip burgers for a living.

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Most states require a legal minimum of 8 hours of RN coverage in nursing homes, and a handful of states mandate 24-hour RN coverage. Many of these nursing homes do not particularly care about the experiential level or competence of the RN, just as long as the facility has a warm body in the building to fulfill the legal minimum of 8 hours of "RN coverage."

Nursing homes have had difficulty attracting RNs in the past. However, due to the economic downturn, many new grad RNs are resorting to working in nursing homes and LTC facilities because they aren't being called back by the major hospitals for interviews. They aren't landing spots in new grad internships because many hospitals now view brand new nurses as too expensive to train.

I used to be in that dreadful position not too long ago. I was the LPN/LVN who had to bust my butt, deal with difficult families, care for many elderly residents, take off orders, do admission assessments and admit packets, handle phone calls from pharmacy, and manage insubordinate aides while the weak-spinned RN supervisor would purposely hide so that (s)he didn't have to deal with the stress. You know what I did? I figured that I might as well get paid more for busting my butt, so I earned my RN license last year.

I know you feel it's not fair that this inexperienced person is earning more than you while you perform most of the workload, but this is the way things roll in LTC facilities. You do not need to personally like or respect the RN supervisor who doesn't know how to properly supervise, but you must be able to shove your resentment aside in order to get along with her.

Absolutely true and well said. Also would like to add that very often facilities do not explain clearly to new grads that they are going to be in charge so they come in brand new and up to their ears in responsibilites that they had no idea they would be required to carry out. Then you find the new grad conundrum -- no other jobs on the horizon, do I stick it out or run for the exit?

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I was an LPN/LVN for four years before becoming an RN. In addition, most of my nursing career has been spent in nursing homes and LTC facilities. Now that you have some background, here is my viewpoint on this matter.

Most states require a legal minimum of 8 hours of RN coverage in nursing homes, and a handful of states mandate 24-hour RN coverage. Many of these nursing homes do not particularly care about the experiential level or competence of the RN, just as long as the facility has a warm body in the building to fulfill the legal minimum of 8 hours of "RN coverage."

Nursing homes have had difficulty attracting RNs in the past. However, due to the economic downturn, many new grad RNs are resorting to working in nursing homes and LTC facilities because they aren't being called back by the major hospitals for interviews. They aren't landing spots in new grad internships because many hospitals now view brand new nurses as too expensive to train.

I used to be in that dreadful position not too long ago. I was the LPN/LVN who had to bust my butt, deal with difficult families, care for many elderly residents, take off orders, do admission assessments and admit packets, handle phone calls from pharmacy, and manage insubordinate aides while the weak-spinned RN supervisor would purposely hide so that (s)he didn't have to deal with the stress. You know what I did? I figured that I might as well get paid more for busting my butt, so I earned my RN license last year.

I know you feel it's not fair that this inexperienced person is earning more than you while you perform most of the workload, but this is the way things roll in LTC facilities. You do not need to personally like or respect the RN supervisor who doesn't know how to properly supervise, but you must be able to shove your resentment aside in order to get along with her.

So who is landing the spots in new grad internships?
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