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Discussion

Inappropriate Manager

i recently left a position almost solely due to management issues. my main 'qualm' with my manager was his lack of follow-through and inability to act professionally. i'll be starting my at my new job this week but sometimes feel as though i wasn't justified in my decision to leave. on more than one occasion i felt extremely uncomfortable around my old manager but also felt i had nowhere to turn for reporting purposes in hr. this manager had very tight ties with our nursing 'big-wigs' and getting anything resolved was nearly impossible. just to offer an example of what i define an 'uncomfortable' situation to be...the charge nurses from night-shift give 'charge report' every morning to the manager, pncc, clinician and the oncoming daylight charge nurse. we had a patient that had, on a few occasions, been 'caught' masturbating in his room. when i came upon this patient to discuss his care/plan for the day my manager (who was sitting directly to my right) was under the table making the motion one would be doing for masturbating. i couldn't believe this was going and truly had no idea where to even go from there. concerning my saying he had a lack of follow-through, he was constantly emailing us about various issues and they were full of empty threats. nurses on the floor were often confronted by their coworkers for work they had left for the next shift or for leaving the patient in a horrible state (i.e. never checking for poop, urine, empty iv bags, dressings that haven't been changed, medications they 'didn't have time' to give, etc.). this manager would never actually follow up with these problems after they occurred again and again.

also, he's been found to be screaming at the nurses in his closed office more times than i care to count. we actually had a patient whose room was across the hall from his office comment one morning when he was yelling at a frequent offender say, "oh, there goes that angry man again."

i want to make the unit better for my coworkers that i left behind when i departed but have no idea where to even begin. upon transfer i was asked to fill out a questionnaire which i did and filled in much of it with details and events that i could remember, according to the questionnaire the answers go to hr but i'd like to go further.

do any of you have recommendations, suggestions, and/or similar experiences? after writing all of this i think i do feel confident in my decision to leave that environment!

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    • Featured Replies

    The issue regarding masturbation is just inappropriate and sexual harrassment. I would take it to HR and see if your organization (corporate) has a reporting line. I would also be reporting the hostile work environment to HR and Corporate at well. There is nothing worse than a loose cannon, bully manager for setting a poor example to others within the work environment.

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    Write to HR and upper management and have your co-workers who went through the same issues to do the same. That kind of behavior should not be tolerated and while most people in power do act very honorably and respect their staff, there are those who abuse their power and create a hostile work environment. Do what feels right to you and what you believe will make that place a better place to work for all the people still working there and all the people that will come after you. Best wishes.

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    you made the right decision I agree you should write a professional letter to other people higher up within the organization. Also, put a CC on the letter for a local legal firm that will get some attention.

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    • Experts

    I do not see why you feel the need to go further than filling out the questionnaire provided by HR. That is way more than most departing employees would do under the circumstances. It seems you should be devoting your energy to your new job. I hope that you do not suffer repercussions down the line.

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    I used to have a manager like that. Very inappropriate, would tell me things that he shouldn't have been telling me about co-workers, would elect "pick and choose policy" to suit his needs. He was extremely self centered and although he said that he did things "in the most fair way possible", I was constantly amazed at the favoritism shown. I have no idea how this dude came into a management position. I feel for your co-workers.

    Although I completely understand how badly you feel about leaving your co-workers with this jackwagon, it is not something for you to "own". They can also choose to leave, or they can choose to write incident reports to get him the heck outta there. It is not your hill to climb any longer. You have your own plate full now with a new job. You gotta let it go, as painful as it may seem to you now. You did the right thing by answering the questionnaire honestly. It is out of your hands now. I am just thankful that you left that awful environment.

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    Welcome to the world of management at its worst. How do these misfits get into a management position: it's easy - their supervisors would rather kick them upstairs into a management job that they are ill-suited to do. They have no formal education or experience at supervision of others; never mind they don't understand nor do they make an attempt to understand any type of management/supervision rules.

    I could give you hundreds of examples but, you will see this for yourself as you work through your nursing career.

    Try not to fall into the whirlpool of garbage that this type of manager leaves around the unit; do your best and if you are in it for the long term, take a few courses (seminars are super) in management so you know what to do when this type of manager manages to get under your skin and set the shift on a roller coaster. Best of luck.

    By the way, these idiot managers have a purpose in life - they are guaranteed to make massive mistakes that violate federal laws that govern how employees are treated (I love it when people say that because this is a right-to-work-state, they can and do treat employees unfairly.....NO WAY - the issue that winds up in court is FAIR and EQUAL treatment).....best of luck!!

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    I had a manager that was very ill fitted for the position they had. While I have only been a nurse for 2 years my other employment experience has taught me to always stand up for whats right but there is a point where you sit back & watch management hang themselves. This particular manager was good for making staff members lives unbearable until they just become no shows & keeping those there who were endangering patients. My last 2 weeks were very tense, however I refuse to do anything to be determined not rehirable. Well, about 6 months later a patient abuse case arised & management were accused of covering it up. The administrator, DON, & ADON were terminated. Be proud of yourself for finding another job that you will enjoy. Im pretty sure the employees left there know the avenues to take to report this manager.

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    • Experts

    I totally get where you are coming from but two things come to mind:

    1. Your coworkers need to vote with their feet and leave also if they are truly that unhappy interestingly enough some people seem to enjoy being miserable or are too afraid to make any kind of change. Be glad you aren't that way.

    2. HR, upper management and Jesus all probably know just what an orifice this manager is and are obviously very comfortable with how he runs the unit :(

    You won't do yourself any favors by pointing this out to any of them and imo nothing is confidential.

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    Have you ever heard the say "problem problem who has the problem"....Well its not you anymore...:heartbeat:heartbeat.....I say move on and put your efforts towards your new area

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