Interpreting New Director Behavior/Personality

Nurses General Nursing

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My unit has it's 3 rd director in not quite 2 years. We are still reeling and recovering from all the COVID chaos and are no longer serving as the designated COVID unit. The hospital restricted many things and became for profit. Took away shift diffs, incentives and for part time, like me, holiday pay.  I was picking up where I was needed and wasn't asked for my schedule more than a couple weeks out and was not being asked to work holidays. Now comes in the new director...right off the bat she starts sending out constant emails about things we aren't doing correctly and the verbage comes off very patronizing like we are children being sent to time out, she has reprimanded 3 nurses and given them "retraining pathways", handed out write ups like candy and has fired a nurse for arguing with her "amongst other numerous issues". Now I'm being told I have to work 2 major holidays a year despite no holiday pay like full time employees receive and I have to give my schedule 3 months in advance. I feel very uncomfortable in her presence, yet she constantly "hangs out" and "chats" with me...but I can't help but feel I'm being watched when the next email comes out. I asked her if she felt that her requirement for working the holidays was fair and if she herself would accept that and she got visibly upset said "I think it's more important to function as a team then worry about what is fair and I only want team players". I'm just not sure what think of this woman. I don't understand her behavior....she jumps the gun with getting upset about things before she's even talked to everyone and I can't help but feel she knows it's not right to ask these things of us. Thoughts? How should I interact with her?  I feel like I want to jump ship but I actually really like most my coworkers. 

Specializes in Physiology, CM, consulting, nsg edu, LNC, COB.

Yep.

::singing the tune from The Sound of Music as the family are slipping away from the Nazis::

”So long, farewell, auf wiedersehen, goodnight...Adieu, adieu, to yieu and yieu and yieu... ”

Exeunt omnes one at at time, stealthily, stage right. 
 

Good luck!

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I have managed to stick out a horrid director in my lifetime. However, she was a temporary manager and I was hoping that she would not be the permanent one. Completely different personality than our former director. At some point she refused to be the director for the temporary units. We did the happy dance. 

However, I made sure my resume was updated and I was browsing/ looking. 

If you think you will need to find a new job, make sure your ducks are in a row. Resume updated, private phone numbers of staff and ideally shift leadership (other than the manager) who would vouch for you. In my state the only info we gave out was through HR and it was hire date and job role/title. Pros and cons to that. 

What you want to avoid doing is being the last person to leave and turn out the lights. If this policy is going through to all part time or casual staff, you will not be the only one leaving based on that. Something is "off" at much higher levels to enact this policy and taking federal money and then changing to for profit could have some investigations soon. Third manager in a relatively short time is a potential sign that a) your unit has issues perceived by others  b) other managers with stronger ethics could not participate in changes they were told about or c) used their management experience for a better job elsewhere. 

Just don't be the last one out. . . jobs will be harder to find. 

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Specializes in Geriatrics, Dialysis.

Stuff like that is one of the reasons I left my former employer after many years. The raises got smaller and smaller to the point of being non-existent and the benefits kept shrinking along with it. 

The last year I worked there management was so proud that they "fought" for a raise for nurses. We got a 1.5 % raise. The insurance premiums went up by 50%.  So I got a raise and brought home less money than before. 

The holiday pay was limited to full time employees, part time if you worked the holiday when previously part time employees received the Holiday pay whether they worked the day or not and no Holiday pay for casual/on call. That's the one that really made the difference as the casual employees stopped picking up those Holidays. 

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Specializes in Med-Surg Tele.
On 5/3/2021 at 5:01 AM, kbrn2002 said:

Stuff like that is one of the reasons I left my former employer after many years. The raises got smaller and smaller to the point of being non-existent and the benefits kept shrinking along with it. 

The last year I worked there management was so proud that they "fought" for a raise for nurses. We got a 1.5 % raise. The insurance premiums went up by 50%.  So I got a raise and brought home less money than before. 

The holiday pay was limited to full time employees, part time if you worked the holiday when previously part time employees received the Holiday pay whether they worked the day or not and no Holiday pay for casual/on call. That's the one that really made the difference as the casual employees stopped picking up those Holidays. 

Yeah, we have not gotten raises in the 2 years I have worked here. It wouldn't be a big deal to be asked to pick up holidays and to decline because of lack of holiday pay, bit to be told that I am GOING to be working holidays with no holiday pay really rubs me wrong. I'm currently applying to other jobs, but I am just so nervous to start over and I'm scared of finding something worse. ?

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Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.

I would follow others' advice and leave.  You gain nothing by sitting there in the mire, not even trying.

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Specializes in Ortho-Neuro.
On 5/3/2021 at 4:01 AM, kbrn2002 said:

The holiday pay was limited to full time employees, part time if you worked the holiday when previously part time employees received the Holiday pay whether they worked the day or not and no Holiday pay for casual/on call. That's the one that really made the difference as the casual employees stopped picking up those Holidays. 

Dang! That original arrangement of getting holiday pay even when not working is really nice.
 

OP: We had a cruddy situation almost all last year with a horrible manager that drove all our best nurses away. I also applied elsewhere and almost got my dream job, but I need a tad more experience for that one. It certainly didn't help that I did the interview while feverish and short of breath from Covid. 

Our unit has new management now, which is better, but the hospital administration is still pretty heartless towards nursing staff. Also our unit is very, very inexperienced. I have a little under 2 years under my belt and I often look around and see that I'm the most experienced nurse on the unit. In a place where things can go bad very fast, that's pretty scary. 

Is that the kind of unit you want to be on in 6 months when all the best nurses have fled?

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