Is this a common trait in a charge nurse?

[General E. Speaking, RN, RN]

I find my charge nurse is very dismissive and curt in her responses. Irritating because it is more of a parent-child relationship..."because I said so" mentality. There is no collaborating between her and the staff. She doesn't bother to talk to anyone unless she is giving us an admission. She sits at each nurses station and combs through the charts and uses that information to report off to the next charge. We call our own docs with problems and take care of the orders.

I guess my point is she has no empathy. She works for another hospital as a staff nurse and if she mentions one more time how she can take X amount of patients, take phone orders, pass all her meds on time and do CPR with her foot simultaneously (sarcasm) I am going to puke!

Here is an example of her dictatorship-style nature: Let's say 3 nurses are on days and have 6 patients a piece. Night shift is coming on with 3 nurses. None of the night nurses were there the night before and the acuity level is about the same. Instead of making it an even swap, she divides up the board so each nurse has to give report to 3 different oncoming nurses. If she had done it to split up high acuity or because of the skill level of a particular nurse it would be different. This happens over and over and it drags out the reporting off process frequently. When I have asked her why it is split up that way, she gets very defensive as though I am challenging her authority. Her response is a huffy, "because that's the way I want it"

She is bringing the moral down. Of course, the house sup loves her because she gets all her admissions beds PDQ.

I know she has charge duties to attend to and I am not asking that she be at my beck and call or be but we are humans not machines.

[DutchgirlRN, ASN, RN]

I find my charge nurse is very dismissive and curt in her responses. Irritating because it is more of a parent-child relationship..."because I said so" mentality.

I think I'd have to say "ok Mommy"

We call our own docs with problems and take care of the orders.

Calling the doc yourself and writting the order is your responsibility IMHO.

I guess my point is she has no empathy. She works for another hospital as a staff nurse and if she mentions one more time how she can take X amount of patients, take phone orders, pass all her meds on time and do CPR with her foot simultaneously (sarcasm) I am going to puke!

Here is an example of her dictatorship-style nature: Let's say 3 nurses are on days and have 6 patients a piece. Night shift is coming on with 3 nurses. None of the night nurses were there the night before and the acuity level is about the same. Instead of making it an even swap, she divides up the board so each nurse has to give report to 3 different oncoming nurses. If she had done it to split up high acuity or because of the skill level of a particular nurse it would be different. This happens over and over and it drags out the reporting off process frequently. When I have asked her why it is split up that way, she gets very defensive as though I am challenging her authority. Her response is a huffy, "because that's the way I want it"

She is bringing the moral down. Of course, the house sup loves her because she gets all her admissions beds PDQ.

I know she has charge duties to attend to and I am not asking that she be at my beck and call or be but we are humans not machines.

Can you speak to you NM about her? Sounds like she needs an attitude adjustment. She is working 2 jobs? Maybe she's overworked herself. Just a thought.

I've been a charge nurse and I worked harder than ever at not presenting myself as any kind of authority other than sometimes having to more or less force a nurse to take an admission unless of course they have a legitimate reason for not taking it.

[classicdame, MSN, EdD]

Sounds like the Peter Principle at work. This principle states, in part, that poor performance from supervisors can be due to someone being promoted to a position greater than their ability. There is much more to his theory, of course. Your charge nurse sounds like someone who was a great bedside nurse and knows a lot about nursing but nothing about management. You have my sympathy.

[General E. Speaking, RN, RN]

I am not saying that calling our docs is not my responsibility. I also realize that without admissions we would not have a job- lol! I do have an meeting today with my director that indirectly relates to the assignments.

[SanFranSRNA]

Hello everyone! Here is my 2 cents to this charge nurse trait discussion. I worked in a busy intensive/surgical unit for about 2 years before becoming a charge nurse. Now that I'm doing a charge nurse duty, I realized the tremendous pressure coming both directions. The upper management are looking at the admission process as a numeric values, while your staff is looking at the admission process as a work overload issue. I'm constantly being pressured throughout the day by the upper management to help clearing out the ER. The hospital has to go to divert if they have more people waiting in the ER than what they can admit thus the hospital is loosing money. Undoubtedly, the upper management would put pressure on the charge nurse to get transfer orders or assignment beyond the maximum recommended patient loads. The state where I'm residing has no mandatory nurse to patient ratio and therefore utilizing acuity as a way to make assignments. Sometimes my hands are tided when I'm pressured to admit more than we can handle. Many times I'm have to pick up an assignment of my own until we can unload. I have no problem doing that if I feel that it won't jeopardized the patient's safety. When it comes to making assignment I'm taking into consideration of skills, personality and practicality. Please keep in mind that those three factors are not always going to be present. However I will try my best to make sure that the nurses' skills, personality and practicality will match with the assignments. I am working in 40 beds ICU and therefore it can be quite challenging to make sure that breaks are done in a timely matter. I have to be able to trouble shoot problems with inexperience nurses while making sure that the experienced ones don't get overloaded. It is a very difficult job for a fractioned of pay increased. I enjoy being the resource person and help out around the unit. Most of the times working without taking breaks are becoming a familiar concept.

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

She doesn't sound so horrible to me. She sounds like someone who gets the job done. Her leadership style is autocratic, but what happens when the poop hits the fan? Can you count on her to have your back? To me, that is more important.

[mianders, RN]

I worked as a charge nurse for a long time in the ER and also trained other charge nurses. There are many responsibilities that go along with the job, and it can be very stressful, especially on a large unit. With that said, it is also important to communicate with your staff. Collaboration in the healthcare industry is essential. Whether this is doctor to nurse, nurse to nurse, or charge nurse to nurse. Without it patient care can be compromised.

[General E. Speaking, RN, RN]

She doesn't sound so horrible to me. She sounds like someone who gets the job done. Her leadership style is autocratic, but what happens when the poop hits the fan? Can you count on her to have your back? To me, that is more important.

I'm not sure she would have my back.

[General E. Speaking, RN, RN]

I worked as a charge nurse for a long time in the ER and also trained other charge nurses. There are many responsibilities that go along with the job, and it can be very stressful, especially on a large unit. With that said, it is also important to communicate with your staff. Collaboration in the healthcare industry is essential. Whether this is doctor to nurse, nurse to nurse, or charge nurse to nurse. Without it patient care can be compromised.

Yes, it is a large unit for one charge. I agree it is a stressful job. I do feel, however, we should be able to approach the charge without getting "dismissed" with a flip comment or our concerns trivialized.

Tell me please the role of your charge nurses in a hospital setting.

BTW, thanks for the input.

[Virgo_RN, BSN, RN]

Both of my charge nurses are males. I don't know if that has anything to do with it, but both of them can be curt in their responses and tend to be autocratic in their leadership styles.

Where they diverge is that one of them can't stand sitting at the charge nurse desk and is all over the unit, jumping in and helping out where needed. He will help pass meal trays, clean dirty equipment, and will even take a new admit or two.

The other stays close to the charge nurse desk most of the time, but will circulate on the floor to put out fires as he sees fit.

The common thread both of them have is their low tolerance for BS, and if you approach them with a problem that you haven't thought through enough to also have a solution to offer, or simply a complaint about how they are doing their job, yes, they will dismiss you curtly.

To me, this is a good thing, because if I'm going to approach them with a problem, I'd better think it through and have a solution to offer, and I'd better be sure it's an issue worthy of their attention.

[leslie :-D]

by nature, i am a very no-nonsense person and can come across as abrasive.

when i do charge however, i do answer all questions.

good communication (and keeping lines open) is a powerful tool and necessary for the morale of the floor.

i once overheard a cna telling an orientee, "don't let nurse leslie scare you. she will always explain why she wants things done".

so while i can come across as growly and abrupt, i'm ultimately known to be accessible and genuine.

my bark is indeed, worse than my bite.

leslie

[EmmaG, RN]

don't let nurse leslie scare you

Heck, you scare ME and I've never even met you