Is this a productive management style?

[Vonique]

I was a little amazed when the staffing coordinator, at my new employee orientation last month, came in after being introduced to us and immediately started scowling at us that she never accepts call ins, especially on the weekends, and that if someone is truly sick, that employee needs to first come in and get their temperature taken. This staffing person has pretty bad people skills and has a nasty disposition. Most people hate her and alot of talk revolves around the fact that the employees don't feel supported or cared about at all. It's a fairly new management and the DON is known as "tough." I don't have any particular problems with her as she has always been nice to me (but I am a fairly new employee so there's always time.....) but this new management seems to be "anti-employee". I keep hearing how much more supportive the last administration was from even the longtime employees of 10 years or more, who are hoping things change soon or they will find another job.

Just wondering, in your experience, is it better to be tough as nails or more supportive of the staff? I understand that call ins need to be justified and dealt with efficiently or no one will come to work, but to treat hard workers this way doesn't seem right. Some of us live 45 minutes away and have already decided we are not going to drive all that way to get our temperature taken by a nonclinical staffing person to determine we are truly sick.

Just wondering if this is a routine thing in longterm care that I haven't run into before and what people think of it?

Thanks,

Vonique

[Otessa, BSN, RN]

I think there needs to be a mix of both. People need to follow the rules BUT if someone is sick-plain old infection control thinking would be to have them stay as far away from other staff and patients so they won't make others sick.

People need to feel supported and cared about or people are going to call in sick because they plain old need a mental health day from the management.

[mentalhealthRN]

Lord I think you work where I used to (I quit the day the new DON started!LOL) and if you have sick time what she is doing is just stupid -- like another poster stated......keep those germs home, not bring 'em in and get others sick. And you are entitled to your sick time and can't make you come in. After a period of like more then 2 or 3 days some places want a note from a doc. And as mentioned when you are nasty and create an environment of miserable employees the morale is low and people don't care and will call in more. Good morale and a happy and appreciative manager will end in less call ins, especially made-up sick calls as people do care and wouldn't want to do that to their boss they like and co-workers they like. But when every doesn't get along and its a nasty environment people just don't care and call in, sick or not. Period.

I spend a matter of hours with the new DON where I worked and told myself--oh he** no this is SOOOO not gonna work. I will not be a party to this craziness and disrespect. I gave my notice to the Administrator to avoid any contact with her and she called me in and told me she was "pretty excited" to hear that I was leaving. Ummmm you met me 4 hours ago, really? She is actully banned from working at several of the LTC facilites in the area due to her nasty attitude. I know the facility was a mess but you don't get a place in shape by running around telling all the staff they are stupid and incompetent and lazy. Not real effective! lol Good luck to you. And don't stay if you are going to be miserable. It's not worth it.

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

I found managing people that you should follow written policy already in place, and that if it's a bad policy you should work to change it.

Supervisors need to understand two things. 1) They're in charge of some element of an organization that must run often with profit. 2) Employees come to work for that check at the end of the pay period, yet an organization cannot run effectively/efficiently without the employees. That said, a balance must be stricken, and the supervisor needs to be reasonable.

I'm pro-employee. I found that employees who were happy at work did the most work. Your new supervisor sounds like a jerk. Requiring that a temperature be taken is STUPID.

[mentalhealthRN]

.....not to mention that we all know a person can be sick and not have a fever. Ya know that reminds of the school nurse I had 20+ years ago in high school. I remember that was her thing. She'd say--if you don't vomit in front of me or have a fever--go back to class! LOL "Nurse Ratchet's!!! " LOL

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

I have no problem with tough; sometimes strict discipline is essential. Staff can sometimes take serious advantage of what they perceive as softness on the part of management. That said, such strictness must be balanced by humanity and concern for the well-being of the staff. This promotes strong morale and encourages productivity.

I'd go a thousand extra miles for a strict manager who stood shoulder to shoulder with me when the workload gets rough, and who I knew I could rely on to back me when I needed her (or him), than get to do whatever I wanted under the "regime" of a laissez-faire type of character who couldn't manage a p*ss up in a brewery...

[systoly]

This person needs an inservice on viral infections, well actually she needs an inservice on a lot of things. Look, the only way you can get people to perform to the best of their ability is if they want to. The iron fist may produce short term results, but is never effective in the long run. When employees like their job and are happy, feel valuable and supported, call ins go down.

[Nascar nurse, ASN, RN]

My last call in was initially for leg pain (ended up being a DVT and I was off 2 weeks). I did not have a temp but I was very sick..throws that theory out the window.

I have always tried to be "the coach" as a management style. I want people on my side, I want them to want to do well and have success and I want them to want to be part of my team. I want them to want to take pride in what they are doing for others. Some days that means they need a shoulder to lean on & someone to "stroke their ego". Other days they need to hear "Get your head out of your butt and into the game..you're taking the whole team down".

The rules need to be the same for everybody, but the approach to get them on board often needs to be different based on individual personalities.

I have found this to generally work very well for me. It seems like I have gained a great deal of respect from all levels of employees..even those not in nursing (hskp, dietary, ss, etc).

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Silly business. My staff would tell you I am tough. I have standards and expect them to meet those standards. They would also tell you that if they are slammed with admissions (which in my building means more than one) I will be the first one there to help out...that if a family member is screaming at them or being disrespectful, I will be there to tell the family member that kind of talk/attitude is not acceptable. I've been doing this for a long time and I've found the DONs and supervisors who are dictators are usually the ones who don't know much clinically.

[ImThatGuy, BSN, RN]

Yep, you've got to stand up with your people and pitch in. It gets things done, it's leading by example, and it boosts morale.

[indigonurse]

It all comes down to one thing, what does your employee manual say? That is what you agreed to. A professional person will talk about the rules, the law, not about peoples personalities, perceptions, emotions and feelings. A professional nurse will know the rules, laws, etc. and follow them. I believe that a highly structured management style that plays by the book and is fair will give people a sense of stability. A management who bases decisions on people who play on their sympathy, bend the rules, play favorites, give people a sense of chaos and confusion.

[dlatimer]

To me, it's all about trust. If you don't trust your employees, then how can they trust you? Adults should be expected to act as such. Scowling and threatening are methods used in grade school. I appreciate tough attitudes when warranted and a healthy respect of rules is just a responsible adult characteristic. I would watch my back. If someone would stoop to those tactics...what else would they do?