Lacking Conflict Resolution and Delegation Skills...Really?

Asystole RN · Aug 8, 2012

To promote someone to manage a staff who he does not have respect for would have been catastrophic.

BluegrassRN · Aug 8, 2012

Why would you want to be a manager if you feel your staff is lazy, incompetent, and you can't get them to do the work they are supposed to do as their charge nurse? Why would you be any more successful as their manager?

Either you have terrible management and delegation skills, or the staff is complete crap; the truth is probably somewhere in between. If the environment is as awful as you describe, why would you want to set yourself up for such a failure? The DON is doing you a favor. Go to the interview; it'll be good experience for any future interviews. I hope you think long and hard before you accept the job, should they offer it to you. It sounds like a recipe for disaster.

BrandonLPN, LPN · Aug 8, 2012

Yeah, if there's already a mutual lack of respect they would just chew you up and spit you out as a manager. Stop and try to reflect on WHY the LPNs and aides pay you no heed. I'm sure you might have some difficult people on staff, but I seriously doubt you're completely blameless. People who think that they are the victim and ALL the other nurses/aides are mean and/or incompetent usually aren't taking an honest look at themselves and the big picture. Just my two cents....

Double-Helix, BSN, RN · Aug 8, 2012

In any case, my don states she will interview me, but one thing she has to point out is my poor conflict resolution and delegation skills. Really? How do you resolve conflict when much of the staff are lazy, unprofessional, and inadequately skilled? So, because, I won't let a nurse who puts ear drops in someone's eyes, lead a code, I'm bad at conflict resolution? Or because, I won't stand by with someone who is infarcting, and let the nurse not give him Asa, nitro, and O2, I have poor conflict resolution skills?
Don't get me started on delegation. How can you delegate to a med tech, LPN, or other staff that pays you absolutely no mind? You write them up but to no avail. No consequences, no suspension, no backing from management.

The fact that you admit that you do not know how to resolve conflict with the staff and that your attempts at delegation are not received well proves the point of the nurse manager. Someone who is skilled at conflict resolution is able to determine a way to overcome these obstacles in order to make the staff function more effectively. The attitude cannot be to just step back and say, "To heck with it. Nothing I do is going to make a difference because of X, Y and Z."

This is a critical skill a manager must have. What would happen if you did become the manager with the disrespectful, arrogant attitude that this post displays? An employee would approach you with a problem and you response would be, "There's no way to solve this because the staff is lazy, unprofessional and unskilled."

An effective manager has to have the respect of her staff and has to respect them. They have to be willing to find a solution to problems and help their staff to improve. With the attitude and opinion that you seem toward have for your co-workers, I would never want you in a management position. The very poor way that you responded to your managers criticism (as reflected by this post- as though it's impossible for you to believe that you could ever need improvement in a skill) further illustrates that you are not ready to lead a staff.

That being said, the nurse manager has still agreed to interview you. If you truly believe that you are well suited for the management position than go to the interview and prove it to her. No one has denied you the position yet. If you don't interview for it, you have no one to blame but yourself.

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN · Aug 8, 2012

i agree, it doesn't sound like you're quite ready for this position. when you go for the interview, tell them that you are doing the interview as practice, and that you aspire to a position of responsibility in the future. ask for the nurse mgr to mentor you so the next time a position comes up you'll be better prepared to serve. see what she says.

that said, there are a lot of us who do much better work, and more effective work, and have a greater influence on things, in positions that are not charge. there's nothing wrong c us, it's just they way we think. maybe you are one of us.

determined2doit · Aug 8, 2012

Let me first thank everyone for their replies, albeit, some are very short, curt, and a bit disrespectful. Nevertheless, I did ask for ALL comments, so that's what I get. Please understand that this was a mere vent, that is all.

What doesn't suprise me is the typical attacks that I received, especially from Ms. Ashley, PICU RN, but it is quite unfounded, Ms. Ashley, hardly knows me, and definitely doesn't know the staff that I've discussed. However, she politely puts her worthless 2 cents in unabashedly. Well, I guess that's it for expressing my feelings, but again, I can't expect anything less, especially coming from nurses, who are under the mindset of attack, attack, then attack some more. Pity.

BrandonLPN, LPN · Aug 9, 2012

Well, the consensus seems to be it's a bad idea to move into a management position over a staff that you already are having issues with. I stand by my statement that you could benefit from taking an honest look at how you interact with these people. If someone is having issues with one or two people, it

might be those people are just lazy and incompetent. If you're having attitude issues with all or most of the LPNs and aides, there is probably blame on both sides. WHY are they all disrespectful toward you? They can't ALL just be horrible or lazy people. There must be another reason, right? Figure out what that is.

Art_Vandelay · Aug 9, 2012

Good or bad, people are more direct and don't hide their true opinions on an anonymous forum, especially when they won't encounter you in day-to-day interactions. I'm sorry you're frustrated.

IMHO, your present character and behaviors are predictable based on your past behaviors, and that is what the nurse manager has to go by. And in these times, employers are all about "loss prevention" including human capital. You employer wants you to succeed (it means they succeeded). Thus, they don't want to put you in a position in which your success rate is risky.

determined2doit · Aug 9, 2012

Just a quick update, not ALL the LPN's/Techs are disrespectful in terms of heeding to delegation...not all, just wanted to provide that clarification for those who are still a bit nebulous, afterall LPN stands for "Love Produced Naturally";)

Altra, BSN, RN · Aug 9, 2012

Agree with Asystole RN's post -- the organization would be shooting itself in the foot to promote someone who has obvious disrespect for coworkers, and possibly the organization itself.

Stephalump · Aug 9, 2012

Let me first thank everyone for their replies, albeit, some are very short, curt, and a bit disrespectful. Nevertheless, I did ask for ALL comments, so that's what I get. Please understand that this was a mere vent, that is all.
What doesn't suprise me is the typical attacks that I received, especially from Ms. Ashley, PICU RN, but it is quite unfounded, Ms. Ashley, hardly knows me, and definitely doesn't know the staff that I've discussed. However, she politely puts her worthless 2 cents in unabashedly. Well, I guess that's it for expressing my feelings, but again, I can't expect anything less, especially coming from nurses, who are under the mindset of attack, attack, then attack some more. Pity.

Well, I for one am not blown away by your conflict resolution skills displayed here....

What kind of help would you like? You are the one on this site telling us your view of the situation as you see it. No one here can tell you manager what to do or how she could improve the situation. All we can do is give you suggestions that YOU can run with. So the focus will be on YOU. If your post was off-putting and the very opposite of a respectful tone during conflict, of course the irony would be mentioned. You've decided everyone here is worthless and you're giving up. Why isn't that surprising?

If you want this, you're going to have to figure out how to improve what your DON expects you to improve. Period. Dragging people through the mud will absolutely not get you there. Rise above :)