My goodness, what a difference a few years makes! I am just about to give notice that I am leaving my current position of managing an Inpatient Rehab floor and going back to bedside care on a Neuro/Ortho floor. In my 15 years of nursing I have done med/surg, ICU, education and now management. Well, 10 months of being a manager has done something that 11 years of ICU could not do----burned me OUT! I absolutely hate, hate, hate it! The pressure is unbelievable. To be what the staff wants, you have to be available 24/7 to come in and help if they are short, solve their personal problems, make sure they have optimal staffing (which I agree with, but sometimes it's just impossible) and basically have no life outside of work. To be what the executives want, you have to do all of that with no money, and absolutely have no life outside of work. And of course, half the nurses I supervise are making more money than I am! UGHHH, eeee-nough!
I took this job to get the hours, you know, 8-5, M-F, no holidays. Well it's not 8-5 (more like 7-6) and I covered the floor last Forth of July. By Friday, I am usually working for free since I am salaried for 40 hrs a week. I am now going to be working Sun/Mon/Thurs one week and Mon/Tues/Thurs the next and making more money that I make now due to all the differentials. It's been 2 1/2 years since I left 12 hr shifts and I still hate working 5 days a week, so it will be such a relief to get back to working three a week.
I have a new appreciation for what pressure the managers are under. Let me tell you, patient care is like a vacation compared to management. I am so looking forward to coming in, doing my job and going home---no more politics. My wonderful, supportive husband has asked me if I will feel weird, like it's a step down, but I truly believe that what we do is very noble and my ego is not tied up in having an office and wearing nice clothes to work.
Specializes in Med/Surg since ‘96; PACU since ‘16.
my goodness, what a difference a few years makes! i am just about to give notice that i am leaving my current position of managing an inpatient rehab floor and going back to bedside care on a neuro/ortho floor. in my 15 years of nursing i have done med/surg, icu, education and now management. well, 10 months of being a manager has done something that 11 years of icu could not do----burned me out! i absolutely hate, hate, hate it! the pressure is unbelievable. to be what the staff wants, you have to be available 24/7 to come in and help if they are short, solve their personal problems, make sure they have optimal staffing (which i agree with, but sometimes it's just impossible) and basically have no life outside of work. to be what the executives want, you have to do all of that with no money, and absolutely have no life outside of work. and of course, half the nurses i supervise are making more money than i am! ughhh, eeee-nough!
i took this job to get the hours, you know, 8-5, m-f, no holidays. well it's not 8-5 (more like 7-6) and i covered the floor last forth of july. by friday, i am usually working for free since i am salaried for 40 hrs a week. i am now going to be working sun/mon/thurs one week and mon/tues/thurs the next and making more money that i make now due to all the differentials. it's been 2 1/2 years since i left 12 hr shifts and i still hate working 5 days a week, so it will be such a relief to get back to working three a week.
i have a new appreciation for what pressure the managers are under. let me tell you, patient care is like a vacation compared to management. i am so looking forward to coming in, doing my job and going home---no more politics. my wonderful, supportive husband has asked me if i will feel weird, like it's a step down, but i truly believe that what we do is very noble and my ego is not tied up in having an office and wearing nice clothes to work.
gosh, i am just almost giddy with relief!!!
wish you could have been my manager! :)
sounds like you tried to be a great manager. (that's the problem.)
night shift rarely sees our um. the previous one was super-- she came in early enough to see the night shift. this one- eh. she is gone before nights came in and hardly came out to the floor before nights left. she would be in her office! and heck she wouldn't come in if we were short. ha! help solve personal problems? another ha!
i know i've not been in her shoes. but i think she has it easy because she can decide what to care about and it's much less than it should be. vacation all the time. it seems every other month she takes a week off.
i guess if you did all that needed/should be done it would almost kill you.
congratulations on a doing your best as a manager and welcome back to the floor! i hope it works better for you.
Sadly because of the ridiculous demands on managers we lose the good ones and are stuck with the inept ones that only take the job because they dig being called "boss"
kinda like the situation with us presidents. the good ones are too smart to take the job
Sad to say when you leave manager position, you need to leave the job. Great People to work with, but way to much politics. You're better off not knowing. Good luck
I just found this discussion today. I was in a supervisory position with my previous employer, as a home health clinical coordinator. Currently, I manage the home health and hospice program for our hospital, and I have never hated a job like I hate this one. I have received almost no appreciation. I receive criticism, but no one in administration offers me any help. They are upset that we aren't making money. Imagine that, a home health agency that doesn't make money! I have always had great evaluations, until my most recent evaluation with my new boss, who is a VP.
My problem now is that I have been in some sort of supervisory/management position for 8 years, and I am having trouble finding a clinical position. It seems that the hospitals in our area want recent experience for the jobs that they have posted. How does someone get experience if no one will give you a chance? There is only one hospital in our county, one in the next county. I can't move because we would lose a lot of money if we tried to sell our house right now.
Any thoughts? Would it be a good idea to go through a refresher course?
This thread has certainly provided food for thought, especially for those of us who were on another thread venting about nurse managers. The sad thing is that the OP sounds like a very wise, prudent nurse and I think the floor's gain is management's tremendous loss. I wish the PTB would understand how important it is to retain GOOD nurse managers. I also wish the managers who, ahem, "need improvement" would have the insight to understand how their attitudes and behavior negatively impact staff morale and efficacy and patient/resident/client satisfaction.
Not to hijack this thread, but I'd like to touch upon another point made by the previous poster. New grads aren't able to find jobs because they don't have "experience." Experienced nurses who have been away from the bedside have trouble finding jobs because they don't have "recent clinical experience." Nurses who wish to change specialties find it difficult to do so because they don't have "recent relevant experience." And now here's a nurse manager who wishes to return to the floor and isn't able to do so because of a lack of "recent experience"! This is insane. How picky are employers going to be when there IS a nursing shortage---and there will be a shortage again. It's inevitable. Are the new grads, older nurses and those who have been away from the bedside be again told there are no jobs because they "lack recent experience"? We shall see.
Now back to our regularly scheduled thread. I hope the OP is still out there and will share with us her experiences since her initial post---and I hope all has gone well in her change of career focus.
I would just keep applying until you get accepted, Make sure at the interview, your exicted to start something new, and think you will be a great assest to their team. I do interviews all the time, I like to see someone excited about the job, Don't look scared but very interested. Just go for it, all they can say is no. I feel the same way about changing my job too. It feels that you are stuck there. Take care
Enjoy your new found "free personal time"! I was a facility manager in my past life, and got used to being called at all hours of the day/night. Checking/responding to emails on vacation was normal.
I was never what was considered "real" management...I was a charge nurse. I still do it, but not for the whole shift. It was either that, or I was quitting. I had no authority to make decisions, but you can bet if something went wrong(even if it wasn't my mess) I heard about it. Didn't help that there was staff that was resentful that a nurse with one years experience was doing the job. The position wasn't listed as a charge position when I applied...Imagine my shock when I found out I'd be running the board.
It is just too much for an extra 1.25 an hour. I also think that the good managers leave because in order to get along and succeed with administration and the PTB, you have to sell your soul to a point. Middle management truly is a thankless job and I want no part of it ever.
Oh my, some of you are saying that you would work the floor even though you were in management positions?!? I have NEVER seen that happen! Bless you for helping your staff out.
Personally, I feel sorry for anyone in management, b/c I know it's gotta be a struggle to have admin breathing down your neck and the floor nurses screaming at you too. I'd just like to get one who isn't a cold hearted witch and exhibits some understanding...all the ones we've had who have been good have left management to, you guessed it, go back to floor nursing.
We shall see.
zoo*moon, BSN, RN
66 Posts
wish you could have been my manager! :)
sounds like you tried to be a great manager. (that's the problem.)
night shift rarely sees our um. the previous one was super-- she came in early enough to see the night shift. this one- eh. she is gone before nights came in and hardly came out to the floor before nights left. she would be in her office! and heck she wouldn't come in if we were short. ha! help solve personal problems? another ha!
i know i've not been in her shoes. but i think she has it easy because she can decide what to care about and it's much less than it should be. vacation all the time. it seems every other month she takes a week off.
i guess if you did all that needed/should be done it would almost kill you.
congratulations on a doing your best as a manager and welcome back to the floor! i hope it works better for you.