new grad offered nurse manager position

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Jul 18, 2009

If there is a place offering a nurse manager to a new grad (even if they had an MSN) then that's not a safe place to work.

Run, don't walk, away from here.

In no way, shape, or form is a new grad even remotely qualified for that position.

elkpark · Jul 18, 2009

If there is a place offering a nurse manager to a new grad (even if they had an MSN) then that's not a safe place to work.
Run, don't walk, away from here.
In no way, shape, or form is a new grad even remotely qualified for that position.

:yeahthat:

llg, PhD, RN · Jul 18, 2009

It reminds me of something I said to a head hunter once. She was trying to get me to interview for a upper-level management position as I was graduating with my MSN at the age of 26, with only 2 years of clinical experience behind me. Citing my lack of experience in lower-level management positions ...

I said, "I wouldn't work for anybody stupid enough to hire me for that position."

Run ... run fast ... away from whatever employer would even consider a new grad for management position.

allnurses Guide · Jul 19, 2009

Agree.

NurseFairy · Jul 19, 2009

There's a few things to think about here.

1) there's not a nursing school around that prepares you for the real-world of nursing...you have to be trained on-the-job just to be a staff nurse...never mind a nurse manager!

2) imagine how all of the nurses that are already working there and will be "under" you...not only are you the newbie, but you have NO experience and they're supposed to listen to you :nono: ...you would have some serious attitudes (among other things) to deal with, which would make your daily day extra hell-ish :angryfire :argue: !!!

Think this through carefully...I know (from personal experience) that it's so hard to get a job right now...but you do not want this experience as your first "welcome to nursing". You will find something that is better suited to you.

All the best!

:nurse: Sue

kimbalotz · Jul 20, 2009

I have to agree with the other replies. Sounds like a scary place. Nurse managers have so much responsibility. I have not a clue how a new grad would handle it without the experience.

rn/writer, RN · Jul 20, 2009

Nurse manager = someone who knows how to organize not only her own time but that of her staff, someone who has enough clinical experience to be a resource to those she manages, someone who has enough life experience and floor experience to handle (and enforce, if necessary) the authority she has been given, and, finally, someone who can juggle the bundle of responsibilities that come her way without tearing her hair out more than once a week.

Newly-graduated nurse = someone who understands her limitations and is willing to work with a preceptor to learn time management and unit-specific skills, someone who is eager to develop her clinical experience and knows when and how to ask for help, someone who understands that her initially lower place in the hierarchy of the unit will rise as her skills and comfort level increase, and, finally, someone who is working toward being able to take a full patient load by the end of her orientation.

Seems like the two roles are incompatible at best and insane at worst.

And, as others have said, you really ought to be questioning the integrity, stability, and functionality of any facility that would seek out a new grad as an immediate manager. Makes me think that anyone who has any awareness of the place has already run screaming from this "opportunity."

keme · Aug 4, 2009

Might depend on the situation. I am a new grad RN BSN who was offered an RN Supervisor position right out of the gate. A lot depends on the experience with the institution as well as the department/unit one would be managing. I had to think hard about accepting this position but the support of the majority of the RNs as well as the MDs in my department, made it an easier decision to make. I might be the exception to the rule, but there are always exceptions given a particular situation.

cardiacRN2006, ADN, RN · Aug 4, 2009

I would never in a million years work for a manager with no bedside experience. You would have NO idea of what it's like to be a nurse.

I stand by what I said earlier...new grads are nowhere near competent enough to be managers.

llg, PhD, RN · Aug 4, 2009

Might depend on the situation. I am a new grad RN BSN who was offered an RN Supervisor position right out of the gate. A lot depends on the experience with the institution as well as the department/unit one would be managing. I had to think hard about accepting this position but the support of the majority of the RNs as well as the MDs in my department, made it an easier decision to make. I might be the exception to the rule, but there are always exceptions given a particular situation.

It sounds as if you were already familiar with the facility ... and they with you. Had you worked in that facility in another role while you were in school? I believe that the other responders in this thread are thinking of new grads with no clinical experience.

keme · Aug 4, 2009

I would never in a million years work for a manager with no bedside experience. You would have NO idea of what it's like to be a nurse.
I stand by what I said earlier...new grads are nowhere near competent enough to be managers.

That's your personal opinion and one you are entitled to. But to say that a new grad manager would have no idea of what it's like to be a nurse is not entirely true if you've worked in the department for many, many years and know how it runs from top to bottom. A person might have years of managerial experience and years of clinical experience at a different level that may lack a few skill sets that can easily be obtained through training. Like I said, it's a situational decision. I'm not saying that I advocate new grads going into nurse manager positions however I am saying that if a situation presents itself and there is the support of all parties concerned, staff and physicians, than it can be possible.