New nurse just became nurse manager!

RUNurse · Dec 17, 2008

Congratulations.....I think.

I was in your shoes, sort of. I was an RN for only 1 year when I got my nurse manager position.

Here is the kicker...I was an level 1 trauma center MICU/SICU RN for that first year who was then going to be the manager in a State run facility for the mentally disabled (weird set of events that got me the job...trust me). I was in charge of the observation care unit (3 beds for residents who just got back from hospitals, or needed more nursing observation), the Clinical Treatment Room (Dr's office), the 6 nurses that staffed them, as well as being the entire facilities infection controll nurse! YIKES!!! But at the time I said...no sweat, how hard can it be?? ....... :banghead:

(BTW, on a side and funny note...With 1 year being in the ICU, I never directly ran my own codes even on my own Pts (drama involved with this too...lol) and I was always either med pusher or documentator. On the 2nd day at the new facility I was was doing CPR and running an entire code on one of the residents (I was the most experienced). :eek: Irony.......

Anywhoo....

I jumped head first and for the first 3 weeks or so, things were not that bad. I had the respect of my staff and I was getting what was needed done. Then things went downhill fast. My boss (2nd in command in terms of the nursing department) was beginning to make changes to the way things were being run. She was..for lack of a better term...a nazi...the "my way or the highway" type atitude. I on the other hand was the shared governance type of boss, the "lets all work together to achieve this goal" kind of guy. :)

I was told to do things and repremand people that could in the short term and long term jepordize their jobs..etc. (some somewhat justified, other blatent attacks). I was in a moral struggle...to protect my staff, or to do what my boss told me. Well over the next 2-3 weeks, the workplace was becoming more and more hostile and now I was directly being affected by my boss (i.e. "you can't have those days off for a honeymoon, your unit is short a nurse, so YOU as the manager must fill that position...etc...(btw..I went on my honeymoon)"

So what did I do in these trying times...I did what any new nurse/protector/manager would have done.....covertly fought AGAINST the administrators. :devil: :saint: :devil: :saint: In order to protect my staff, I would inform them of information discussed in nurse admin meetings, personel meetings with my boss regarding other staff, upcoming policy changes...etc. This way, with everyone in the loop about what was going on and what was being said; everyone could fight against the system that was being unjust to them. I became more openly objective to the way things were being done, and I would completly do the opposite of what I was told to do (not all the time, but with the important things). I also started to stage a coup against my boss to get her fired for being so unethical and abusive (it failed).

In the end, I lasted 4 months as a nurse manager, and I got back to the bedised in an ICU (I resigned before I was fired).

Was I over my head..yes. Was I cockey...YES. Did I do what was ethically right....yes/no depending on whose side you take. Did I learn a lot...YES!! Did I protect my staff...yes (all my staff still work there). Was I a good manager....who knows. All I know is these 2 facts

1) By the end of the 4th month, I have earned more respect and was more liked than the DON who has worked there for the past 15 years.

2) My boss (the nazi) was fired 4 months after I left....hmmmmmm...I wonder why.

So, with all that said...Best of luck to you. In my opinion, a good manager does what is ethically right no matter what, and they protect their staff. Not let their staff get run over. I hope that the place you are working at has good people there, and that you will not have the troubles I had. Granted, a state facility is completly different than working in a hospital.

BEST OF LUCK TO ALL NURSE MANAGERS!!!!

rngolfer53 · Dec 17, 2008

I've been a nurse for 8 months and I was just hired as a unit manager for a small SNF. I'm excited but nervous. Any tips?

Congrats, and now a word of caution: Do you have management experience, or extensive work experience before nursing?

It's one thing to have to catch up on one facet of the job...nursing expertise, and quite another to have to learn managing as well.

Good luck to you, but please do cogitate long and hard about your qualifications for taking this job, at this time.