wanting to leave after 7 months

Specialties Management

Published

Specializes in Corrections, Psych, LTC, Management.

Hello everyone,

I have been working as a nurse manager for 7 months now and every day I wish I werent. I'm supposed to work as a "hands on" manager at a halfway house. They want me doing intakes, sick calls, chronic cares as well as everything else management wise. I order supplies, do schedule, keep up with licenses of medical staff, make sure staff gets yearly education, I do the statistics of everything that goes on in medical, respond to grievances, do audits and CQIs, I'm on call 24/7 I'm supposed to do CQI studies, infection control, assist with work release and many other things. I am sure all nurse managers are busy but I feel like I am not handling this too well.

I have been diagnosed with ADHD and cyclothymia and I'm having a really hard time staying motivated and on top of things. Stuff is starting to pile up and I started dreading going to work. It's not rewarding or challenging in a positive way, its just a drag and makes me hate getting up in the mornings. I have been having nightmares about work and I see my life is starting to get affected. All I have been thinking about is leaving as soon as I can, just run for the hills. The paycheck is nice and I have weekends and holidays off but I get woken up in the middle of the night when someone is calling out , or if there is an emergency. I feel like its not worth the money anymore.

I am worried that my family won't understand, they are so happy that I have a "good job" they don't really want to hear me complaining about it. And on one hand I agree with them, I should just be happy to have a good job, there are so many people less fortunate than me out there. On the other hand I feel like I'm going to explode if I stay here much longer. I feel like with my ADHD this is the worst possible job I could have taken. I sit and stare at the computer for hours until I get so scared of getting in trouble and my bosses catching up with how poorly I have been doing that I finally try to do something productive.

I guess my question is: Would it look really bad to leave after 7 months? I like the people I work with and I do feel bad for leaving them again, they were without a manager for a while. I also like the director of the facility and other employees I just feel like its too much and not worth the money. When I took the position they did make it clear that they wanted someone to "turn the ship around" but I dont think I'm the person to do it.

Sorry this turned into a vent...

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Specializes in public health.

Can you delegate some of the tasks to your staff or have an assistant manager?

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Based on your description, I would say you are absolutely right...it is not worth it...at least right now. Not all nursing management positions are like this. I think it is either the position does not have the right resources or you are not the right fit for the position. You mentioned you have a good relationship with the facility director. Have you discussed your concerns with him/her? You really need to give them the opportunity to work with you to make this better. It may be that you need a more engaged staff and you should focus on delegating out some of the "tasks" to those who may be interested in advancing to leadership in the future. I was once told the best manager is one who has to manage least. If you can be gone on vacation for 2 weeks and be confident that the wheels will keep spinning then you are successful. If the facility would not survive without you...then you have a problem.

So here is my advice...

1. Do some soul searching...is this what you want? do you want to be a manager?

2. Approach the director, discuss the issues you are having and be prepared with some potential solutions whether that is training others to do some of the things you are doing or maybe you need a assistant manager.

3. Work together to create an "action plan"

4. Give it a chance to work...if you are still not happy or you do not feel you are being supported to be successful...then maybe its time to consider another position.

I hope this helps!

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Specializes in Corrections, Psych, LTC, Management.
Based on your description, I would say you are absolutely right...it is not worth it...at least right now. Not all nursing management positions are like this. I think it is either the position does not have the right resources or you are not the right fit for the position. You mentioned you have a good relationship with the facility director. Have you discussed your concerns with him/her? You really need to give them the opportunity to work with you to make this better. It may be that you need a more engaged staff and you should focus on delegating out some of the "tasks" to those who may be interested in advancing to leadership in the future. I was once told the best manager is one who has to manage least. If you can be gone on vacation for 2 weeks and be confident that the wheels will keep spinning then you are successful. If the facility would not survive without you...then you have a problem.

So here is my advice...

1. Do some soul searching...is this what you want? do you want to be a manager?

2. Approach the director, discuss the issues you are having and be prepared with some potential solutions whether that is training others to do some of the things you are doing or maybe you need a assistant manager.

3. Work together to create an "action plan"

4. Give it a chance to work...if you are still not happy or you do not feel you are being supported to be successful...then maybe its time to consider another position.

I hope this helps!

I know I dont want to do this anymore , but you are right, I should give them a change to fix it. I will talk to corporate soon. Right now I am trying to delegate some of the tasks to staff nurses but they are already busy as it is. The more I need to do this the more I get drustrated and postpone everything. But thats my adhd as well, procrastinating , low frustration tolerance, not being able to complete tasks. Id hate to go on medications just so I can keep this job. I am already on Lithium for cyclothymia, dont want to add stimulants to the mix.

Thanks again for your reply

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Specializes in ED, ICU, MS/MT, PCU, CM, House Sup, Frontline mgr.
It may be that you need a more engaged staff and you should focus on delegating out some of the "tasks" to those who may be interested in advancing to leadership in the future. I was once told the best manager is one who has to manage least. If you can be gone on vacation for 2 weeks and be confident that the wheels will keep spinning then you are successful. If the facility would not survive without you...then you have a problem.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I agree with all of this...

By the way, I had several interviews this year for entry-level management positons and 100% of the time I was asked if I did x,y,z for my department currently or in the recent past.... Or if I have a,b,c leadership related experience. That is why I now do more for my management team and department!

OP, I am sure that there are staff nurses that work on your floor who are more than willing to accept a task or two to assist in beefing up his/her resumes as well. It is hard for me to do on top of my current work schedule especially during busy shifts, after which I feel ineffective, but I keep working on the extra things because it is the only way I can prove myself in my current role. Thus, although you may find that some of your staff nurses will be assertive and ask to help out, you will also find that others will need to be informed that the task you are assigning to him/her is something that looks good when it is time for promotions/bonuses or opportunities for advancement. Good luck!

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As others have said, delegation. You cannot do everything yourself and they cannot expect you to be able to do it all. Analyze your calls. Are they mostly staffing issues? Most of my calls were staffing issues. Once I hired more people and help people accountable for showing up, the calls really slowed down. Also, I had a couple of nurses who just did not understand boundaries. They would text about everything. You may have to draw boundaries. If they are calling for protocols or needing other work-related information, maybe you could create a resources binder. Let us know about specific problems you are having if you want more help. I know we have some pretty creative managers who would love to share their advice with you.

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