Out of my depth

[marjoriemac, LPN]

Hi all. I recently got promoted to a management post and started a week back. I just feel so overwhelmed, it's such a big jump from nurse to second in command! I feel there is so much I don't know about admin stuff and nobody is there to show me. I'm also finding it hard to get a grip on what the nurses in this place do on a day to day basis and therefore don't know how i can watch their work when i don't know what it is. Everytime I think I can spend some time getting a grounding, someting happens and i'm needed elsewhere. Aaaaaaaargh, maybe I should go back to just being nurse!

[caliotter3]

Going back to being a staff nurse is always an option but you should give yourself a chance at the new position first. If you truly feel that you don't have a clue, then arrange a meeting with your supervisor and ask for guidance. She can't hold this against you since you are new to the position and she knows you haven't done this before. Best of luck.

[nightmare, RN]

Congrats on your promotion !You need to get a hold of your manager and get some sort of feed back on the admin situation.Do you work for a company?Is there an area supervisor that you can sit down with?Is there an admin secretary?They usually know more about the admin than the manager!

As for what the staff do well you worked Nursing Homes before so you know more than you think about their routines! Observe,take notes ask questions.If you get sidetracked,note time and reobserve the next day at that time.Nursing Home main routines don't tend to change too much>Have a browse through care plans,see how much detail there is and how thorough it is.

Give yourself a good two weeks to get to grips with the place maybe concentrating on one aspect at a time and then it will all come together.Go for it,you can do it!!:balloons:

[CapeCodMermaid, RN]

Congratulations on your promotion! Of course you're not going to know everything the first few weeks...or maybe even months. Being in management requires a whole different way of looking at things.

I agree with the previous posters. See if your company offers a class or will send you to a class on management.

And remember, you are still a nurse. I used to hate it when my staff asked me if I ever wanted to go back to being a nurse. Hmmm I'd say...what am I? A fireman? Chef...nope....still a nurse even though I don't wear scrubs and I don't hand out meds. Good nurses are needed in every part of the facility. Don't give up. You might find that you really like being a manager. You can still have a huge impact on the lives of the patients.

Keep us posted.

[Mrs. M.]

I think it takes a good 2 years to get comfortable with being a new manager. That doesn't mean you are in for two years of hell, but it's going to be a roller coaster. After a couple of years people often feel that they wouldn't want to do anything that wasn't management related. Once you get used to having the authority to make changes it's hard to go back to line staff where you have to put up with someone else's bad management decisions.

Give yourself some time, and take some time every morning to organize your day. Did you work on this unit as a staff nurse previously?

[marjoriemac, LPN]

No, I worked in another home. I feel even the nurses role is real different here. The nurses do a lot of admin too. I think it is good and bad that I am new to the home as I am not familiar with the staff but that unfortunately means I don't know who to look out for!