People don't leave their jobs, they leave their manager...

llg, PhD, RN · May 5, 2006

.....
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Unit managers tend to be between a rock and a hard place: crunched between the competing desires of admin and staff with neither side particularly willing to yield to the other and BOTH sides blaming the manager for any failure to materialize their desires.
That, and the fact that I've made more than my last 3 managers (I can work OT) is why I'd not consider being a unit manager for less than 125k/yr. But then again, I'm such a big mouth, I'm sure I've never been considered for such a position in any case. . .
~faith,
Timothy.

I'm glad you see my point, Timothy. I have also avoided being a unit manager in my career, although I do "manage" certain individual projects. I have focused on CNS and Staff Development roles because I think the manager role seems so unattractive to me ... and like you, I would end up getting into trouble by shooting my mouth off!

llg

fergus51 · May 5, 2006

I've quit a job because I didn't like a manager before. My manager gave me attitude because she felt I was working too many night and weekend shifts and it was just a sign to me that she was always going to try to find something to complain about and I didn't want to work there anymore. By the same token, I have stayed a lot longer in jobs I didn't like because I liked the manager.

Ruby Vee, BSN · May 6, 2006

i've quit most of my jobs for geographic reasons -- ex-husband was in the air force. this job is 1000 miles from his next assignment, therefore . . .

my last job, though, i definitely quit because of the manager! she announced that any nurse who would stay in the icu for a decade was mediocre at best, and that she didn't want medicore nurses. she'd had a stable unit with nurses who'd been there for 5-20 years. now she has an unstable unit sucking up travelors and agency folks and full of newbies.

i'll be leaving this job because of the manager as well.

ruby

sayitgirl · May 6, 2006

This is so true. I am leaving a hospital that I have been at for 10 years because I can longer work for the current CEO- he is driving the doctors off and running the hospital in the ground. He is CEO of two sister hospitals ours is the smallest but the biggest money maker. Suddenly we are running 6 milliion in the red (which we hae never done) and the other hospital is looking better and getting more services while he is closing down services at our place. He has replaced the DON with a new MSN grad with two years of nursing experience and no people skills -she hires and fires by whether or not she likes you or not (and she dosen't like many people). I love my job and make a better wage than at other hospitals but I do not think I can hang with this situation much longer.

That must be the story of nursing everywhere. I have been working at a state hospital for the last year now. And the best thing about it is the job stability, once you are in you are in unless you truly do something terrible. Nurse managers do not hire anyone there it is a separate department, there is also a separate department for scheduling so no one can hog all the overtime. The pay is good also, raises every six months, nursing is not a limited job fortunantely. But there are negative points too, but nothing compared to the nonense that goes on outside. We probably have more job options than any other occupation....:monkeydance:

esrun3 · May 6, 2006

I agree, nurses leave because of management. And it's not only in the facilities-even schools, dr. offices, hmo's, etc. seem to attract a large portion of managers who you sometimes wonder if their only credentials are sucking up to higher management. I have actually been told that my expectations of my co-workers doing their jobs and doing them accurately are out of line and I should just pick up the slack. Didn't stay in the job long!! I often wonder why management can't treat their fellow nurses with the respect that we all deserve. I"ve only ever left one job for reasons other than management and that was because I felt my license was on the line and then again...that kind of boils down to management too, doesn't it?

RN34TX · May 6, 2006

I've quit a job because I didn't like a manager before. My manager gave me attitude because she felt I was working too many night and weekend shifts.......

Am I missing something here?

My past and current NM's would always welcome people who seem to love night and weekend shifts.

I guess if you really want to complain about someone or get them out the door, you'll literally think of anything.

"This nurse needs to be fired. She's way too efficient, knowledgeable, and too friendly with the patients and his/her co-workers."

LOL

RN34TX · May 6, 2006

my last job, though, i definitely quit because of the manager! she announced that any nurse who would stay in the icu for a decade was mediocre at best, and that she didn't want medicore nurses.

that is an insanely ignorant statement.

when i read your post, the first thing that came to my mind was the thought of any new grads or other very impressionable people may have heard her say that and how that may have shaped their ideas about nursing.

i hope that only very experienced icu nurses were present when she said that because they would know how full of beans she is.

imho, those types of statements are coming from a very mediocre (on her best day) manager and i certainly don't want mediocre managers on my unit.

what exactly does she want experienced icu nurses to do after a decade of working icu?

become managers like her and spew out such brilliant "wisdom" at staff meetings?

fergus51 · May 6, 2006

Am I missing something here?
My past and current NM's would always welcome people who seem to love night and weekend shifts.

I think those were my exact words to her. The reason she didn't like it is because half of my shifts were scheduled for days, so I was switching too often and she didn't like people switching (she wouldn't give me a straight night line because that would be a pain since someone would have to do straight days and that would make all the others mad that they couldn't do straight days too). She said some nurses doing switches had forgotten they switched or hadn't showed up before. I asked if that had ever happened with me and she said no. Then we just looked at eachother for an awkward silence... She left, I kept switching until I found another job that was happy to give me a straight night shift schedule.

jrlpn · May 6, 2006

I am so happy for you all, I experience a horrible time in georgia with devil spirited nurses in charge, totally unbelievable, I hope to meet increased professional nurses where I am going to relocate, I plan to put my whole armor of God on, and to access for wicket spirits among leadership of nurses as I travel. jclpn:balloons:

pisces59 · May 6, 2006

After being a nurse both at the bedside and as a manager, I can tell you that the leadership at the top..CEO,VP,CNO...have made the greatest impact on my decision to leave the institution where I have been for 25+ years. The focus from that leadership has shifted and though they say the words, their actions clearly dictate otherwise. The moral is at an all-time low, while the benefits and perks are really at an all-time high. But it hasn't helped. Mission, vision, and values are preached but clearly not put into practice. And the staff from the bedside to the management team are opting out. Time and time again, the senior management team have been told to walk the walk and not just talk the talk and they haven't gotten the message. And yes I was a nurse one day, manager the next. And from a first hand perspective, I learned that it was the little things that made the difference...all the money in the world could not keep staff if they were not sure that they were appreciated and that they were not part of the family. And because those little things aren't there for me I am off to what I hope is a great adventure and to get back to why I got in to nursing to start with. I hope as someone else said, that this will prove to be the best thing that has happened to me. :twocents:

clc79092 · May 6, 2006

Where I work several people are leaving due to management. We have an excellent unit clerk who is starting nursing school and needs to go part time. There is a part time position posted for our unit but the Assistant Director told her she needs to find another job ASAP. They just changed our staffing plan to run us even shorter that has been the usual. We have a very high patient turn over rate ( lots of admits transfers and discharges). They even expect the charge nurse to take patients most of the time. Now a charge nurse (I have been relief charge) that is taking patients and trying to charge is not going to be of any real help to anyone else on the unit. I am considering looking in south Texas for a different postion. The only problem is I like the people I work with but the management stinks.

katfishLPN · May 6, 2006

When I was working as a Charge Nurse in LTC a CNA said to me "Mrs. **** (the DNS) told me nurse's are a dime a dozen." I honestly didn't believe she said that. So not long after that I was in a meeting with the DNS and another nurse when the subject of this CNA came up. I told her that he was going around telling people she was saying nurse's were a dime a dozen, thinking she would say "What, I never said that.". :uhoh3: Instead her face got red and she called him down to her office and she said "I said something I never should have said." Anyway she was very embarrassed and had to eat her words. I was so shocked that she would say something like that. Boy was I naive...