nicurn88

This is the mindset at my hospital. I have personally heard these words come out of the mouth of the Chief Nursing Officer: "You NICU nurses make too much money!" Well if they would hire more experienced RNs, we wouldn't be working so many extra shifts and messing up their "budget". Personally I don't care about numbers and budgets, my main concern is for the safety and well being of my babies (patients). We have a great group of nurses in our unit and our unit succeeds despite of our nurse manager. Many of us "older" nurses have completely lost respect for her, but we stay at this facility because we love our jobs and the people we work with. Plus the fact of 13 years of senority. As I said in a previous post, I believe that a nurse manager must create an environment of respect, shared responsibility, trust, support and open communication. I truly believe that clinical experience and education helps in the position of manager. Communication skills, open-mindedness, and leadership abilities certainly don't hurt. Thanks.

Could anyone share how your unit's orientation is set up for new grads? I have been trying to develop a STRUCTURED orientation program for my unit for many years and my manager keeps telling me that our orientation is fine. Well, sorry to say it basically s@#*$! Our new grads do not receive any class time, which I think is important and they are lucky if they get 12 weeks. Many times, I feel, their preceptor is not qualified to precept them. I believe that they lack the clinical experience to be a preceptor. No offense to anyone, but I think a preceptor needs more that 2 years in an NICU to be confident in their abilities and their skills. We don't even have a staff educator. The one we have is an L/D nurse and covers L/D, Mom/baby and NICU. I am continuing to develop a structured program for our unit and with the help of a fantastic NNP I should be done soon. I really want new nurses to succeed and I know the NICU is a complicated place to start, but it is very possible. I've been in the NICU for nearly 20 years. I would appreciate any input. Thanks so much, L "Failure is Impossible"-Susan B. Anthony

I believe one of the biggest problems in nursing today is poor nursing management. I believe that a nurse manager must create an environment of respect, shared responsibility and open communication, as well as, demonstrate trust and support for the staff. The manager must also encourage education among the staff. Our manager is harshly critical and lacks empathy and sensitivity. She also lacks the clinical experience and education that should be required for a midlevel management position. Our staff turnover rate is very high and overall morale is quite low. We do however, work as a team, despite the fact that we have very ineffective management and leadership in our unit. There are alot of changes going on with our hospital in the near future. We want our unit to be the BEST! Any managers out there that may want to reply, please feel free. I really needed to vent a little. Thanks.