Question for Managers about Charge role

flipflopsNsweetTea · Apr 18, 2019

I am not a manager of a department and I never have been, but I am the house Supervisor, so I deal with a lot of charge nurses, and of course, I was a charge nurse when I worked the floor. I would say that there are a few big key elements I would look for in a good charge nurse.

1. Knowledgeable- a good charge nurse has to know the unit. You need to have a good concept of how it runs, the flow, the culture, the expectations, the strengths and the weaknesses. That also means knowing your staff.

2. Time management - a good charge nurse has to have good time management skills. For me, it was always important to try to stay at least one step ahead of the game and to have a plan for the "what-ifs."

3. People skills - People have to like you. No one wants a charge nurse that they don't like and you have to be able to deal with conflict. You have to be able to stand up to your staff when needed, but also stand up for them when needed.

4. Be calm! You cannot lead a unit in a panic. If the person in charge is running around in a panic, the staff will feel that panic and next think you know, everyone is stressed. So, a good charge nurse keeps calm. In my years as a charge nurse and a House Supe, the thing people always seem to appreciate about me is that I am very calm.

Good luck!

kp2016 · Apr 18, 2019

Do you have a BSN? Some units make that a requirement for being a Charge Nurse. To be clear I don’t agree with this personally, but I have seen it.

Cowboyardee · Apr 18, 2019

For the sake of this post, I'm going to assume that what you said is all true - that you had good skills and knowledge, did a good job, had good time management, and that your patients liked and appreciated you. I'll list a number of reasons outside of these that might keep someone from being asked to perform in the charge nurse role:

- You do a good job with your assignments but seldom help other nurses. Good charge nurses tend to roll up their sleeves and jump in when another nurse is sinking.

- You're perceived to undermine the current charge nurses. Feedback from other charge nurses matters.

- You are perceived to undermine the current unit director or her boss[es]. This is perhaps even more obvious. No one will give you more authority if you are perceived as a liability to them.

- You freeze in emergencies.

- You're considered a bit of a pushover. Not always a problem, but this can make for a very weak charge nurse especially if there are a lot of strong personalities on your unit.

- You refuse to perform some duty that is thought of as a step in the process of your development. Most commonly, this would be serving as a preceptor for new hires. Refusing one duty or another can stall out your progress.

- You don't get along with the other nurses on your unit or are considered too much of a loner. This may well be the case if you are not comfortable asking anyone about your advancement after six years on the unit. If you are going to be in charge, it helps if the other nurses feel comfortable around you, like you, and/or respect you.

With all that said, sometimes it's just a simple oversight. Or maybe management erroneously got the impression you don't want the role, or even hinted about it and mistakenly thought you were declining. Without feedback, who knows?

Calbrunette · Apr 18, 2019

Thanks for the solid replies. It's good food for thought. I just need to figure out how to not let this affect my confidence.

Leader25, ASN, BSN, RN · Apr 22, 2019

Please do not feel loss of confidence,feel damn angry because as usual they played favorite pet nurse.I have seen this over and over again,.It is best to leave and be rid of them.There are many types of cliques and favoritism as in same school,same language,same age all play a role,dont kid yourself.

Good luck

Jory, MSN, APRN, CNM · Apr 22, 2019

Here is the truth: Sometimes being asked to do charge is about a popularity contest. I'll give you an example.

I started my career off in pediatrics. Worked in a smaller hospital, worked with this insanely well-trained nurse originally from a very large hospital in Colorado. Her knowledge...blew me away. She had been a nurse for about 8 years before she transferred when her husband got into a graduate program where we live. Her organization/care, was exceptional. She was very nice and even-tempered. I thought I was a pretty good peds nurse until I worked with her--I completely give her credit for making me a great nurse.

They NEVER asked her to be charge the whole time we worked together. All of the "charge girls" as we started calling them, were personal friends of the manager and were friends of each other. I figured out it was a clique when they asked this one nurse (that got the job because of who she knew) to be charge after only one year AND she was sloppy, called in constantly, hot-headed, complaints from patients etc.

Her being oriented to charge was brought up in a meeting and when I stated, "We really have some very talented nurses that have put in their time that should be given the opportunity for charge shifts before less senior nurses". The manager quickly changed the subject and the sloppy nurse was crowned the newest to orient to charge.

When I became the manager later I changed things drastically....Anyone who had been there for two years who had a good track record was oriented to charge. Everyone. That is the way it should be.