" . . . or should we just hire someone mediocre who will stay a decade?"

StephMSeattle · Oct 22, 2003

I live in Seattle. Where do you work? (I want to make sure that I don't apply there)

CougRN · Oct 22, 2003

Can you approach your manager? If you have been there 13 years I would think you would know him/her pretty well. I would just let this person know how their statements made you feel. Let him/her know that you want to stay and that hiring mediocre people isn't good for your unit. Moving on is a part of nursing. Not everyone stays in one place for a long time. But if you enjoy the unit and want to make things better approach this person and try to work forward. If they aren't responsive, move on yourself.

NancyRN · Oct 22, 2003

She didn't call you mediocre. Sounds like a poor choice of words. Maybe she was trying to be funny?

I agree with Coug; saying, "That hurt my feelings," is infinitely better than crawling off to a corner to lick your wounds. Maybe she's desperate enough to actually give credence to some of your ideas for retention.

Katnip, RN · Oct 22, 2003

Wow. If I were a new hire and heard that, I'd be out the door so fast.

It doesn't sound like she was referring to her current staff. It just sounds like she got a bad moment of "foot in mouth."

KMSRN · Oct 22, 2003

Ruby Vee - She probably didn't mean to insult you. If she thought you were mediocre she wouldn't have said anything in front of you. Like cyberkat said, she probably had a bad moment of "foot in mouth". People sometimes say dumb things and I try not to take offense where none is intended.

live4today, RN · Oct 22, 2003

((((((hugs)))))) :kiss

We are all known for having "foot in mouth" disease on more than one occasion in our lives. She just proved to her staff that she too is vulnerable to "said disease process". :rotfl:

Now, when we get a "disease", what are we taught to do with it? Find out how we got it, from where we got it, and find a cure for it.........right? Well, you will go talk to her and let her know that her "foot in mouth" disease was very inappropriate and insulting to hear, especially from a nurse manager's mouth who should be boosting her staff's moral...not weakening it further than it already may be. Then wait for her response. She may again show you that she STILL has "said disease", or that she can comeback with a "temporary cure" for it until the next time that disease surfaces from her mouth.

Try to have a happy day now! :kiss

sullkath · Oct 22, 2003

I recently accepted a position in The ED at a local hospital and once there found out just how desperaten they were and that they can't seem to hold on to nurses, especially the experienced RN. I want to leave right away. I went to a staff meeting within the first 2 weeks and was horrified at the way the nurses were spoken to. No respect! Not a thank you or good job in the 2 hours we were there! What's up with this . And if I do move on I feel like I should say something to the director !!! :rolleyes:

nursemaa · Oct 22, 2003

I agree that you should talk to your manager and let her know that your feelings were hurt by her remarks. What she said was disrespectful, but she probably didn't mean it that way. I've found as a manager to carefully consider what I say and not to express every thought that pops into my head. But sometimes those words fall out anyway. I admire nurses who stay in direct care; I think YOU are the most important ones in my department!

We had a vice-president of nursing one time that said in public that she thought nurses who stayed at the bedside were unmotivated and...can't remember the other word she used but you get the point. I told my manager at the time (I had been at the bedside for 15 years) that not everyone wants to go into management, and besides, doesn't that show strong commitment to direct patient care? We just all wrote her (the VP) off as stupid!

live4today, RN · Oct 22, 2003

Originally posted by nursemaa

We had a vice-president of nursing one time that said in public that she thought nurses who stayed at the bedside were unmotivated and...can't remember the other word she used but you get the point. I told my manager at the time (I had been at the bedside for 15 years) that not everyone wants to go into management, and besides, doesn't that show strong commitment to direct patient care? We just all wrote her (the VP) off as stupid!

If all nurses left the bedside, who would take care of the patients? Aren't the patients the reason we all enter nursing in the first place?

Bedside nursing IS a real JOB! A tough job at that! :rolleyes:

We can't all be managers. There aren't enough management positions in healthcare to accomodate all who want to be management. Just check out the unemployment lines and you'll know this is too true for many people who seek to be "managers" over something.

I do not think of myself as "unmotivated", and if I ever met your old mgr I'd tell her a thing or two or three or four. :rolleyes:

nursemaa · Oct 22, 2003

cheerfuldoer:

exactly right!!!!!!!!!!!! "My" staff nurses are some of the MOST motivated people I know! It takes incredible motivation and commitment to take stay in direct care; I know because I stayed at the bedside (and loved it!) for about 15 years before I decided to try management.

This woman was a little nutsy anyway, really messed up our nursing division with her dumb ideas. Thank goodness she didn't stay long.

oramar · Oct 22, 2003

dear nursemaa, I have met managment people who oozed contempt for bedside nurse. One honestly said something along the lines of what you reported. Something like, "intellengent, motivated people don't stay at the bedside". It was at a staff meeting and within a month, half the nurses in the room that heard it had moved on to other jobs. It seems to me that the attitude Ruby Vee is describing in her manager may be the reason for the turn over. Ruby should tell her "if you want to see the reason for the turnover go look in the mirror, after that remark I am on my way out the door also".