Reasons for inhumane managerial behaviour

[pedicurn]

Have read several posts here detailing some very inhumane behaviour by managers / DON's.

Really quite shocking. As I am from Australia - there may be some cultural difference here which I don't understand.

Or perhaps it's the corporate environment that's the big difference.

Why do people behave like that?

What happens to managers when they have to find a replacement for a sick nurse?

- Do they have to literally work it themselves and is that why some of them get so snippy?

- If they hire an agency nurse ... does that place so much pressure on the budget, the manager is in trouble? Surely some agency use should be ok ...I would understand if this got out excessive.

- Are the persons above the manager not nurses; therefore don't understand significance certain illnesses. The recent post about a nurse in ?SVT was particularly poignant

And lastly ... surely, as cycles come around; they will be begging again. It probably wont be across-the-board begging but certainly they will be desperate for experienced nurses again soon.

With certain facilities who treat nurses so poorly ..... surely massive retention issue looming?

[Midwest4me]

... Although our system is far from perfect we at least have some level of protection and cannot be 'fired at will' and if I were screamed at by my boss I'd be screaming right back at them.

I agree and HAVE used a loud voice on occasion when a staffing nursing supervisor called me on my day off. I was with a different dept years ago and despite REPEATEDLY stating verbally and in writing that I wanted NO CONTACT on my days off I did NOT want to be called at home, they continued to do it. I'd HAD it finally! I see it this way: I am on my own time, in my own house. I am NOT being paid on my time OFF to be nice to those people. We are abused by chronic mandatory extra shifts(can be mandated 4 out of our 5 days to work an extra shift beyond our regular 8-hr shift---i.e., so we really have to expect to work 4 16-hr shifts in a row due to call-ins, vacationers, etc.), abused by our violent pts, and expected to just bounce back. If we voice our concerns to the uppity mucks, then we're in trouble. It's asinine......yep, I am burned out but still have 5 yrs to go until retirement unless the stress of the place kills me first.

[JenniferSews]

I am a nurse manager. In the case of many long term care/ sub acute care facilities if you can't find someone to work the shift then yes, I did have to work the shift myself. Sometimes that has meant taking a benedryl and having a glass of wine at 2pm so I could go to sleep and then wake up at later to be at work at 10pm. Or getting in at 6am and having to work 16 hours and then have someone call in for the next 8 hour shift. Even in my employer friendly state my license is at risk if I agree to work more than 18 hrs a day. I have never yelled at someone, but I've been very tempted when a nurse leaves in the am saying she's ****** off and will be calling in that night to "get back at admin." And that was my very first day on call!!

I've worked 10 hours 5 days a week and have been asleep for 2 precious hours, then someone calls in because they have to work in 10 hours and their blood sugar is 400+ (but they are not a diabetic and have no way to check their bs that they can explain.) Consider that is the 18th person to call in in 48 hours out of 100 employees it can be hard not to lose your patience. It's also hard to take some employees seriously when they have a pattern of hard to verify reasons why they call off. Remember there are two sides to every story.

OTOH I have worked for a truly CRAZY, bipolar maniac. It was hell for the entire facility and they still haven't recovered.

[Platypus]

"It's also hard to take some employees seriously when they have a pattern of hard to verify reasons why they call off. Remember there are two sides to every story."

Jennifer,

Just this morning I got a call from an aide telling me how she cant get out of bed. She is in so much pain from a herniated disk and a pinched nerve and she just cant get out of bed to get to work. Ok I say (Knowing we are well staffed for the morning). Then she adds, I will definately be in tomorrow as I am scheduled for a double. I say Ok and hang up. I just cracked up - either she is lying about today or completely unrealistic about her ability to heal in 24 hours from her extremely painful injuries.

[MouseMichelle]

I am a nurse manager. In the case of many long term care/ sub acute care facilities if you can't find someone to work the shift then yes, I did have to work the shift myself. Sometimes that has meant taking a benedryl and having a glass of wine at 2pm so I could go to sleep and then wake up at later to be at work at 10pm. Or getting in at 6am and having to work 16 hours and then have someone call in for the next 8 hour shift. Even in my employer friendly state my license is at risk if I agree to work more than 18 hrs a day. I have never yelled at someone, but I've been very tempted when a nurse leaves in the am saying she's ****** off and will be calling in that night to "get back at admin." And that was my very first day on call!!

I've worked 10 hours 5 days a week and have been asleep for 2 precious hours, then someone calls in because they have to work in 10 hours and their blood sugar is 400+ (but they are not a diabetic and have no way to check their bs that they can explain.) Consider that is the 18th person to call in in 48 hours out of 100 employees it can be hard not to lose your patience. It's also hard to take some employees seriously when they have a pattern of hard to verify reasons why they call off. Remember there are two sides to every story.

OTOH I have worked for a truly CRAZY, bipolar maniac. It was hell for the entire facility and they still haven't recovered.

Hey I can't even start to realize how hard being a DON is, with everyone on your back, with State issues, with survey's with everything it's all dumped on you. However I still do not feel that that makes it okay to be a bully to your employees. I figure that if you start yelling at your employees for really no reason, or having no empathy whatsoever (like whn I called off 30 minutes before my shift because I truly thought I was having a heart attack) I understand that puts her in a difficult situation but have some empathy, don't yell at me and make it worse then hang up with "whatever" that's the sort of thing that causes good staff to leave. I think when a manager gets to that level they need to find another job.

But like I said I've turned down offers to be a DON many times because the stress would drive me nuts.