As a unit manager, it seems as if everything is my responsibility. It is almost as if people expect me to be three places at once (which, of course, is impossible). Everyone seems to think that I should attend to their requests RIGHT NOW regardless of what else I have going on and the urgency of each task. If I don't respond to their requests immediately, they have no problem expressing their frustration with me.
A couple of these situations occurred today. I had a couple of Care Conferences scheduled (which are basically routine meetings to discuss resident progress, plan for discharge if appropriate, etc). Unfortunately, during both of them, other urgent situations came up. Medical issues requiring immediate attention (one patient's surgical wound was worsening while another one was experiencing a sudden onset of shortness of breath). Regardless of the fact that these issues required my undivided attention, I was scolded by several coworkers that demanded I attend these meetings regardless of how critical these other issues were. One of them stated that it was important for all staff to "do our due diligence," while another one stated that I needed to attend this meeting no matter what, even though, in both instances these meetings were for residents who were currently medically stable.
After delegating some work to the floor nurse, I was able to attend one meeting, but not the other. Despite the seriousness of the one situation, which required my full attention, my coworkers still expressed displeasure over me not prioritizing a routine meeting discussing ostomy care over someone experiencing a medical emergency. I explained to them that I would be happy to follow up with questions the family may have later on, but I needed to attend to these patients first. They weren't satisfied and resorted to calling in my co-manager to the meeting instead. I am sure they reported me to the DON as well.
I am wondering if anyone else has been in a similar situation and what your response to your coworkers was. After all, it's not as if I can schedule my emergencies at convenient times.
It sounds like role clarification is needed. If you report to the DON, ask her what your priorities are in this situation.
Managers should be visible and even help out at certain times, but someone else is providing direct patient care. If a patient was short of breath when you were off duty on a weekend or evening, it would be handled.
Specializes in Pediatrics, Pediatric Float, PICU, NICU.
1 hour ago, FolksBtrippin said:
Is it possible you are taking on responsibilities that should be handled by the nurse assigned to the patient?
I'm not sure, because I've never worked in a nursing home.
This was my exact thought too.
In inpatient world if my patient is having a medical emergency, as the assigned bedside nurse it is my responsibility and I wouldn't in a million years expect a manager to drop what they are doing and come help. Management might (with emphasis on only might) help out if they coincidentally happen to pass by.
I have no experience outside of the hospital setting so I could be completely wrong. BUT if the "normal" expectation is for an emergency like this to be handled by the bedside nurse but you inserted yourself and left a meeting to do so, then perhaps their frustration comes from that.
In inpatient world if my patient is having a medical emergency, as the assigned bedside nurse it is my responsibility and I wouldn't in a million years expect a manager to drop what they are doing and come help. Management might (with emphasis on only might) help out if they coincidentally happen to pass by.
I have no experience outside of the hospital setting so I could be completely wrong. BUT if the "normal" expectation is for an emergency like this to be handled by the bedside nurse but you inserted yourself and left a meeting to do so, then perhaps their frustration comes from that.
I can understand your point, but that's not what happened here. I was already involved with the emergency, so it made sense to ensure follow through. The CNA notified me as the assigned nurse could not be found right away, so I did respond. I never left a meeting to attend to the emergency because I was already involved in the emergency and was never at the meeting to begin with. I simply relayed to another attendant going to the meeting that I could not attend due to an ER transfer. As a manager, I'm expected to handle most, if not all, emergencies and changes in condition if I'm in the building. A routine meeting can wait; treatment for a pulmonary embolism should not
However, if I had left a meeting just to do something else, that would be entirely different and I could agree with their frustration
It sounds like role clarification is needed. If you report to the DON, ask her what your priorities are in this situation.
Managers should be visible and even help out at certain times, but someone else is providing direct patient care. If a patient was short of breath when you were off duty on a weekend or evening, it would be handled.
When I am in the building, assisting with changes in patient condition comes first. My DON agreed with my prioritization. And yes, if I am gone, obviously someone else would handle it. I will say that I have received phone calls at 2AM for nurses needing to know what to do for patients having chest pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, etc.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
19 hours ago, SilverBells said:
When I am in the building, assisting with changes in patient condition comes first. My DON agreed with my prioritization. And yes, if I am gone, obviously someone else would handle it. I will say that I have received phone calls at 2AM for nurses needing to know what to do for patients having chest pain, shortness of breath, abdominal pain, etc.
Then some education and training is in order STAT for your nurses. This is nuts they don't know what to do in those situations.
Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.
As an agency nurse, I worked with a charge nurse who criticized me for not asking her before I gave a PRN for agitation. She took me aside and said You need to run everything by me before making decisions. I said OK, and started asking her before I did things. Pretty soon she was all... Why are you bothering me with all these details?
This made her very difficult to work with. It was also a general problem in that facility that nurses were both micromanaged and yet also abandoned by their supervisors.
It led to a lot of bad feelings in general.
Leading people is a skill and is rarely taught as such.
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Nurse Beth, MSN
145 Articles; 4,505 Posts
It sounds like role clarification is needed. If you report to the DON, ask her what your priorities are in this situation.
Managers should be visible and even help out at certain times, but someone else is providing direct patient care. If a patient was short of breath when you were off duty on a weekend or evening, it would be handled.