Charge nurses vs. Asst nurse managers

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Are there any other hospitals besides Kaiser that have done away with charge nurses and instead have assistant nurse managers in charge of the shifts? Does this ever work? My experience at two Kaisers has been that there is huge divide between the RNs and the managers. In fact, there is outright animosity. The asst nurse managers wear heels and skirts and thus, do not do direct patient care.

So I'm wondering if there exists any hospital where this structure works. Also pondering why Kaiser has set things up this way (my cynical side says it was a very deliberate move on their part to take power from nurses).

Thoughts?

0 Votes
Specializes in school nurse.

I suppose at least it's better for anyone made to be charge nurse. I've read a lot of posts here describing people having an almost (or actual) full patient assignment on top of charge duties...

0 Votes
Specializes in Nursing Professional Development.

I can't say as to why any particular employer makes a particular decision ... but I do know that there has been a lot of questioning as to whether or not Charge Nurses are "staff" or "management" when it comes to labor laws. Labor laws talk a lot about people in supervisory positions and have different rules for supervisors vs. the people they supervisors. Charge nurses (particularly "permanent charge nurses") are in a gray area that is open to interpretation. Some employers may have made changes to keep everything clear.

0 Votes
I can't say as to why any particular employer makes a particular decision ... but I do know that there has been a lot of questioning as to whether or not Charge Nurses are "staff" or "management" when it comes to labor laws. Labor laws talk a lot about people in supervisory positions and have different rules for supervisors vs. the people they supervisors. Charge nurses (particularly "permanent charge nurses") are in a gray area that is open to interpretation. Some employers may have made changes to keep everything clear.

Good point, llg. That must have something to do with it. I just wonder if it ever works out, or if there will always be a divide between the two sides. At least with floating charge nurses there would seem to be a bringing together of the sides instead of opposition, because a charge nurse can wear both hats in any given week.

0 Votes
Specializes in NICU.

We have Assistant Nurse Managers. They dress in scrubs like the bedside nurses. We also have Clinical ANMs that are tasked with helping the bedside nurses with admissions, IV attempts, and any other task that requires an extra pair of hands.

0 Votes
Specializes in Hematology-oncology.

There was a similar set up at my previous employer. It actually worked really well there. I worked on a 24 bed pediatric unit. We had 4 assistant managers (2 on day shift/2 on night shift). They each worked 3 twelve hour shifts, and took the charge RN role most of the time. 2-4 times a month they came out of staffing to work on the next schedule, do yearly evals, paper work/that sort of thing during their shift, but were still very hands on when the floor needed help. When one of our assistant managers wasn't working the floor, an experienced nurse took over the charge role for the shift.

0 Votes
+ Add a Comment