Without a doubt, the single most unpleasant aspect of my job as a DON in assisted living is employee discipline. I HATE having to 'punish' people for being human and doing stupid things at work, even when it's richly deserved---probably comes from having been an "abused" employee myself.
Tomorrow, I have to let go a staff member who's been at the facility for years. He is a middle-aged man with adult ADD who has had a troubled employment history, although he IS a good caregiver and obviously loves the residents. However, his slacking and a stinky attitude over the past couple of months, plus three no-call-no-shows in less than two weeks, are more than even I can tolerate, so I have made the decision to terminate him.......went through all the proper channels with the HR director at our parent organization, documented everything, and got his final paycheck and termination letter delivered to my office at 5 o'clock this afternoon.
And even though I know I'm doing the right thing, not only for the residents but for staff who have been inconvenienced by this employee's failure to show up on multiple occasions and his "forgetting" that he can't walk in and immediately take a half-hour break, I feel so sad about having to fire him.
It's HARD being the bad guy, I tell you. I enjoy leading and teaching employees, not calling them into my office to criticize them or writing them up........Thankfully most of my staff are hard workers who care deeply about the residents and do the best they can, but there is always the occasional worker who's in it just for the paycheck and couldn't care less if he or she were taking care of human beings or flipping burgers. And it's sad to see someone who used to be a tender and competent caregiver become so burned out that it's impossible to reach him and try to pull him back from the edge before he alienates everyone on both sides of the bed rails.
Believe me, this is not a rash act; for one thing, he has a disability, and I think he's going through a bad patch in his personal life. But I've tried to get through to this over-aged ten-year-old for months now, and I've thought through every possible remedy before deciding he needs to go.
So, how do other nurse managers deal with firing staff members? Do you ever get used to it? I've been a mid-level manager in different settings, but this is the first job I've ever had in which I call the shots on hiring, firing, and promotions. I tend NOT to wield authority with an iron fist---which has sometimes led to accusations that I'm 'too nice' and let people get away with things they shouldn't---and it's very difficult for me to do it when I have to.
Thanks for any advice or words of wisdom. I know this has to be done for the good of everyone involved---maybe even the employee himself---but it sure isn't fun.
