Unequal Treatment by Manager?

[laladeedee]

Hi all,

I work at a trauma hospital on a med-surg unit. Here are key issues I've noticed here:

1) Nurse X, Y, and me. Nurse X has 9 months of med-surg experience. Nurse Y has 7 months of med-surg experience, and me- I have 6 months of med-surg experience. We are all new grads.

1.1) My manager has never officially put me or Nurse X as charge nurse. Nurse Y, has been put as charge. I truly think it's unfair- I feel like my manager is not giving equal opportunity to Nurse Y.

2) We have a nurse on the unit, who has 5 years med-surg experience and is always used as the preceptor for new orientees. She has been written up by doctors for her hostile attitude. 2 of our new orientees reported her because they did not like the way they were being treated (1 of them quit). Although all of this has occurred in the past, my manager still uses her as the preceptor for new orientees.

For those of you with insightful opinions, please enlighten me. I want to know, is this normal on a unit? Or am I just taking things too personally?

Appreciate comments. Thanks!

[Stitch3296]

Obviously not knowing all the details or people involved, as far as who has been charge and who hasnt, some people are more suited to the roll. Or have a natural affinity for it. Perhaps nurse Y shows qualities your manager is looking for in a charge. As far as the preceptor, maybe the options are limited? Maybe ask you Mgr what it takes to precept and find out how you can maybe be in that role. Heck the same could be said for being charge. If that's something you're interested in, find out how you can improve to be in the roles you desire.

[AutumnApple]

I will second what Stitch said and point out that we don't know the details. I'll further that with, you probably don't have them all either. Not because you are in your first year or anything but its just a fact that so much goes on that we don't see. We just see the end result of things.

As far as the charge nurse situation goes: You are most likely putting more thought into it than your manager is. Most managers I have known don't consider choosing that day's charge nurse an epic decision. Its just a task they want to get out of the way.

A close friend of mine was in your situation. Other nurses were always being picked before her for charge and there was no rhyme or reason to the selection process. She resented always being passed up and became a bit snippy about it on occasion.

Two years later, she is on the same unit with the same manager. She was handed the schedule making task, which the manager took very serious. The manager even told her she was being given the task because she was detail oriented and reliable.

One morning she was in the managers office handing in the schedule she had composed. The manager was creating the pt assignments and picking each shifts charge nurse. My friend watched her work off the staffing print out, thought her selections were a bit odd and decided to ask why she picked who she picked.

You see, the staff print out listed that day's nurses in alphabetical order. The manager simply went down the list and when she came to the first qualified candidate fir charge, she picked them. No more thought put into it than that. The fact that the list was alphabetical never entered the managers mind, she was just taking the first name that wad qualified.

My friends last name started with an 'S' so........you can see why she was rarely the choice for charge.

That's what I mean by we never have all the details and variables.

We assume everyone else is using the same criteria and selection process we are, then take it personal when their decisions seem to say something about us. In reality, often, people are just checking a box and moving on. They've rarely put as much thought into it as we have.