As a nurse for 19 years in Memphis areas hospitals and a local children's ER, I have seen many events that go unrecognized, and unacknowledged.
As managers sit in their office looking at computers and manuals, and attend meetings, I believe they have forgotten the reason they became a nurse, so here is a refresher.
The unit nurses are the ones who ultimately do the work, take care of the patients and are the ones that the public look up to, Who the public look to in time of need and despair. WE are the ones that hold the hand of a scared child who is alone, of a crying child during painful procedures, who calm the parents down when they arrive not knowing if their child is alive. WE are the ones who offer our hands, our shoulder to cry on and our knowledge to them. WE are the ones who go in the room with the physician to tell the family that their child may not live. WE are the ones who are there in their most dreadful moments to somehow ease the pain of death and dying. WE are the ones who administer the pain medication, when bones are fractured, when stomachs ache, and when sickle cell disease is out of control. WE are the ones that get coughed on, sneezed on and vomited on. WE are the ones that gets handed a "blue" Baby with the mom screaming "she's not breathing". WE are the ones who laugh, cry and pray with the family. WE are the ones that are expected after one trauma is over to immediately go out and care for the others, with no time for ourselves. WE are the ones who work short staffed, with no lunch breaks and faulty equipment. WE are the ones who take money out of our pockets to give a family christmas presents who just lost everything in a fire, no matter how the fire happened. We are the ones that continue to work a code when our baldders are about to explode, to hold ourselves together when a child dies, or is a victim of sexual abuse, as we question God why this happened. WE are the ones humbled. We are the ones that carry out the mission, the ethics and moral attitude of the nursing profession.
Then when our day is over we go home to our families and thank God that they are alright. WE are the ones that put our families second only to the patients we care for. WE are the ones haunted by our dreams. We seek no professional help in dealing with the multiple traumas. WE are a strong team. WE are the united front. WE are the ones who make the difference in this community. With all of this We are the ones who choose to work each day. WE are the ones whose blood sweat and tears are wrapped up in the department. WE are the ones who work for little money,, because our reward will come in heaven.
This happens every day in every department in every city. Managers cannot see this because they are not there. How are mangers going to evaluate us, if they cannot see us?
So as a manger have you failed your staff, failed the community and failed your nursing ethic for not really seeing who WE are?
As you sit in your office do not forget the ones in which you work for. Yes, youo work for us, not against us, not above us, for us. For us to be able to make that difference, for us to be able to come to work each day.
Mangers will never find a perfect nurse, and WE will never find a perfect manager. There is a happy medium. WE will be late, WE will call in, and WE may not get every piece of paper signed, but WE are the united front, WE are the ones who make the unit run. WE are the ones who make the difference.
I am an LPN. I am a vital part of the united front. I make a difference.
I invite any and all LPN's in Tennessee area to join me as I head up the Tennessee Chapter of the NFLPN.
I want our voices to be heard. I wnat to change the attiudes and open the eyes of some of the mangers who fall into this category.
Our profession is strong and I plan to make it stronger.
Feel free to post here or private message me.
Kathryn LPN
edited out real name/email address for TOS compliance/security
Specializes in ICU, ED, Transport, Home Care, Mgmnt.
YEAH- WHAT LADYBUGLASS SAID.
NurseKat64 you said that you don't seek professional help for all the trauma's and you put your family second. You perhaps need to rethink your choices. If you won't take care of yourself, eventually you won't be able ot take care of your family or your patients. If you need help it's up to you to ask for it, to seek it out. Don't wait until it begins to destroy your life. Your family should come first, always. A good manager realizes that, a good manager will be out there observing you in the trenches. A good manager won't evaluate someone they haven't observed in action. I've had that happen to me and resented it completely. As a manager I take my job very seriously and it disturbs me when I can't staff a shift, but I can't force people to work and I know of very few hospitals that will allow a nurse manager to close beds until staffing can be improved. There are a lot of things managers have to deal with of which you have no clue, because you don't observe her/him in action, but then that is not your job. Many of us became members of management in hopes we could make things better for the staff and the patients. We have to work within the confines of upper management and what they will allow us to do. Much of your post is excellent, but don't lump all mangers into one pile. As in all professions, at all levels, there are the good, the bad and the ugly.
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
Nursekat64,
I thought your post was beautiful and right on the money. There are some good nurse managers and thank goodness for them, some are simply between a rock and a hard place and try their best, some have totally lost sight of nursing and really need to read your post and open their hearts.
as a nurse for 19 years in memphis areas hospitals and a local children's er, i have seen many events that go unrecognized, and unacknowledged.
as managers sit in their office looking at computers and manuals, and attend meetings, i believe they have forgotten the reason they became a nurse, so here is a refresher.
the unit nurses are the ones who ultimately do the work, take care of the patients and are the ones that the public look up to, who the public look to in time of need and despair. we are the ones that hold the hand of a scared child who is alone, of a crying child during painful procedures, who calm the parents down when they arrive not knowing if their child is alive. we are the ones who offer our hands, our shoulder to cry on and our knowledge to them. we are the ones who go in the room with the physician to tell the family that their child may not live. we are the ones who are there in their most dreadful moments to somehow ease the pain of death and dying. we are the ones who administer the pain medication, when bones are fractured, when stomachs ache, and when sickle cell disease is out of control. we are the ones that get coughed on, sneezed on and vomited on. we are the ones that gets handed a "blue" baby with the mom screaming "she's not breathing". we are the ones who laugh, cry and pray with the family. we are the ones that are expected after one trauma is over to immediately go out and care for the others, with no time for ourselves. we are the ones who work short staffed, with no lunch breaks and faulty equipment. we are the ones who take money out of our pockets to give a family christmas presents who just lost everything in a fire, no matter how the fire happened. we are the ones that continue to work a code when our baldders are about to explode, to hold ourselves together when a child dies, or is a victim of sexual abuse, as we question god why this happened. we are the ones humbled. we are the ones that carry out the mission, the ethics and moral attitude of the nursing profession.
then when our day is over we go home to our families and thank god that they are alright. we are the ones that put our families second only to the patients we care for. we are the ones haunted by our dreams. we seek no professional help in dealing with the multiple traumas. we are a strong team. we are the united front. we are the ones who make the difference in this community. with all of this we are the ones who choose to work each day. we are the ones whose blood sweat and tears are wrapped up in the department. we are the ones who work for little money,, because our reward will come in heaven.
this happens every day in every department in every city. managers cannot see this because they are not there. how are mangers going to evaluate us, if they cannot see us?
so as a manger have you failed your staff, failed the community and failed your nursing ethic for not really seeing who we are?
as you sit in your office do not forget the ones in which you work for. yes, youo work for us, not against us, not above us, for us. for us to be able to make that difference, for us to be able to come to work each day.
mangers will never find a perfect nurse, and we will never find a perfect manager. there is a happy medium. we will be late, we will call in, and we may not get every piece of paper signed, but we are the united front, we are the ones who make the unit run. we are the ones who make the difference.
i am an lpn. i am a vital part of the united front. i make a difference.
i invite any and all lpn's in tennessee area to join me as i head up the tennessee chapter of the nflpn.
i want our voices to be heard. i wnat to change the attiudes and open the eyes of some of the mangers who fall into this category.
our profession is strong and i plan to make it stronger.
feel free to post here or private message me.
kathryn lpn
edited out real name/email address for tos compliance/security
very very well put.it seems like alot of nurse managers have lost sight of what our jobs actually encompass. nowadays...it seems that they could care less how their staff is truly functioning.they have a vague recollection of actually working with patients...and actually boast that "i have been a nurse for 22 years"...but what they fail to include there.......is the fact that they havent actually taken care of a patient in the last 12 years!!!!how can they evaluate you...if they dont truly understand "what" you actually do?how can they as managers claim to be proficient enough to evaluate their staff when they havent touched a patient in over 10 years?it sadly seems that at time they have become part of the problem and not the solution.if you ever really question "some-not all" ofthose nurse managers.....it is fairly easy to reconize that unfortunately at time they are clueless as to how their own telemetry monitors work, cant even interpret an ekg rhythm,assessment skills are of course not to par.....so how can they truthfully evaluate their staff...or evaluate what their units truly need?are they able to make reasonable decisions for the staff if they dont accurately understand what they do and how the unit is functioning?some" just stand there smiling really pretty...hoping you dont ask them anything that cant be covered with a vague answer.i think all nurse managers should have to be on call...and come in when the need arises for more staff/cover call ins too.but they dont...instead they close beds.just making an observation....do you think someone who has been in case management should be able to make huge decisions for your unit budget? probably not...why? bc.....they truly have no realistic concept of all the things that are compiled in that budget. they ( the case manager) would have a knowledge deficit and therefore not be able to make realistic decisions.
I don't see why you have to attack other nurses to validate your own job.
Your job is very important, for all the reasons you cite. But that doesn't make the manager's job LESS important.
Sure there are bad managers, but your post juxtaposed all managers as - completely unaware that you are a daily hero.
I'm sorry, just like good bedside nurses, good managers are everyday heroes, too. You could have said just about EVERYTHING you said, and got the positive responses WITHOUT being just another nurse trying to eat our own. . .
I don't see why you have to attack other nurses to validate your own job.
Your job is very important, for all the reasons you cite. But that doesn't make the manager's job LESS important.
Sure there are bad managers, but your post juxtaposed all managers as - completely unaware that you are a daily hero.
I'm sorry, just like good bedside nurses, good managers are everyday heroes, too. You could have said just about EVERYTHING you said, and got the positive responses WITHOUT being just another nurse trying to eat our own. . .
~faith,
Timothy.
Now THAT is a magnificent post ... one of the best I have ever seen on this board. Thank you!
hey...i am a manager. the way i got here? by putting in my time doing all the things you mentioned for nearly 12 years!!!:angryfire
and this case manager is a nurse, thanks. do i "go to meetings" because i like it? hell no; it is incredibly dull. it is part of my job, just like all the things you mentioned are part of your position. when the crap hits the fan, i am the one who goes to all the parties involved to defend the actions of floor nurses and make everyone happy. i do things to support the nurses and aides that work with me; i offer advice (once again, hard won experience), solutions, and a listening ear. what i get in return is invaluable information about the patients that i wish i could see more of.
and if you think crying families and cleaning up poop is unpleasant, try dealing with insurance companies and medicare. many is the time that i have actually wept openly in the office, because i've had to discharge people or arrange for less than optimal care to patients because of the financial side of nursing. it is an endless source of frustration and heartbreak, esp. when dealing with the elderly:( . but if i don't do my job well, then no money will come in; we will all lose our jobs and our patients will get no care, period.
it ain't all just care plans and faxing doctors, dear.
to be frank, you just sound jealous and burnt out. i am sorry if your managers are evil witches. but don't throw me in the pot with them. if you want things to work better, then you need to stop dividing everyone up (we we we vs. they they they).
ladybuglass....i dont see jelousy in the op's thread at all.what i took from it was that nurse managers have become a administrative "yes man".....and lost sight of what their nurses actually do.they havent walked a mile in their shoes in many a day....so what makes them the expert at evaluating their staff?most-not all nm have really warped conceptions of what their nurses do during their shift.it is difficult to make good decisions for the unit...if ya live in a fantasy world about what their job actually entails.i think that a nm's input in an eval should be about 10%- and same shift-50%(peers) and following shift 40%.while attending all the meetings and dealing with ins companies, and case management etc etc etc......it isnt realistic for the advice you give from experience attained from "back in the day"....it isnt realistic to think that it could still apply(most of the time).i feel like every nurse manager should have to actually come in and work as a staff nurse for 8/12 hrs with the same assignment as all the other nurses at least 4 times a year....so that they can maintain a realistic impression of what their nurses are actually doing in their role...bc it is evolving and becoming more and more specialized.you make decisions for the unit.....you should have a realistic idea of what they do.
some nm are great. right now....i think i have a great nm who has a strong work ethic.if something needs to be done for a patient in our icu...she has maintained her excellent skills.....and can step right in to help...and does!
my last nm hadnt taken care of icu patients in years and had an incredibly unrealistic idea of what the staff nurse role had evolved to. she actually stepped down from management and thought she didnt need orientation.....she tried to intimidate staff to mask the fact that she didnt understand the equipment, her skills were nonexistant bc they hadnt been used in years...and she had no idea how to set up for procedures.she imo and most others was useless. but yet...she had been making decisions that affected the entire unit based on warped "conceptions" of what we as nurses do.my current nm has put forth the effort to ensure her skills are up to par....she has a strong work ethic.the decisions she makes for our unit are based on her experience "today"....she is great!
some nm's give excellent evals to staff that are lazy, are not team players, are not proficient...etc etc .......based on "personal ideations" of how they think they perform. kinda like saying " hmmmmm....he is so clean cut looking, speaks eloquently, "appears professional"....he is definitely not a child molestor! ya cant tell a book by their cover....!and just bc you/other have put in your time as ya call it.....doesnt mean you dont have a responsibility to fully understand what your nurses are doing during a 12 hr shift.and by saying "put in your time"...that makes it sound like you perhaps entered nursing for the wrong reasons.
what i attained from this thread was the frustration that some nm's dont have a realistic grasp on what their nurses do for a 8-12 hr shift...bc they have "done their time"....and are not going to "lower" themselves by actually coming in 4 times a year and working as a staff nurse with a normal assignment.some nurses stay in the icus and at the bedside bc they hate the administrative side of nsg- its not for me.
Most managers are indeed, deeply involved with management and all the meetings and paperwork that involves.
And those managers are normally involved in many a public relations battle: representing their staff to upper management, their staff to patients and complaints, and their statf to each other and countless intrastaff bickerings and squabbles.
And some of their great victories often go unnoticed because they involve compromise and sometimes staff only see what they have to give up, and not the whole picture of what was 'got' for them in return.
And being squeezed between upper mangement and staff is a very stressful job, not unlike the stress of the managing of mulitiple, complexed, and prioritized bedside situations.
And yes, sometimes managers forget the first maxim of management: praise often in public, criticize in private. Or sometimes, just like you, they are so busy prioritizing other things they forget this important thing too, because, while it is VITAL longterm, it can be lost day to day.
But.
But.
But.
The premise of your post is invalid. I seriously DOUBT that many managers forget, lose touch with, or don't understand the value of your input. But just as you complain that managers don't recognize YOUR value, you make the same error that you accuse in relation to your understanding of THEIR value.
Without my manager, I would be completely, instead of relatively, at the mercy of the bean counters. . . And if you don't think that would greatly impact your ability to do all the things the OP cites, then you don't understand how valuable a good manager can be.
It goes both ways. Maybe the thread could also be titled, "What bedside nurses fail to see . . ."
BTW - I'm a bedside critical care nurse and have NEVER been a manager. I don't ever want to be. MY JOB IS EASIER.
I've had managers that I thought didn't have a clue. I've also worked w/ many a co-worker that I thought the same thing about. But, I don't put down ALL bedside nurses or equate them all to the lowest common denominator, and I don't think it's fair to do the same to managers. . .
Specializes in Clinical Research, Outpt Women's Health.
Timothy and LLG,
I don't believe in demonizing all managers either, but I totally did not interpret the original post as being angry at or an indictment of ALL or even most managers. I guess we all read different things even when we read the same post!
I don't believe in demonizing all managers either, but I totally did not interpret the original post as being angry at or an indictment of ALL or even most managers. I guess we all read different things even when we read the same post!
I think the title of the thread is instructive of what the OP meant to say, and it is a generalization towards managers . . .
Most managers are indeed, deeply involved with management and all the meetings and paperwork that involves.
And those managers are normally involved in many a public relations battle: representing their staff to upper management, their staff to patients and complaints, and their statf to each other and countless intrastaff bickerings and squabbles.
And some of their great victories often go unnoticed because they involve compromise and sometimes staff only see what they have to give up, and not the whole picture of what was 'got' for them in return.
And being squeezed between upper mangement and staff is a very stressful job, not unlike the stress of the managing of mulitiple, complexed, and prioritized bedside situations.
And yes, sometimes managers forget the first maxim of management: praise often in public, criticize in private. Or sometimes, just like you, they are so busy prioritizing other things they forget this important thing too, because, while it is VITAL longterm, it can be lost day to day.
But.
But.
But.
The premise of your post is invalid. I seriously DOUBT that many managers forget, lose touch with, or don't understand the value of your input. But just as you complain that managers don't recognize YOUR value, you make the same error that you accuse in relation to your understanding of THEIR value.
Without my manager, I would be completely, instead of relatively, at the mercy of the bean counters. . . And if you don't think that would greatly impact your ability to do all the things the OP cites, then you don't understand how valuable a good manager can be.
It goes both ways. Maybe the thread could also be titled, "What bedside nurses fail to see . . ."
BTW - I'm a bedside critical care nurse and have NEVER been a manager. I don't ever want to be. MY JOB IS EASIER.
~faith,
Timothy.
__________________
Timothy.....you are right.It does go both ways!I love taking care of ICU patients....and too would hate an administrative position of NM.I have had horrible NM's and great NM's(like now).What the difference between the two is one stays active on the unit during her occassional down time by actually assisting the nurses and physicians.She keeps her knowledge base current...therefore when she is making decisions for the unit.....she has a sound basis to make choices/decisions from.
Just like there are some CC nurses that are not so great ...same goes with NM's too. Alot of what NM's can/can not do is dictated to them...but there are aspects that they do have control of....like maintaining current "realistic" working knowledge of what their nurses do....and the strengths of those staff members.I dont think anyone here can voice how incredibly beneficial it is to have a strong NM with a current working knowledge of how their nurses function.They can represent the unit with the powers that be...and bring really positive results for staff and patients.But.....it sounds like some here arent even willing to reconize that there are "some" nurse managers......who are unrealistic....and dont care to maintain their skills bc "they have done their time". Do you undestand what I am trying to say? Nurses and Nurse managers alike.....there are some that shouldnt be in either position.
I don't think that the OP is "jealous" but I do think her frustration is misguided. Nurse Managers are merely middle management. They are there to pass along the decisions of the CEO's and powers much higher than the NM position. Sure, the NM may have input to these decisions but it is only if it benefits the bottom line....$$$. They are caught in the middle of frustrated nurses and unyielding Suits.
bethin
1,927 Posts
Wonderful post. I'm due for my yearly eval and guess who does it? The NM who I NEVER see!
I don't think you sound jealous at all. You are simply stating facts.