What do you think about the way Mr.BossMan has dealt with Charge nurse on my floor?

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Specializes in Home Health.

We recently have "trained" every single RN on our floor to be the charge nurse. I (and a few others) feel this actually is counter productive. The boss looks at it like he never has to come in to work to be CN b/c there is always one available. We feel like there are "too many chiefs and not enough indians" (I know this is not "PC" but being Native American I feel I can use it LOL). There are nurses who have not enough backbone, experience to be the CN and there are others who should be the CN that aren't b/c the boss wants to make sure everyone gets a chance even though it isn't the best nurse for the job.

Several nurses are judgmental of the one who is CN b/c s/he wouldn't do it that way when they were/are CN. I feel like we the boss has actually created a hostile work environment.

So, what do the nurses of AN think about this situation?

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Dangerous. I wouldn't want to work under a brand new nurse who hasn't even seen or managed a code yet. Your charge nurse is supposed to be able to be your go-to resource person.

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Agree w/NeoPedi....nothing good will come of this... :(

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Specializes in ICU.

Hmmm, I have an opposite opinion.

I managed an LTACH where there were very few charge nurses. Enough to cover the 7 days of the week, but if someone called out, there was none. Then all hell would break loose, because I found out these nurses cannot function without the charge nurse. They can't look at their own labs, they did not know which Dr's were which specialties, so they didn't know who to call if a lab was off...... the charge nurse always did it. I think it does not develop an independent primary nurse.

There are a few exceptions to what I say. One being, does your charge nurse take patients? Can these nurses function without one like I said above? How much responsibility do they carry?

In the ICU where I worked, there was a charge nurse. Everyone was trained for it after a year. Well, almost everyone... there are some that we might shoot our selves in the head if they took on charge. However, the charge took a full patient load. The nurses functioned independantly. The charge only handled bed flow, staffing, and any major issues that couldn't be handled by the primary nurse.

In conclusion, yes, I think everyone should be trained on a charge level after a certain amount of experience. This will make the floor a more independent floor, where the charge nurse will not be as heavily depended on.

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Specializes in Gerontology.

I agree with Mom. I think its good that everyone gets trained as charge.

Not only does it give everyone a good idea of what being in charge involves, it also means that there are people who can step in on off shifts and if the regular Charge nurse is off sick.

Also, just because you have been trained as charge, does not mean that you are first choice to be charge at any given time.

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We recently have "trained" every single RN on our floor to be the charge nurse. I (and a few others) feel this actually is counter productive. The boss looks at it like he never has to come in to work to be CN b/c there is always one available. We feel like there are "too many chiefs and not enough indians" (I know this is not "PC" but being Native American I feel I can use it LOL). There are nurses who have not enough backbone, experience to be the CN and there are others who should be the CN that aren't b/c the boss wants to make sure everyone gets a chance even though it isn't the best nurse for the job.

Several nurses are judgmental of the one who is CN b/c s/he wouldn't do it that way when they were/are CN. I feel like we the boss has actually created a hostile work environment.

So, what do the nurses of AN think about this situation?

Where I work, it's in our job description that we are able to function as charge after (I think) 6 months on the job. I think that's a good thing. Not everyone likes to be in charge but it's important that they be able to step up when needed.

Nurses being judgmental of each other and a hostile work environment are separate issues, IMO.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, ER.

Here's the thing....this is really a pet peeve of mine, and one of the things that caused me to start job seeking elsewhere at my previous employer. A new grad nurse with 6 months of experience is not ready to be a charge nurse. They can be the smartest nurse in the world, cool as a cucumber in an emergency, and assertive as all get out, it doesn't matter. They are not ready to lead an entire floor of nurses in an emergency, to be THE resource person for everyone. They simply haven't had the exposure necessary to build a foundation as a charge nurse at this point as they are still enhancing their critical thinking and clinical skills. I also have a problem with new nurses being charge after one year in a critical care area. It is very difficult to see the whole picture with a year of nursing experience. You don't know what you don't know until you are phased with the situation.

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Specializes in Hospice.

Our charge does not take patients...but I certainly function without them. There job is deal with possible admits and when there are situations where two nurses are needed. At our facility the charge nurses have been a nurse for many years and really know their stuff. I have several co-workers that have ZERO business in that role. I rarely need help but when i do I want someone who knows what their doing.

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Specializes in ICU.

It depends on what type of staff nurses you have on any particular unit. I am charge nurse on my shift, period. I have several LPN's that I work with, and they cannot possibly be charge nurse. I have to do all their admission physical assessments, give their push meds, etc. If you work with only other RN's, I guess anyone could be in charge, but we usually use only the ones who have a lot of experience with anything that may come up. I don't see how a "newer" nurse could be the "go to person."

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Specializes in LTC, Memory loss, PDN.

Did the boss attend a seminar or something? I do believe in cross training and promoting leadership, but not this shotgun approach.

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Specializes in Leadership, Psych, HomeCare, Amb. Care.
Here's the thing....this is really a pet peeve of mine, and one of the things that caused me to start job seeking elsewhere at my previous employer. A new grad nurse with 6 months of experience is not ready to be a charge nurse. ...

I agree.

I've had a few chomping at the bit to become charge nurses with little experience. With rare exception, I'd like them to spend that first year focused on learning to be nurse.

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Specializes in pediatrics, public health.

At the hospital where I used to work, every nurse with at least two years of experience was trained to charge. However, each shift had 2 or 3 nurses who were the regular charge nurse (for example, on days there was one charge for M-F, and then two other nurses who charged on alternate weekends), and the others would sub if someone was on vacation or called in sick.

I thought this system worked well. We always had enough nurses who could be charge if necessary, and I think being charge some of the time actually made the nurses more tolerant of the people who were the regular charge nurses. They had a better understanding of just how much the charge nurse did for us. Since most nurses didn't like being charge, rather than being judgemental of the person who was charge I think they were just grateful when they didn't have to be charge.

I don't think 6 months is enough experience to be charge, and I think 1 year is pushing it. I know I didn't feel ready after 1 year there, but I think I might have felt ready (or ready enough anyway) after 2 years.

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