What type of degree does your nurse manager have

ERjodiRN · Mar 12, 2009

i don't work l&d, but where i work it's required to have BS to the manager of anything. Every hospital is different though. Apparently they were really impressed with this individual.

FA to CRNA2b · Mar 13, 2009

A masters is required for managers and above at my hospital system

SummerGarden, BSN, MSN, RN · Mar 13, 2009

i agree with the above poster.... it depends on your hospital and it does sound like his/her credentials were impressive enough for them to hire this person in the first place. also, it sounds like you do not actually know your new manger's qualifications.

keep in mind qualifications does not always = education. some highly educated people are not qualified to lead a person out of a paper bag let alone a floor of nurses. i have known some mangers to hold several don positions in many different settings before obtaining a degree higher then adn. i have also known some who never got a bsn or msn but received a bachelors or masters in something other then nursing and hold the position of don.

btw, your new nurse manager does not need to know l&d inside and out or have been a l&d nurse to run your floor successfully.... surprise, managers think globally! thus, i suspect that his/her past leadership successes in l&d or in other areas of nursing is what makes this person qualified to be your new boss. it will behoove you to give this person a chance. if your new nurse manager fails at leading your floor successfully, their boss will handel the situation… it is not necessary for you and your co-workers to make things more difficult from the start. :twocents:

btw, to answer your question my hospital prefers bachelors or above... it is not required. you can even be in school working on it or you can even have an advanced degree in something else and be hired into management. thankfully, the requirement is that you have 3-5 years of floor work experience in nursing and some years of managerial work experience. i would hate to have an inexpeirenced (never been a manager in his/her life) new grad nurse bsn or msn testing out his/her management skills on me!

ldcmw1 · Mar 13, 2009

I appreciate your feedback. The problem is that she has no idea how to run our unit!!! There are numerous times we bring to her attention that we are practicing out of AWHONN guidelines and ask for her help and we get none!!! She continually patronizes us and when we explain that we need to cancel procedures because the unit is too busy she doesn't support us. These are only a few of the issues we have with her.

I disagree with your comment about a manager being successful without ever having been a labor and delivery nurse. That is just my opinion. I want to know that I can call on my manager and she will come and help out on the unit when we need it. The best managers I've ever had regardless of the job have been the ones that helped out wherever and whenever needed. I've had managers stripping beds for us, transferring pts, answering call bells, acting as secretary, taking care of patients if we need her to, and etc.

lpnflorida · Mar 13, 2009

Managers have a delicate balancing act. One of my favorite managers use to get down and dirty with us. She would pitch in and help without asking it of her. She loved patient care and very much missed it. She was terminated as she helped us so much , she was falling terribly behind in her own duties as Manager.

Give you new manager time to adjust. It will take them at least a year to get a feel not only for your unit and the various personnel , but also to know what all her job entails.

litbitblack, ASN, RN · Mar 13, 2009

Hmmm Sounds like you have enough exp to try for management in that dept. And yes its true you don't need exp in that dept to manage. We had a med surg director who had no med surg exp just l and d exp.

hoppermom3 · Mar 13, 2009

My manager does not have a BSN, and she is an awesome manager. She did work in our department for 8 years before becoming manager, though. She has the balancing act down pat...spends plenty of time in the trenches, but also does a great job at the other end advocating for us with upper management and keeping the department running smoothly.

I feel very blessed to work in our department.