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Discussion

When a supervisor forbids you

What would you do if your direct supervisor forbid you to ask questions to clarify something. Such as, your supervisors 1 up told you that you had to order supplies from XYZ company because they were contracted. Knowing that you sometimes order supplies from ABC company you approach your supervisor and explain to him/her what their 1 up told you. Your sup tells you "you will NOT bring this up again, we will just continue on". How would YOU handle this?

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    • Experts

    You have not provided enough info. Any time one contemplates disobeying their direct supervisor, they must prepare for the consequences, up to and including parting ways with the employer. Is this one battle one that you feel must be fought, no matter what? Only you know the details you will use to make that decision.

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    • Author

    I created a scenario without very much factual basis. LOL Something happened that made me think of this scenario. How would you handle a situation where you AND your supervisor were blatantly going against policy and were only recently made aware of it. However, your supervisor told you (as the nurse manager) that you were to keep your mouth shut even though you knew it was wrong.

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    Does your facility have an ethics hotline?

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    OR does your facility have a compliance hotline? If so, report him/her. My facility prefers us to go to our boss's head person first, unless we know that he/she is also in support of the unethical or illegal activity. However, a Compliance officer is suppose to investigate any alligations of wrong doing even if our boss's boss was not made aware. Good luck.

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    Who has the authority to fire and/ or have you jailed? And why the HECK haven't you resigned already?!?!

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    Id take it a step above in a gracious way... A supervisor needs to be 100% approachable and open. No despots should be in leadership roles. Where do these people come from ????

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    • Experts

    I think you need to take the specifics of the situation under consideration. Is it a patent safety issue? (If yes, then definitely follow through with some higher authority.) Does it involve anything illegal or against legal contracts, etc? (If yes, then definitely follow through with some higher authority.)

    But there are sometimes things that just aren't important to stir up a fuss about. And it is a fact that most "whistle-blowers" pay a price. For example, I do a lot of staff development work in my job. We are all supposed to be cutting back on the amount of paper and xeroxing we do in order to save money. We are also not supposed to buy food/beverages to class participants and charge it to our department like we used to. We are not supposed to be bringing in food from home either as we have a contract with our food vendor and that deprives them of our business. But sure, we ocassionally bring in cookies from home ... or order something from our vendor. Our department director knows about it and so does the Vice President --but they are OK about it even though it does go against our organizational policy. The issue is trivial and not worth making a fuss over. So ... each issue has to be judged on its own merits.

    Pick your battles carefully.

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    • Author

    Thank you all for your input. Being new to management and not exactly "knowing your role" does pose some difficult situations.

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    • Experts

    From personal experience, when I received the edict to keep my mouth shut, it was already decided to fire me. Made no difference either way. Made an interesting story for the authorities, but everyone else laughed, except me. I was the one without the livelihood. In one case the perpetrator moved up and prospered, rewarded for committing a crime against a patient. Sometimes you don't even get the chance to pick your battles. They are fought for you.

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