Alicia - 56 Days in Management

Alecia -







My education began with training in laboratory technology. I decided that wasn’t for me because I didn’t have enough contact with people. My next step was to try nursing. Nursing was a better fit for me because I believe nursing is somewhat like acting, and I was always drawn to drama and people. By the time I had my bachelor’s degree I was already getting burnt out, or at least I felt that, professionally, I needed to do something more global than bedside care. My goal was to try to elevate the profession. So I went back to school and got my master’s degree. Today I work as a clinical systems educator.

But there were those 56 days in management. I wanted to make a difference in nursing and thought being a manager would be the way to accomplish my goal. I had an ideology of what a nurse leader would be. Before I was hired as a manager I visualized that everyday, as an administrator, my focus would be on the staff. I would find ways to make their lives easier so they could provide quality patient care. The nurse executive agreed with me – that should be the mission. Provide the staff with trust and support.

At the same time I was hired into a new manager position, a new director was brought in from outside of the organization. I saw this as a great opportunity. I could learn from another nurse leader who didn’t have all the history within our culture.

However, one incident changed everything. The staffing schedule left by the last nurse leader couldn’t support the demands of the department. We didn’t want to have the nurses rebid on the schedule if we could get them to work together to fix it.“As nurses we’re pretty good at picking ourselves up, dusting things off, and evaluating what we’ve learned.” So, we scheduled three forums where the staff from the department could meet to try to fix the schedule before we went to rebid. The first forum went well and the staff had great input. The second forum was scheduled for 7:30 one morning. However, at 6:45 that morning I got a page from the charge nurse on duty. Seven night shift nurses were leaving and only four day shift nurses were coming on duty because some nurses had called in sick. There were eight critical care admits they couldn’t move up to the floors because there weren’t enough nurses.

I told the charge nurse not to worry, I was already in the parking lot. By the time I got there, the assistant nurse manager was there and I assumed she was trying to work things out. But the next thing I knew she was gone – she had left to go to the rebid meeting.

The only thing I could do was to pitch in and help the nurses. There was nobody else. There was nobody to work triage, and by state law we had to have someone in that area. I wanted to support the staff through this tough time.

You would think I had made the right decision. The staff thought I did the right thing. I helped out until 9:00 when more nurses came on duty. I consider the people I led to be extremely dedicated nurses and I wanted to support them through a tough time. But management wasn’t happy with my decision. I was actually told by management that I couldn’t make the transition. They thought I should have been at the meeting to show a unified front with management.

And that’s why I only lasted 56 days in management. I felt I let the staff down when I left management, because they felt abandoned by somebody who would provide them with good, quality leadership and support. It hurt me as well, but as nurses we’re pretty good at picking ourselves up, dusting things off, and evaluating what we’ve learned.

What I learned from that experience is if you want to make a difference in nursing, sometimes you have to think outside the box. I recently had an opportunity to share what I learned with a staff nurse who was moving into a leadership role. I told her “Hold your head up high. Don’t lose touch with who you’re serving. Be able to accept the things you won’t be able to change, but take pride in the things you will be able to change. There will be many times you will probably think, ‘Why am I doing this? I’m not getting anywhere. Things that are obvious aren’t being stated.’ Just always reflect on the fact that you know why you’re there. Hold true to your beliefs and maybe you can work your way out of that thing that I couldn’t get out of. And maybe you’ll be able to make a difference.”

Once I stepped down from the management position, I was faced with the option of returning to staff nursing or finding a way to elevate nursing in a positive way. It would have been easy to go back to what I knew, but I decided to do something different that was more challenging. So I went into computers, and am now an educator on the new electronic health record system we are implementing.

It has been a challenge and quite a stretch for me. But through the challenge I’ve re-fueled myself with the strength and energy I had lost in those 56 days. I’m making a difference in the lives of nurses because they are scared and anxious about moving from a paper to an electronic system. Some are saying they will resign because they’re being forced to do this. So I meet with them and preview the programs and put a positive spin on the transition.

The staff knows me and sees me as an informal leader. They respect me and I have credibility. I tell them I wouldn’t be on this project if I didn’t feel it was going to affect us in a positive way. That it’s good not only for us, but also for the patients we serve. And my message has been successful. I’m turning their attitudes around. I feel like I’m finally making a difference in nursing.

Power strategies: Leadership, Influence, Integrity
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