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Stop Tolerating Bad Managers



Bad behavior from nursing managers is tolerated too often. It shouldn’t be. Here are three steps executive leadership can take to change the culture of healthcare.



4 comments on "Stop Tolerating Bad Managers"
Jennifer (10/30/2011 at 12:02 PM)

I found this article and response comments frustrating on levels. There are those managers who continue fail to meet performance expectations and they should be coached and counseled appropriately up to and including exiting the organization. I have fortunately met very few of those people as a staff member or a leader but they are frequently the ones the physicians like and go to bat for. There is more to explore when discussing "bad managers". Executives who have bad managers might need to look no further than in the mirror. Lack of support, lack of mentoring and failure to communicate and set expectations is a commonly voiced frustration of front-line managers. Combine that with a huge workload including productivity, documentation,risk,financial/regulatory audits,multiple performance reviews and working with staff who frequently make more money for much less accountability. Its not surprising nurses are not interested in leadership roles given what the job entails. Management is the art of getting work done through the contribution of others. Managers are often told by senior leaders; its their responsibility to "get staff" to do things. Many of us know how effective those kinds of directives are. To really change the culture of healthcare executive leadership could start investing in manager selection, development and performance management. Look realistically at span of control and workload for managers and consider flexible schedules and other creative ideas for salaried managers to increase their satisfaction and retention. Managers are employees too- take the time to find out why they are failing, what motivates them and the tools they need to be successful.We might have less "bad managers" out there than we think.
Darlene Hall (10/13/2011 at 1:15 PM)

Too often, as with poor patient satisfaction surveys, staff nurses are blamed for the low scores rather than the managers themselves who are not part of direct patient care. The new healthcare reform has changed healthcare reimbursement based upon patient satisfaction/experience thus causing a decrease in nursing workforce in some instances. This in turn, leads to a top heavy facility with managers that try to create nurses who are completely submissive, afraid, and are controlled. Unhappy nurses leads to unhappy patients.
John J Simon III (10/12/2011 at 12:27 PM)

I understand that this is a nursing site but I think all patient care leaders need to be strong representatives of compassion not only towards their patients but also to each other. We need to have those crucial conversations while creating the atmosphere of trust. Bad behavior on the part of authority can be a safety issue. If an employee sees something at the initial point of being potentially unsafe and does nothing for fear of reprimand we might be performing RCA's.
Kristin Baird (10/11/2011 at 2:32 PM)

Thank you so much for this article. It's time that we look openly and honestly at this issue. Historically, good clinicians are promoted to leadership without the proper mentoring and training. It's important to remember that great leaders are made, not born and that aspiring nurse leaders will be more successful if they have the tools and mentoring to help them grow into their new roles. Senior leaders will do well to keep a close eye on metrics that indicate a nurse manager is off track. Poor patient satisfaction scores and poor employee engagement and turnover are sure signs that something is going on with the nursing leadership on that unit.