challenges-for-new-nurse-managers

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Taking your first nurse manager role is both exhilarating and terrifying. There is so much to learn which is why you may be reading this blog. Seasoned nurse leaders may not always remember what that first year in a manager role was like. You can feel very alone in your journey as you move from being a staff member with good support from other team members to a leader role where the quality of mentorship is very variable across organizations.

This past November, I co-taught with Dr. Joyce Batcheller the New Nurse Manager Program sponsored by the American Nurses Association onsite at their Silver Spring offices. This program will be offered at least twice a year by the ANA with the next class planned for June 2017. We had 37 participants from across the country in the inaugural class. We asked them to talk about their challenges in the contemporary nurse manager role. The following is what they shared with us:

I am introverted which is hard in leadership.
I feel sandwiched between upper management and staff.
I manage multiple units and it is difficult to meet everyone’s needs.
I struggle to control the chaos often losing the battle.
I multi task and have challenges with my workload.
Work-life balance is a problem for me – I work very long hours and don’t know if I can sustain it.
I am doing the work of two people – another manager left and I inherited her unit in addition to mine.
We are very short of leadership staff – there is very little mentorship.
My span of control is more than 100 staff.
I ask myself – What did I get myself into?
The transition from staff member to leader has been hard for me.
I am working hard to build a team where there has been no teamwork.
I feel very alone – it is good to hear the problems of others.
I have problems making choices and asking for help – I have high expectations of myself.
I am juggling so many things – I am not sure I can keep all the balls in the air and maintain my sanity.
Staffing is my problem – a never ending problem.
I struggle between the clinical and leadership responsibilities – I want to jump in but I know I should not.
I have a high vacancy rate – there are problems with our salary and benefits that I can’t control.
I am having growing pains with my teams – I replaced a leader who was here a very long time.
I have problems getting noticed in a high performance organization – it may be hard to believe this but we have so many star performers.
I am managing a specialty unit in which I am not skilled in the specialty and being clinically competent is important to me.

What we learned from working with these new managers was the sense of relief they felt when they realized that others were sharing their challenges. Unfortunately, many had almost no orientation to their new leadership role and some even paid to attend the class themselves. In today’s environment, we worry about the transition of new graduates but very little is being written about the struggles of novice nurse managers at a time when their numbers are growing. We owe it to our new nurse managers to provide supportive transitions because as you can see above, their challenges are many.