Managers ? for you

No Longer ERL

I am being considered for a management job. It is in a clinic...I would be the nurse manager. It would mean a significant pay raise. I have some great ideas to make things better. My questions are do you find you have flexibility? What is the stress level? Do you find it is easy to leave work at work?
I have a 2.5 month old and a 3 year old...we are unsure if we are done. How was maternity leave as a manager? Any advice would be great just trying to figure out what is best for our family. The money would be great just making sure I consider all the other sides.

MrsN052408

I was a nurse manager before, during and after two babies. I have a 3.5 year old and a 9 month old. I have much more flexibility than as a staff nurse. If I need to go in late to take one to the MD or go to a pre-k program, I just stay late or work a few hours extra in the week. The stress level waxes and wanes depending on projects, patient complaints, budget season. I am good at leaving work at work. Not everyone I work with is good at this. It's about setting boundaries for yourself. Trust your staff to make good decisions in your absence. I took 14 week maternity leaves with both babies. It's what I wanted and worked for us. I told my VP ahead of time. I had someone cover me each time. So I handed everything off completely. I kept in touch with work via email to just keep abreast with changes and news since healthcare is literally changing every day. One leave I managed med surg. One leave it managed and ICU. It was not the expectation but I did it in hopes of making the transition easier once I went back. I had good VPs both time who respects my leave and understand you don't mess with people's paycheck or kids! A saying I've heard in nursing. Good luck! I loved my manager jobs.

No Longer ERL

MrsN052408 said:

I was a nurse manager before, during and after two babies. I have a 3.5 year old and a 9 month old. I have much more flexibility than as a staff nurse. If I need to go in late to take one to the MD or go to a pre-k program, I just stay late or work a few hours extra in the week. The stress level waxes and wanes depending on projects, patient complaints, budget season. I am good at leaving work at work. Not everyone I work with is good at this. It's about setting boundaries for yourself. Trust your staff to make good decisions in your absence. I took 14 week maternity leaves with both babies. It's what I wanted and worked for us. I told my VP ahead of time. I had someone cover me each time. So I handed everything off completely. I kept in touch with work via email to just keep abreast with changes and news since healthcare is literally changing every day. One leave I managed med surg. One leave it managed and ICU. It was not the expectation but I did it in hopes of making the transition easier once I went back. I had good VPs both time who respects my leave and understand you don't mess with people's paycheck or kids! A saying I've heard in nursing. Good luck! I loved my manager jobs.

Thanks so much for the insight. I definitely think I will have more flexibility...right now working with 2 MDs and being in clinic 4 days a week...I literally don't know when I will be home it could be 4:45 or 7:00 pm. I work with a good group of people a few who have issues but overall it is a good group. We have been through 2 managers in 4 years. The first was a disaster the manager that is leaving has made positive changes. I hope to continue it.