The Thanklessness of it all
Ever felt like you're fighting an uphill battle in healthcare management? This raw and honest account dives into the daily challenges of nursing leadership - from impossible staffing puzzles to dealing with entitled colleagues. A candid look at the often invisible struggles of healthcare managers, balanced with a reminder about the importance of compassion in our most frustrating moments. Whether you're a healthcare leader or just curious about what goes on behind the scenes, this post offers both commiseration and perspective on the thankless yet vital role of nursing management.
Ahh, one more hell week over. It has been a good mix of the mundane and the infuriating. Life in healthcare management is wild, and not in a good way. You take the brunt of the problems, solve them mostly on your own, and no one is the wiser. A few of the fires I’ve had to put out this week included, but were not limited to:
The never-ending staffing shortage - If anyone could tell me a realistic way to accommodate all leave, days off, overtime, and rotation requests, while maintaining a safe staffing level and skill mix, please do not hesitate to let me know. I am nearly at my wit’s end. Nearly.
Doctors and their own agendas - Procedure list delays leading to cancellations and uncovered procedure lists has been a theme these past few months. It is unheard-of to close a list because there aren’t enough nurses, but consultants close their lists every other day because too many of them have gone on annual leave. I mean, how am I losing in a management scenario that I am not even involved in, but clearly am somehow part of the equation.
Judgement from people who you thought were your friends - Okay, so maybe that’s on me. Maybe I shouldn’t have thought of work colleagues as friends. Maybe I should have drawn a line right from the very beginning. Now, the boundaries are non-negotiable. Questionable things being said about you and your character, when at one point in time, it was exactly that which drew you all together. Colleagues are not your friends. They just look like them.
Nobody wants to do any work - The number of times i’ve had to hold my tongue and stop myself from blurting out the words “but that’s exactly why you’re being paid to be here” should be commended. All in the name of being collaborative. Everyone is complaining about everyone else not doing their job, when the complainant as well is just as bad. I do not think of myself as a perfect nurse or anywhere close to that. I don’t understand why the lack of self awareness in some adults is just appalling.
The audacityyyy! - You’d be surprised how entitled people can get. You’d think it’s just the patients that are problematic, wait until you’re managing registered professionals that seem to think they can just pick and choose what to do at work on a daily basis.
Sigh. Let’s just take deep breaths and return to being rational. People are difficult. And it is not all the time on purpose. The amount of silent battles we fight on a daily basis contribute a lot to our demeanour and attitude at work. No matter how hard you try to separate the work and life drama, there will be times that they spill over into each other. In these moments, you have to remind yourself that compassion and empathy should always be shown and offered to challenging colleagues, as long as it is not blatant disrespect for people, it’s fair to say that we all just need to catch a break sometimes.
The next time you find yourself being triggered by someone or something at work, just say “thank god I’m not their manager” and, if it turns out that you are, I can assure you that you are not alone in the frustration. I am right with you on that one.
