Tips for New Charge Nurses

The charge nurse is the boots-on-the-ground leader and a role model for a unit. It can be a stressful job, but it can also be fun and empowering as you gain knowledge and experience. In this episode, we chat about charge nurse responsibilities and some tips for new charge nurses.
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[@torvlogs7390]

I have been an LPN for 6 years. Finishing my last semester of RN school - this is so important. I am glad to have stumbled upon this conversation piece. Thank you ❤

[@shaneb.3982]

Well done. I'm a day charge nurse in the ICU. I hate that we do scheduling for nightshift and vice versa. We know the strength and weaknesses of our own shift nurses. I also hate it when they give the seasoned nurses the critical pts. I like to give the intermediate ICU nurses these pt.s and have a seasoned nurse as their neighbor to back them up. They will never learn if they don't do. Love your channel. You have a new subscriber.

[@freshrn]

THIS is good leadership and team building. Bravo! Always giving seasoned nurses the tough ones is okay for the short term, but in terms of long term development, we're really clipping the wings of those intermediate nurses. I hope fellow charge nurses begin to pivot to your perspective!

[@michaelajennings3493]

I'm a new charge and have gotten really good feedback on making the assignments. I used to work days and now I work nights so this helps a ton. After watching this I think I need to be better managing through-put and anticipating discharges

[@lacyroberts8229]

Just got put in charge in the ER. I’m terrified so this advice was amazing. Thank you!!

[@freshrn]

You're so welcome! you've got this!!

[@kearneyjohnl7]

Omg! I watched the whole video and was so intrigued! I'm a charge nurse and I can honestly say that I was kinda thrown into this role and learned it by trial n error and watching how other charge nurses handled things. I'm learning every single day and this video helped me bunches! Currently applying for an assistant nurse manager position. I'm going to definitely be watching more of ur videos. I appreciate u!

[@vanessanathan1603]

Believe me , what ever you do never give up, finally I have become a licensed Registered nurse on my 3rd attempt , I can't believe I almost gave up after not making it got the 2nd time, fortunately for me I was recommended to a tutor by my friend's

[@reganlarnach5964]

well, I've taken the exam for the 6th time now and still didn't succeed ,I wonder how those who succeeded did it

[@nathanielcharles2970]

sorry for you predicament , license is for everyone just have to work hard and believe you'll make it

[@paisleybrown3118]

I have sat for NCLEX Exam for the 9th time now and still failed,I guess license isn't meant for people like me

[@johnmicheal4367]

I'm sorry about your plight my friend but I was once in your shoes before I was recommended to Mrs Susan and that's how I passed my NCLEX exam

[@lazharorondon688]

This is exactly what I was looking for. This information is vital at this point in my career. Thanks a million!

[@luismarleneruvalcaba3584]

Love the way you guys explain it. I too ran away from this assignment for many years. Now that I’m in a new hospital I just got thrown into with 10 min of training! So this helps alot because I want to be a good team leader also. Thanks

[@fmgibbons1]

Best discussion on charge nurse behavior I’ve seen

[@tamathahughes9177]

I am 2 yrs in and I have ran from the charge nurse position for a while. I have been asked numerous times from my management team until finally it happened!! It's interesting, exciting, and challenging. Thanks for this video it helps!!

[@freshrn]

Thanks for sharing! Glad it helps!

[@pattiesoltero1024]

Great conversation! Was able to share with our new charge nurses! Thank you!

[@drdluv]

Training to be relief charge. This video is perfect! Thank you

[@stfu1992]

I know I just graduated from nursing school recently and just started but I am interested in charging in the future as I have experience in leadership/management from retail that involved similar responsibilities and expectations mentioned here. I loved this video thanks for the insight ❤️❤️❤️

[@Crispybacon163]

I am a new relief charge and it’s intimidating, I love being there for my friends who have now become my family on my unit, but bed control, staffing meetings, and creating assignments….. intimidating

[@geekbabe100]

I was a psych tech for over 30 years, best charge RN I ever had was a man who just got me. I let him know I really disliked precepting new techs but offered to take over another difficult patient instead. That always worked well! He would sometimes ask new hires to shadow me when I had difficult patients to see how I worked. I was an odd duck, I tended to like the more difficult patients

[@Mister_MasterzRN]

One thing I’m really concerned about is the emergency department sending patients up without a report 😑. It’s a significant safety issue IMO. We're receiving patients from the ER with no report, often arriving just 15-30 minutes before the change of shift, accompanied only by the transporter SMH. I'm so glad you do these podcasts, especially for first-year nurses-this is golden advice!

[@freshrn]

Agree entirely! Getting someone with zero info just isn't great. It all being in the chart sounds fine, but when you have someone comin in hot and you've been busy w/ other patients... just creates a safety issue.

[@gerardineoconnor2212]

GER THIS WAS SO HELPFUL, I AM IN SIMULATION CLINICALS OF REFRESHER COURSE, AFTER BEING OUT OF NURSING FOR 7 YEAARS,

[@deciachristopher2977]

Thank you so much. This was very helpful and insightful. I am grateful.

[@laurinp8839]

Thank you for this! I was just asked to train for the charge nurse position in the ICU I work in and I’m nervous! This was very helpful!

[@freshrn]

You got this! So glad it was helpful!

[@dls8139]

CONGRATZ

[@barefootadrianne]

Yasss! I start charge training in 2.5 weeks!!! Thank you!

[@freshrn]

Perfect timing!

[@dls8139]

CONGRATZ!! YOU GOT THIS

[@amandahawkinslundstrom6507]

Thanks! Good info

[@crystalgoldmillinery-hub6161]

THIS IS SUPER INFORMATIVE ..I LOVE THIS

[@shaneb.3982]

Very helpful. They just split our ICU into two. 3 of us went upstairs to the new unit and the rest stayed. That automatically pushed me into charge position. It's been tough. My whole team is brand new to our facility. Everyone came from surrounding hospitals. This means different personalities. I learned the hard way on taking the easiest pt.'s. Both transfered out and I got stuck with EVD drain and insulin drip. I had no choice.

[@freshrn]

I'm sorry you've had that experience. This is a tough role to dive into even with the support and knowing people, let alone going in cold. Much nurse respect to you for doing it. I've had a few of those "I had no choice and I got screwed" situations as well, that if I had some hindsight or was able to anticipate and prepare better, I may have been able to avoid it all together.

[@KaliElaine]

Charge nurse? With a assignment? What you talking about? Should not be allowed. I am a charge nurse for OR in daytime i will never have a room. Nope our night charge nurse will have assignments and the weekend charge nurse use to have assignments but not anymore. Thanks lady for sharing great insight.

[@freshrn]

I agree, they should not have an assignment. Sadly, it's often the first thing that happens when staffing is tight in med-surg and ICU areas.

[@rosemarynganga3496]

Very informative. Quick question at what point do you get the cor cart when a patient is not doing well. Can you tell us main things that would have u get the cart.

[@freshrn]

Great question! So the nice thing about the code cart is you can get it and place it outside of the patient's room without actually breaking it open. It can be nearby, and our unit had a little saying that simply putting the cart outside of the room helped because it was warding off any evil spirits trying to mess with your patient. But, I digress. Things that would make me want to put the cart out there: Increasing ectopy, longer pauses, steadily increasing oxygen demands - particularly if they're not intubated, if a patient reports an impeding sense of doom + concerning vitals, decompensating vitals, afib with RVR unresponsive to treatment. There are a lot of difference scenarios that could make you think "Humm... let's just get this so it's near" - essentially, you could get it when you notice the situation turns from concerning to URGENT. Then, when/if it goes from URGENT to EMERGENT, you've got all you need at your fingertips.

[@arjunreddy5498]

Superb information on ICN

[@seapigoinkoink]

This was excellent. Thank you!

[@DabidRobinson]

I kind of want try being a charge nurse but at the same time, i am working on my MSN towards informatics

[@freshrn]

I feel you on being torn between two things. When I started working on my MSN, I stopped doing some extra bedside things because I wanted to focus on the degree. It was already enough balancing home, work, and school, and didn't want to stretch myself even thinner. I think it depends on how intense school is and if you've got the time and mental energy to devote to a new work challenge! And awesome MSN focus, BTW!

[@soulwith4flames]

I’m an ER nurse and super nervous because I’m about to start charging. I’ve never been trained and we already are at a disadvantage working nights.

[@freshrn]

It is very intimidating and people really don't get good training to be in charge. We just released a short course on being a charge nurse if you needed some additional support: courses.freshrn.com/p/charge-nurse-jump-start

[@Shapeshifter2023]

Thank you for this!

[@elic118]

What is the difference between the head nurse & the charge nurse?

[@freshrn]

They are the same thing; it's a term used interchangeably!

[@kimpno134]

Omg i need this!! Thanks for posting

[@Christine-kj3os]

you guys are so funny! thank you for this!

[@kawaiigirl5548]

I became charge nurse after 2 years post graduation, and I passed the interview How ever now after 1.5 year of being on position I started to question my own competency for the position and I keep finding everything wrong with my practice and beat myself over it And I really struggle to go past that point and develop my qualities needed to improve Any ideas how to get over that and start improving as I want to progress my personality? I find it difficult to make best correctly decisions on timely manners, and I want to develop my communication skills to my supervisor on professional levels as Iam very shy and submissive, and I’m very slow on critical thinking compared to my seniors who still practice on bed side

[@freshrn]

I think that assertiveness training/building would go a long way. I go over that in the beginning of my Breakthrough ICU class and New Nurse Master Class. I'm sure there's some other good tips online like this one: psychcentral.com/blog/building-assertiveness-in-4-steps/ I bet after working 3.5 years you've got a solid nursing foundation, rather the challenge is probably more communicating assertively. Here's another great article on the different styles of communication. From what you've said, I'm guessing you err on the more passive side... but with practice, you can transform your communication style into assertive. Link: online.alvernia.edu/articles/4-types-communication-styles

[@kawaiigirl5548]

Kati Kleber thank you so much U have no idea how much this helps

[@dls8139]

Start with LOVE: Love for self and then love for others around you and discipline. TRUST YOUR MOTIVATION

[@janakraybill325]

We have to make this sound fun lol. 😂😂😂😂

[@Katlatimer14]

I’m a charge nurse and I have to train with heavy assignments

[@SAGUY1971]

Thk god in my hospital in the Bay Area, charge nurses do NOT take a patient assignment.

[@deborahfoster4687]

Getting the Toughest Patient Load While Other Nurses Are??? 😴🤐😬🤣 👀 Patients First, Do The Best You Can.. Advocate For Patients and Families So They Can Have The Best Care, and Experience Of Their Stay. Educating, Educating, Educating The Patients and Families So They are Not Afraid and Desire to help in little things.

[@edgar10191]

Hahahaha. Genius!!! But so damn true!

[@deborahfoster4687]

Hostile, Security Security!!!!

[@evildigigenius]

A never asked for this