I’m very confused about quitting my current position as a nurse. This is not a typical one man job, but you need a team. I’m pondering staying for some members of the team:
I get along with 40% of the staff, 30% of staff are absolute slackers who master the social game and get away doing way less than the rest and go smoking with my manager, who enjoys and needs the attention. I’m indifferent to the other 30%, who also work well.
I know I may not sound like a reliable narrator, it’s just that I don’t want to get anywhere near this 30% of lazy, childish, gossip staff.
I had a meeting with management with my union representative present. Long story short, I told management as soon as I find a new job within the same hospital system, I’d stop working at my current unit with my manager. She forgives the ones she likes and treats me differently, I’m not likable and being forced to give attention to people I’m indifferent to is very tiring. I’m there to work, she seems to expect I give her attention and stop doing my job to ask about her weekend. Not gonna happen.
Day 1 post meeting: manager and all her friends ignore me, go somewhere else when I enter the room.
Day 3 post meeting: friendly call from manager asking if I can come in on a free day, cause somebody called in sick.
Every other interaction with my manager since day 3 has been friendly, which is something new.
I have no problem working with people who understand they’re at a workplace to work, because we all need the money and want to go home afterwards, it’s the lazy ones that sit, talk and then expect me to do their job the ones I hate with a burning passion.
Since the meeting I’ve decided to use my current unit to learn as much as I can before I (possibly?) leave. Not because I suddenly feel this is a calling, but because the more I know about my field, the easier is gonna be to find a new job, either within my system or in a new one. I’ve also discovered I like explaining patients what happens to their bodies after their operation and how medicines work.
But I don’t dislike the whole unit, I just want to keep my manager at a distance and don’t work with that 30% of slackers.
Pareto’s law is universal: ~80% of the work is done by ~20% of the staff. Either find a place where managers recognise who the 20% are and act accordingly, or don’t be one of the 20%.
I’ve done both, I aim to be the 20% and see if it’s valued, if not I aim to be one of the 80%. Successfully moving from 1 to the other isn’t too challenging, you’ll find a lot of the extra work load wasn’t noticed anyway and a little weaponised incompetence sheds the rest. Just be better than the current worst person and you’ll be fine.