nurse/practice manager

It's funny that you are all talking about pay rises and changing of title etc.
I was previously workin/commuting to london and having a lot of fun gaining my experience ontop of my general dental nursing - in sedation and oral surgery.
They were paying me £10 per hour with the amount due to rise just before I left (commuting was getting ontop of me). So I attended an interview after alot of 'cv emailing'... At the interview they told me that it was for 'Practice Manager/Head Nurse' post. I was a little put off, I didnt think at first that I could handle that, and I like the hands on work of dental nursing. Anyway, I thought about it within the space of about 2 seconds and thought I'll give it a shot. Then came the wage per hour - 7.50... well I accepeted, comparing the amount to london its a huge drop, comparing the cost of commuting and living it comes to around the same each month.
Here's the main thing, I have the responsibility of looking after the two! trainee nurses, the dentists demands, all the paperwork - to a T.. bare in mind this is a brand new surgery (decon. rooms etc) and has never had a responsible full time manager or a womans touch . . . So I am currently holding my role, a couple of days ago, the person who interviewed me spoke to one of the dental surgeons, while I was on lunch and the surgeon referred to me as the manager, he stopped her mid sentence, just to confirm I am not the manager I am a 'senior nurse' and I cannot ask anything of the receptionist either.
Well what am I to do?
I didn't apply for the post, they recruited me on the basis that I agree as in my contract to take on my role as practice manager
I'm a little confused.
What would you do - Oh and bare in mind the dentist did tell me what had been said in confidence. I was not supposed to know this.
I mean, I don't mind what my title is, I just need to know and head nurse i beleive has alot less responsibility than a manager - but i seem to be playing super human at the moment - Managing, Nursing, Playing Head Nurse, Receptionist...? I am the only qualified and registered dental professional apart from the dentists. There are two trainess as I said, and a male receptionist? - the other problem is the break down in communication - I am quite frustrated to be honest, Ive only been here a month The receptionist did not attend work today, obviously someone had been informed of his abcense, except me?
As for pay.. well the west midlands do not pay as well as london, absolutely not, with my wage about to increase up to £11 per hour and now working as superwoman for £7.50. Im just a bit confusious lol.

Thankyou for the reply that was very kind of you, im really nrevous about this interview as I really want the job, plus a post for a trainee very rarely comes up in northern ireland espeacially where I'm based.
I really appreciate the advice.

Hi Sabrina,

We've recently been looking for a dental nurse, we basically were looking for someone with good people skills, a sense of humour, patience (patients and dentists can be hard work!). It's also important to show you are willing to go above and beyond the call of duty, eg, it's quite common to run late, it shouldn't happen every day but you may find you might run into your lunch break, be late finishing in the evening unfortunately things can go wrong and take longer eg root canal treatments can be more difficult than thought, patients not going numb enough, what seemed to be a simple extraction turning into a surgical...

If they want you back for a second interview then I would think they want to get to know you a bit better, something I think which always sounds good is to show an appreciation that there is always something to do, cleaning your surgery, restocking, filing...

Good luck with your second interview..

Oh, to the original poster have a chat with the principal dentist, put your views across and have evidence (not necessarily written down) of the fact you have done more than your basic duties, I've recently had a similar conversation with my boss only over senior nurse and am waiting for his response but I'd say the fact he didn't say no outright is positive, it's not just about having a few extra pounds (although that would be nice) but like you getting the recognition for what you do.. Hope you have some luck!

Hi I know that my comment is unrelated but i was wondering if you guys could help ive been called for second interview with the practice im new to the field and it has taken 6 months to find a paractice who needed aa dental nurse trainee, not sure what they are lookinf for in second interview any advicee would be greatly appreciated, ooh and if it were me i'd put my foot down and ask for more money and change in job description

I am a nurse who has taken on a shared practice manager role whilst our PM is on maternity leave. My practice gave me a considerable pay rise due to the increased responsibility.

you should ask for more money and different job description (Practice manager)

I am a qualified registered dental nurse with 15 years exp. Three years ago my wages were 9.50 which im not arguing is not bad compared to some but it is bad compared to nurses in other practices in my area who I know are on £12 ish an hour. The other thing is that my role has totally changed in the last year and I now hardly nurse as I do all what a practice manager would do. I do ordering, sort maintenance and serving etc, I sort banking, I have interviewed and recruited new staff, sorted their contracts. I also do alot of the cleaning in the practice. And as I only work 2 days a week I have covered sick at sort notice and holidays, have had to sort out emergency child care as I have a 20 month old, and I take regular calls from staff, head office etc out of my hours. I have also had to do many things out of work for them. I should put my foot down maybe but I enjoy the role I just want to be recognised a bit more an get a pay rise. Do you think im asking to much? How much should I be getting? Thanks Guys
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