[bollweevil]

[quote=PiPhi2004;2739488]I am a new grad, and I find the most bullying people to be the NAs! There are many of times they tell ME how to do MY job! I have been snapped at by a doctor once but he apologized right afterwards. Family for me has been the worst, I work in the MICU and the family gets very upset over visiting hours and not being able to stay all night. I have been called every name in the book by patients, spit on, kicked, pinched, slapped, etc. I've only been working for 6 MONTHS!! I've already had to get new glasses because my pair was smacked off my face by a patient. The nurses and management have been wonderful though and I have had problems with just one RN since I started. Most of us deal with the same stuff though, and it makes us have to stick together. I think thats the only reason I love my job so much. It's still hard to stick up for myself though, especially since I am the youngest person on my floor. I think the best advice I have learned is to stick to your guns and let people know that you aren't a doormat and wont be treated like one. The hardest part is to learn how to do that in a nice way.[/quote

I think you should make the employer pay for your glasses.

And yes, absolutely do make sure you let the aides know that they cannot bully you. You are the licensed nurse, you will be in trouble if you abdicate control or if anything goes wrong.

And, yes, let doctors and managers know, too, whenever necessary, that you are pro you and you will not be walked on or disrespected. It's painful but necessry.

[cota2k]

nurses eating their young is as old as nursing. Why? I am a newer nurse, 3 yrs as RN, and I see it all the time. I didn't get dogged by the others as bad, perhaps because I am a male. Nurses can be brutal! I am currently working on my BSN and I have seen a difference in BSN and MS nurses. There seems to be less "aggression" among advanced education nurses. However, I do now get some flak from my fellow ADN nurses for wanting to get ahead with education instead of "doing my time". Is there a threat for senior nurses and the changes with nursing moving toward more technology? Is it the higher aquity patients on M-S floors making nursing more stressful on everyone? I can't say for sure but, many young nurses have been put off by the reception from senior nurses and we have lost more than a few very good hearted nurses because of it.

[madwife2002]

I agree that there is a lot of bullying in the workplace. I recently experienced it myself and being a very experienced nurse who is very very assertive I was shocked to be at the recieving end so it was not a case of 'nurses eat their young' it was a case of 'nurses eat old dogs too'
In my case it was a pool nurse who constantly rubbed me up the wrong way day after day, and making comments about me in a loud voice and then laughing when I confronted her saying she was joking. She would glare at me openly and made me feel very uncomfortable. In the end I went to my boss and said I am leaving I wont be made to feel like this at work especially as I knew she had made a lot of people feel bad and nothing has ever been done. Well it all changed from then on in she was barred from our floor for a few months.
This person is back now but I ain't putting up with no more bully from her or to other people.

[ocankhe]

In Feb 2008 the Center for American Nursing published a well researched position paper on bukkying and horizontal violence in the workplace. A good read.

[karenesn]

I'm a newly hired nurse, and I am going thru my preceptorship on a telemetry unit. While observing a cardiac cath procedure, one of the cardiologists welcomed me to the hospital. He informed me that I will probably run into a few doctors that are unkind towards the nurses and enjoy intimidating them. He told me that if that happens to me, to not take it personally, and to please write them up for harrassment. He went on to say that nurses should always approach a physician in a professional manner, and that the physician in turn should do the same towards the nurse.

[traumahawk99]

Originally Posted by karenesn

I'm a newly hired nurse, and I am going thru my preceptorship on a telemetry unit. While observing a cardiac cath procedure, one of the cardiologists welcomed me to the hospital. He informed me that I will probably run into a few doctors that are unkind towards the nurses and enjoy intimidating them. He told me that if that happens to me, to not take it personally, and to please write them up for harrassment. He went on to say that nurses should always approach a physician in a professional manner, and that the physician in turn should do the same towards the nurse.

you go to writing people up, then you're going to find yourself in a lonely spot. i'd rather call a guy an ass to his face than file complaints. you're going to have to work with these people afterward.

[ebear]

traumahawk, I DID call tell a surgeon he was an ass one time. It was done privately behind closed doors (I was an O.R. manager). This particular new doc wanted multiple thousands of dollars ($70,000) spent for equipment he "just had to have" and it came out of my capitol budget. After the equipment was purchased, he decided he didn't like it and refused to use it. He also had 5 patients show up for surgery one day that were not on the O.R. schedule. I busted my butt to change things around to accomodate him! The RN in the room came to me to say that she had beeped Dr. XXX and had him overhead paged, as his patient had been on the table for 25min. and he was nowhere to be found. I found him (finally) in the doctors lounge playing games on the computer! I told him about the non-scheduled patients showing up, how I had worked around the situation, and how I had another surgeon coming in behind him very soon. His reply: "I don't care who's coming in behind me!" (That's when I called him an ass). I wrote this up and gave it to administration. There was a big meeting and guess who admin. sided with??? That's right, the DOC. I felt that if this was the type of "support" that I and the O.R. staff were going to receive, it was time for me to go---and I did after a 4 week notice. Never been happier, but I'm still fuming over that one! I will NOT be bullied and HE has now left the facility....

[traumahawk99]

i would have to agree that when it comes to the nurse/employer relationship, there really isn't much of one these days.

management will turn on you in a split second and views you as entirely expendable. so what it left, at least for me, is a subcontracting position. in this sort of environment, it's dog eat dog.

i don't let any of it bother me. i could give a rat's behind what anyone does.

on a good week, i'm pushing 4k in earnings. if i have to put up with some b.s... i just bank it at the end of the week.

[ER06]

Bullying happens in every profession. I dream often of leaving this profession because of all of the issues but can't make what I'm making now. I pick my fights but always staying focused on "getting the job done" and at the end of the day clock out and go home. I try to "turn the other cheek" most of the time because it's just not worth it. It does get to me at times and I will vent to my husband who is a fireman/paramedic and doesn't take anyone's crap and he gives great support. I have two jobs, one is in a very hectic er in which I am a "newbie"and people can be pretty rude from nursing to dr's to pt families and some attending md's who are nuts and will berate you personally on the phone when giving you orders. A co-worker shared a horrific story of how one cardiologist sang "lalalala" very loud in her ear while she read back orders, which is hospital policy to do so. So, like everyone is on the same page and errors don't happen, right? What an ass.

[CHATSDALE]

once i was doing my morning meds when i got pulled in the middle to go upstairs, not happy camper
when i got up there i heard the whole story which everyone was tickled to relate
seems like there was a new lpn hired and she was late thirties who had gone back to school as her teenagers were approaching college age
there was an rn on the floor early twenties who was appalled that someone that age was on her floor and she rode the older nurse constantly even asking her in the middle of report why her husband didn't make enough to support the family
the rn would go into a room and explain that this nurse was just an lpn and if they weren't satisfied with the care she would make sure that they got an rn to care for them..all this right in front of lpn
one morning the lpn went into a room assigned to rn and it was the wife of prominent pentecostal preacher in town she said that this 'girl' here was gay and that if she didn't anything inappropriate that it would have to be reported immediately
when they got back in the hall there was a fight, not verbal, a hitting, scratching, hairpulling fight
to cap everything off there was a md making rounds with the head nurse and when they were leaving a patients room the two nurses were down on the floor screaming and fighting
both nurses were fired and the mds would joke about needing police escort to make rounds on that floor