[Recuerdo]

Yes, sometimes they are afraid they will get fired, especially in non-Union hospitals.

Even in a Union hospital you can get raked over the coals pretty bad...there is no hospital that is a place for the sensitive. Now see the irony in that!

WHY do we put up with it?

Fear.

Keeping a low profile and keeping your nose clean are safe.

Doing anything else is not, because you are putting your head on the chopping block.

I do work in a Union hospital and that is good...and the Union will protect me.

But that doesn't necessarily mean my co-workers will.

Sad, isn't it?

The managed care atmosphere is a very quietly violent one. Every day before I go to work, I pray.

I'm not the only one, either.

[StudentNurseBean]

Thank you. If the truth is that the hospitals and such need us (and we know they do), then why would anyone put up with the abuse? It's like a form of addiction. I don't think anyone should act like they are above or better than anyone.

Of course, I guess I live in a fantasy world. But I have compassion and humanity for all and it is instilled in me. I am also strong and do not feel that it's ok to allow abuse of another. Regardless of the form or place.

I don't want to have to rethink my life's path or my calling from the heart b/c I feel insecure and bullied at work. I also don't want to have to walk on pins and needles. Am I being too outspoken?

[pinoy_guy]

Recuerdo--

I agree with your input on this issue. we might be working in the same hospital(!!!).

what kind of BS is it when the hospital is "Family-Friendly" and they allow 3-month old babies inside the patient rooms??? a nurse tried to prohibit the parent from bringing the baby into the room, precipitating a letter of complaint...and guess what happened? the nurse was acting against hospital policy, and was fired.

I guess the admin wanted to project Family-Friendliness, and never mind the baby catching a nosocomial infection.

man, what a world we live in.

so yes, you learn not to rock the boat, because the health care world is a small one.

the nurses with consciences leave. (sadly, I don't have the option to leave.)

the ones who remain (at least where I work) are the suck ups who know how to kowtow to the company line, and dots all the i's and crosses all the t's...though as I have wondered in my other threads, how do they do all that stuff and have time for breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, and dinner, all within a 12-hour period???

I hardly have enough time to do all the items on my worklist.

and yeah, you have to have approval if you're clocking out after the prescribed time.

there's something very wrong with the system.

about the nurse getting the difficult patients--I guess that's me. 9 times out of 10, I get the admits and the multiple transfusions, or the only 2 restrained patients on the floor.

I find it ironic that the abusive ones are also the vocal ones who proclaim their adherence to their religious practices.

as I said, I leave everything up to Karma now.

[Ruffles 1]

I feel like other nurses bully the worst, I think they are jealous of other part time nurses and frustrated with their jobs. It is a shame, because they can not get out of the cycle themselves and continue to bully other nurses too.

[Mijourney]

People in the U.S. don't know how to treat each other. According to the latest research, 86% of us call ourselves Christian and then we turn around and treat each other like road kill. The health care system needs to be overhauled. Maybe universal care can help. I don't think the system can get any worse.

[CITCAT]

Originally Posted by RN1989

When are they going to quit studying the phenomenon and come up with a plan to STOP the bullying?

Because nurses are not unionized maybe thats why who knows

[Kati2005]

We have to be unionized for the bullying to stop? I disagree. Sometimes unions are good for nothing. Unionization isn't going to solve all the problems that nurses experience.

[Recuerdo]

That's true, Unions won't solve all the problems. But when nurses have an organization of their own, it empowers them. Hospital managements tend to treat them like chattel and have very unrealistic expectations of them...especially upper management that does not come in contact with sick patients on a daily basis.

But your point about how we treat each other is a very valid one.

Most of the people on the floor I work are pretty nice, but some are not...and it seems it only takes a few nasty ones to make things tough on everyone.

I'm working on trying to survive in that atmosphere. I try to focus on the good folks for all I'm worth.

[sistasoul]

Originally Posted by traumahawk99

there is no greater reposit of bullying than you'll find in a nursing school with a power tripping instructor. here you've got someone who has years of working in a profession with an opportunity to bully someone who knows essentially nothing... and who has decided that he/she should determine who is "worthy of the profession" and is a self appointed gate keeper.

I agree. I am a 4th semester ADN student. I was so psychologically battered by my CI that I chose to withdraw 2 weeks before the final. This woman scrutinized every word I said, every move I made and made me redo clinical paperwork over and over again. The worst part of the clinical paperwork was I had compoared my work to another students in the class and it was comparable. I have cried at least 4 times in front of this woman.
Too make a long story short, I heard through the grapevine at school that my Director of nursing at the school had her call me back in to school. All of my other clinical instructors had stood by me. This incident was deemed a "personality conflict'. This to me means a form of bullying. I have my final May 8th.

[VivaLasViejas]

Only HALF of nurses are bullied on the job? I'm surprised the numbers are that low.......