Human Nature Question

animal1993 · Apr 18, 2009

It's a real shame that adults have to act in such a way, but it happens all the time. I suppose that some people fear that they may lose their job at any moment, due to economy-driven cutbacks, and think that they have to make everyone else look bad in order to secure their position. Other than that, I think it's a matter of personal character, and it wouldn't matter what type of job certain people hold.

madwife2002, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2009

Nursing is a female dominated profession, we have yet to learn how to band together and support each other effectively. We do not realise how powerful we are as a profession and those that do are in the minority.

Where ever you work there is always an element of somebody who will be horrible to you and others, nursing is no different.

Tweety, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2009

Most nurses are decent and caring people working very hard.

sparky99 · Apr 18, 2009

Good point, animal, about people thinking they have to secure their positions by making everyone else look bad. I used to hear those stories when the economy was better here, actually. Those factories have been gone for years so I'd hate to think what the working atmosphere would be like if they were here now.

Daytonite, BSN, RN · Apr 18, 2009

why is it that no one ever hears about workers at other professions being nasty to each other? do you ever hear about nurses taking guns into work and killing each other? just two days ago a pharmacy employee walked into where he worked in long beach out here and killed people in the pharmacy--not nurses. you may not have heard about it nationally, but it was all over the local news here. postal workers go postal. office workers go nuts. i used to work in offices and you wouldn't believe how nasty office people can be. what i'm getting at is that the expression "nurses eating their young" is just a euphemism for nasty behavior which really goes on in all walks of life. there are always going to be people who like to lord their superiority over others or bully them. you need to learn to stand up to them and deal with this behavior because as rns we are in leadership positions to do something about this when we see it happening. what i found was many rns have no backbone and either take this behavior from the bullies while others stand around and let it go on which fuels the bullies so they will do it again. i didn't permit it to go on around me. will you if you see it happen?

sparky99 · Apr 18, 2009

My experience in recent working years has been good actually - I was downsized last year from a job I'd held for almost 20 years working in an almost all female office that was like a second family. We still get together to catch up on each other's lives and reminisce. I worked for a few months in a nursing home after that and was lucky there too with a warm and supportive atmosphere. (then downsized again :cry: ) I'm not too worried about work situations in the future, just a little concerned about stepping back into what is probably the "real" world.

Arievilo · Apr 18, 2009

I would think you'd get this in any profession. But I have already seen it quite a bit in clincials already. I had one rotation where the floor nurses wanted nothing to do with students, constantly complained we were getting in their way, and we were going everything all wrong.

But I have also come across nurses who have been wonderful and took us younglins under their wings and really showed us stuff we could never learn in a classroom.

fuzzywuzzy, CNA · Apr 18, 2009

It doesn't help that nursing is so stressful.