Cliques in nursing field

Nurses Relations

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Ok maybe someone has touched on this before but this is personal for me. Is nursing the type of job where there is cliques? For instance if there is one bossy nurse that everyone follows or sucks up too and if you dont

"suck up" to her everyone will not talk to you? Please tell me that you can still stay to yourself and not have to be part of the "clique" any one have any experiences with this. Backstabbing problems? I just want to go to work and not have to worry about people talking behind my back.

I posted in another forum that I worked for an insurance company for about 4 years... there were about 10 of us in the department and we all got a long really well. Typically, I tried to stay out of the supervisor bashing luncheons, and stayed to myself as much as possible, but everyone seemed to like me....

After I quit to stay home with my kids, the gloves came off.... I found out everyone was talking behind my back the entire time... and they even gave me a "going away party" and told me how much I'd be missed...

I was so happy to get out of that place... I just wanted to mention that it does happen in "professional" atmospheres... and it does happen with 50+ year old women.

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Specializes in ER, ICU, L&D, OR.

I dont worry about it at all

I go to work, do my job

I Do Not Associate with people I work with

I go GOLFING alot

I keep life in the short grass

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There is a blurry line between co-workers and friends sometimes. People can get so busy that they do not maintain friendships outside of work, and look to their co-workers to be their friends. This is how cliques form, and I think it is more common in female dominated jobs.

My husband works in a very male office. They do not talk about details of their personal life, personal problems, and therefore don't really form cliques.

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Specializes in Corrections, neurology, dialysis.

I have seen this lots of places. I've made mistakes and wound up with the whole department hating me. But over time I learned how to get along with people well enough to not be a target. Now I just ignore it. I don't go to work to make friends. If people like me it's a bonus, but I don't expect it.

One thing that I did to myself that made my life difficult was staying to myself and not joining in. Over time I developed better social skills. Not that I wanted to fit in, but it helped me get along better. I learned to smile and say hi even when I didn't want to. I learned to make small talk and get people talking about themselves. I fussed over baby pictures even though I didn't want to. But mostly I let the other people initiate the interaction and tried to not talk about myself so much. It helped.

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I've worked in other fields, and found this same mentality everywhere. There is always going to be a segment of the population that feels the need to band together against the 'outsiders', or make someone BE the outsider of their circle. Makes 'em feel special, I suppose. Seen it in fields totally unrelated to nursing, AND, for what it's worth, MEN were a nasty little contingent at the last place I worked before nursing school! So it's equal opportunity pettiness :)

I agree when I worked at a bank when I was younger the male Customer Service REp thought he was so much better than me like he was too good to talk to me,we were the same age. Oh well,I didnt care to talk to him either. And there was a really mean teller and everyone would try to impress her,also my age,they would act like she was the queen. You better believe I would never suck up to her.

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Specializes in public health, heme/onc, research.

I have learned (in my mere 25 years of life) that "real life" is just like high school all over again. Just stand true to yourself and your beliefs.

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There is a blurry line between co-workers and friends sometimes. People can get so busy that they do not maintain friendships outside of work, and look to their co-workers to be their friends. This is how cliques form, and I think it is more common in female dominated jobs.

My husband works in a very male office. They do not talk about details of their personal life, personal problems, and therefore don't really form cliques.

This is so true. Dont get too involved with gossip! Its never a good thing/

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Oh Girl Please,it's Gonna B Drama Evrywhere U Go.when I Was In Nursing School I Kept To Myself And Watched The Show.grown People Ain't Nuthin But Big Kids And I Am Really Realizing That Age Ain't Nuttin But A Numba When It Comes To Tha Mentality Of Folks.u Gotta Rememba That People R People B4 They Get Their Titles.f--- Em.

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Being a sorority girl of many years past was terrible, but it sort of prepared me for the experience of being nurse on a floor unit. Just bunches of "girls" with 100 dfferent types of personalities. Best to hang back and learn everybody. You can find one horrible, and then she turns out to be great -- or vice versa. I just hang back and stay quiet until I figure everyone out.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Psych.

I've worked in other professions, with the occasional personality conflicts and cliques. But before nursing, I never worked anywhere where the majority of coworkers acted like high school kids.

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Specializes in Community Health, Med-Surg, Home Health.

I think this is everywhere, really. I don't have much to compare to since I have worked in the medical field the majority of my life. The difference, I feel, with the medical field is that this is just that-a practice. Because it is a practice, and the human response to illness is varied, there is no real textbook to illustrate what the right thing to do is. And, what is scary is that we have to depend on these people to help us to save lives. I have seen nurses and aides decide not to help a patient because they don't like the nurse that is responsible for that patient. If that nurse happens to be a novice, or not strong in picking up an emergency or how to intervene, this is a recipe for trouble.

I have seen some new grad nurses that are complete idiots (not because they are new, but because they don't want to learn-and I am thinking of one person in particular as I type this), but because they are in good with the nursing administrator, their blunders are covered up. But, the dedicated nurse, who seems to be standoffish and distances herself from the gossip is not always appreciated for her observations, interventions or knowledge. I am not saying that new grad or even incumbant nurses are not supposed to make errors or know anything, but what I look for is an interest in learning, pride in your license earned and a dedication to nursing.

An accountant, administrator, factory worker or garbage picker can redo their assignment and make a correction that does not necessarily cause bodily harm. We cannot do the same once an ommission or mistake is made. We need to be able to put the cliques to the side for patient care, and then go back into our corners. But, some people can't seperate the two. That is what makes it dangerous.

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You'll find cliques in all places. I personally hate the whole Idea and find those people are just immature because they somehow feel that isolating others makes them better.

I just try to be the person I know God wants me to be... forget about cliques.... it's much more pleasant to think about the friends I do have and better yet the fact that I have more friends because I don't single people out!

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