Recently, I was informed by fellow coworkers that a senior nurse did not particularly care for me. I was completely oblivious to this, mainly because she and I had never had any negative interactions and she had always been polite and nice...to my face at least. As a new nursing graduate I had just finished my preceptorship, and was still perfecting my skills and admittedly still very nervous. I was told that she had made very rude comments about me and my competency as a nurse. Some of these comments included her saying things like, "I was a dangerous nurse, and that I was gonna kill someone one day." Hearing her comments really stung, and bothered me tremendously. What she said was so hurtful, that even I questioned my abilities. I never approached her about this issue, and instead decided to learn from the situation, and reevaluate my performance personally and strengthen any weaknesses that I may have had. However, I know that even though I am still new and learning, every time I provide patient care I always make safety a priority. For some reason, I never really got over her hurtful words. Lately, I have noticed her saying the same things about another new nurse, and I immediately felt the sting of her hateful behavior. How should I deal with this situation? Should I confront her about how her remarks are not constructive and hurtful?
