LATERAL Violence. How Nurses treat Nurses!

Nurses Relations

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You are reading page 22 of LATERAL Violence. How Nurses treat Nurses!

Specializes in Trauma, ER, ICU, CCU, PACU, GI, Cardiology, OR.

needless to say, i have stated the following on previous posts, lateral violence and unwelcome behavior among peers is not unusual today. having said that, in health care violence is a growing problem among individuals, as well as other disciplines. furthermore, awareness and understanding of the problem of lateral violence between co-workers in the health care setting it a reality. although, there are several theories regarding why lateral violence is a problem among peers, the core issue continues to be that violent behavior towards another often times injures the other’s self-esteem. unquestionably, such an adversarial dyad serves no one but establishes an atmosphere for increasing anger and possibly violent behavior. therefore, to stop lateral violence, managers should monitor their staff and with the same token the ceo,cno or don must set a “zero tolerance” policy towards violent or abusive behavior among staff. with that said, this policy must be strictly and justly administered so that all employees accept that the policy is for real, and applies to non medical and medical staff as well as to nurses or nurse administrators. lastly, no one ever deserves to be abused in any given form or shape.

Rob72, ASN, RN

685 Posts

Specializes in Infectious Disease, Neuro, Research.
"Bully" and "Violence"...

You keep using that word. I do not think that word means what you think it means.

Good movie.

Better point.

Too true. "Lateral violence", is having a pencil jammed in your ear(e.g., "frontal violence" is a broken nose, "vertical violence" is a PDR to the top of the head); gossip and backstabbing are rude.

Zero tolerance alleviates personal responsibility, and encourages a lack of positive-attribute discrimination. People vent; venting (within certain parameters) is fine and understandable. Perpetually intractable behaviors need to be terminated, but this means singling them out, which makes managers and HR all twitchy, since most managers and HR people don't have the capacity to properly verbalize a deficiency and its objective implications.

kath13

3 Posts

hi!

i have had a very interesting experience with the aacn's "healthy work environments" initiative. it really does seem that one just had to "name it to claim it!"

i have posted an excerpt from the aacn's on-line and journal article on lateral violence - has anyone had any experience with these behaviors (below)?

how much of your practice is impacted by issues such as these!?

i know that, in retrospect, i have had a role or two that i am not proud of! however, i resolved that i would be a part of the solution - not a part of any problem. so, what do you recognize?

have you been a victim or a villain?

how do we stop this now?

please share your feeling, comments, observations or experiences.

thanks!!!

and

practice safe!

from the june 2007 edition of : critical care nurse

manifestations of lateral hostility

lateral hostility, bullying, horizontal violence, and the like may be conveyed in a nearly endless variety of forms that denigrate a nurse's professional dignity. some of those expressions identified in the literature include the following3,14,17:

* backstabbing, gossiping

* belittling gestures (deliberate rolling of eyes, folding arms, staring straight ahead or "through" when communication is attempted)

* constant criticism, scapegoating, fault-finding

* elitist attitudes regarding work area, education, experience

* humiliation

* ignoring, isolation, segregation, silent treatment

* inequitable assignments

* inflammatory angry outbursts, impatience

* insults, ridicule; patronizing, or condescending language or gestures

* intimidation, threats

* judging a person's work unjustly or in an offending manner

* making excessive demands

* sabotage, undermining

* unfair evaluations of work

* unwarranted criticism sarcasm

* withholding information or support

full text link at

http://ccn.aacnjournals.org/cgi/content/full/27/3/10?maxtoshow=&hits=10&hits=10&resultformat=&fulltext=lateral+violence&searchid=1&firstindex=0&sortspec=relevance&resourcetype=hwcit

thank you for any imput!

;)

i call nursing "the profession of oppression." the best way to throw away a college education and the money one has to pay for one, is to become a rn. i am writing a book on "lateral violence" in order to expose this sickening behavior and provide avenues for its erradication. i was harassed, had my personal information-my work schedule from another job attempted to be stolen in order to be used to undermine me and sasbotage me, to find fault in my personal life, made fun of because i have a disability, intimidated, shunned by coworkers, you name it, & it happened to me. i called the police becasue i was afraid of what the assulting rn's wanted to do with my personal work schedule, as i have a teenage daughter and i do not trust any man who is spying on me and is following me, but the md pediatrician did nothing to stop it. i had no where to turn. i demanded the police to arrest the md becsause he was spying on me, but the cops said they could not. i live in fear becasue of my former coworkers rns. they would scream at me, make sarcastic remarks all the time, and it wore me down. i was terrorized by this gang of diploma rns. the agressors were all older than me, and i was 49 years old when it happened. i called at least 5 attorneys to try to sue for harassment, because that is what the police department said that was; what they were doing, but every attorney i spoke to said the same thing, "you have to tell that doctor, there is something wrong with those employees", but md knew that the rns were attempting to illegally obtain my person work schedule from my other job, and he did nothing! what recourse do i have? i belive that i am sick over this event. i cannot sleep, and i have this rage surging in my head while i live in fear if they try to hurt me. i cannot stop thinking about what my head nurse saild to me when she was firing me. after i told her that i was not on -call with my other job, like she was accusing me of, & she said to me "don't you argue with me!" i replied, " but what u are saying never happened, you are a liar." she replied to me "tough!" i told the head nurse, "i'm telling john, the head pediatrician, becasue what you are accusing me of never happend" , as i knew the culprits werer calling my other job, as the company's cpa was pretending to be rn , she posed an a rn and did an interview over the phone for my job's position, in order to obtain my job's schedule, but she got the wrong information becasue my schedule was changed. the diploma rns were callling my other job's phone number after hours and spoke to the answering service, and asked the answering service who the aoc was, and the service told them my name, but it was changed just hourse before, as the service did not get the written information on time, as i was late becasue of car trouble and my other manager told me , "just take the beeper, but i'll do the call. if the answering sevice calls you, just tell them i'll be on call, not you, and they'll call me. they have my phone #". so i was fired becasue my coworkers were spying on me and they got the wrong info. my other job notified me because they were getting these phone calls from the job that fired me, and they thought someone was trying to kill me, as they called over 4 times. the culprits asked the hr director things like, "what is k's work schedule? how many days did she work for you last week, and last mont?" and "what times does she do on-call. what time does her on-call start, and end?" also, they asked,

what time does k leave the building?" my other job refused to give them any info and told the fake rn, the cpa that it was illegal to give out anyone's personal info." they did not reveal any of my personal info, thankfully, but there was nothing to get anyyway as i was on orientation wtih this other job. there is no justice in nursing. nursing mangers need to be educated regarding lv, so it could be stopped. the nursing manger who fired me just jumped on the band wagon and did nothing to stop it. she and the md were both wrong. when my daughter started college i forbade her from choosing the nursing profession. my question to u is , "who do i reprt this atrosicity to? who do i report these illegal activities to, because the police did nothing, jus like the nurse manager and the head mddid nothing?

nurseprnRN, BSN, RN

1 Article; 5,114 Posts

i would like to suggest you report it to a good therapist. this whole rant is very hard to follow and i think you need help managing it, not publishing it. good luck to you, whatever you do.

rn/writer, RN

9 Articles; 4,168 Posts

GrnTea has a point. It might do you a world of good to talk to a therapist. Not because we think you're crazy, but because you're describing crazy-making activities, and talking to someone could help you discharge some of the fear and anger that are so evident in your post. Such a person may be able to help you come up with a plan of action that will help you to feel safer and perhaps document the negative behaviors you have described in ways that will be helpful should you ever find an outlet for taking action against the ones who mean you harm.

Is it possible for you to find a different job? I realize that is what your detractors are after, but your safety and your sanity come first. You also might have a stronger complaint if you can say that their behavior forced you to seek other employment.

I hope you can find a way to protect yourself and get help with the emotional turmoil.

Lizzie Clayre

28 Posts

Well... I think I was blackballed by a former instructor with whom I had to withdraw. Despite working a t my hospital of choice for 6 years, successful completion of my associates, fantastic references and graduating at the top of my class, I was told that I needed "more clinical experience!" 2 former classmates were hired at the same time I was rejected , one with less hospital experience and an "outside hire". I believe that instructor may have convinced the powers that be that I was not a good candidate based on her insecurity and jealousies. Color me "deflated!"

jadelpn, LPN, EMT-B

9 Articles; 4,800 Posts

NREMT

Your distress is evident. But at this point, you need to take care of yourself and your child. The best way to do that is with a good therapist who can listen to your story, help you to organize your thoughts and effectively deal with the outcome. What has occured has occured. To say it was a hateful, horrible experience is a gross understatement. But we can only go on from today. Here's hoping you have some professional assistance to put it all in perspective, and the strength to go on from here.

Lizzie Clayre

28 Posts

Thank you for that! I need to convert that anger and bitterness to courage and resolve and channel that fervor towards passing the boards!

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