In my short career as a nurse I've seen some terrible behavior among nurses, and I'd like to share my take on things. I've only been a year for two years, and working as a nurse for 13 but in that short amount of time, I've seen an astounding amount of hostility between my coworkers and directed at me in the two facilities I worked at. It made me sad, it burned me out and it made me feel like I was working in a mine field.
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In my short career as a nurse I've seen some terrible behavior among nurses, and I'd like to share my take on things.
I've only been a year for two years, and working as a nurse for 13 but in that short amount of time, I've seen an astounding amount of hostility between my coworkers and directed at me in the two facilities I worked at. It made me sad, it burned me out and it made me feel like I was working in a mine field.
As a fellow nurse, I respect you. We ALL had to work our tails off to get through the hell that was nursing school, study feverishly for the NCLEX exams, then scramble desperately for a job - hopefully in our chosen specialty or facility - after graduation. We have ALL earned our licenses and are all worthy of respect.
As a fellow human, I respect you. We all have feelings, different psychological and familial backgrounds and different emotional and interpersonal needs. We all share the same basic few reactions to negative situations. We all liked feeling liked, respected and valued by those around us.
In the face of conflict, it's easier to turn your back on someone, come up with reasons why you don't like them and find reasons justifying your ill treatment of them. It's easy to cling on to that anger. For some of us (myself included), that anger mobilizes us and is how we're most used to expressing ourselves. It's hard to resolve conflict in a mature, diplomatic fashion. But it's worth it. Our interactions with other people are more meaningful if we can move past anger, communicate our feelings without hurling insults and get back to working together.
So the night nurse gave you a poor report which you took the fall for later that day. She was probably tired from a long night and the missed information slipped her mind. One should always give the most complete report possible, but mistakes happen. Forgive her and make the best of it. So the day nurse left you with meds to finish and missed orders in the chart. She probably had a hectic day with never-ending distractions and demands made of her. FORGIVE her and make the best of it. So your coworker spoke to you sharply when you asked her a question. She was probably in the middle of thinking about something and you inadvertently interrupted that thought. FORGIVE HER and move on. Sensing a pattern here?
We get so wrapped up in little issues and small infractions with our coworkers that it completely clouds our ability to look at the bigger picture: your coworkers are your team members and you owe it to them to be respectful. You owe it to yourself to have them at your back when you need them.
So the next time another nurse is giving you the stink eye or says something rude or snaps at you... Forgive her, and try to resolve the issue after tempers have cooled. We owe it each other to respect each other. Nursing is hard enough.
