A question for career changers.

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Do you feel that the interpersonal behavior in the healthcare environment is different from the interpersonal behavior in other professional settings?

If so, what is different, and why do you think it's that way?

I have my own opinion which is probably transparent in this question, but I would like to think about others' opinions.

I think the difference is major. Most of the stuff I see in nursing is developmentally around the 13-14 yr old stage and very dangerous. It has been quite difficult to me to feel that nurses who behave this way, routinely putting patient's lives at risk (and there are a lot) should have jobs. What is different in my 20+ years on the corporate side of life, is that you challenge another with your intellectual, and business prowess. You are held to a higher standard, and would be laughed out of your job with the first childish comment/accusation. There are no "incident reports". You have to be tougher mentally, and be a "grown up" to survive.

I totally agree with this. In my former line of work it was about getting the job done and getting it done efficiently. It was not about competing to see who could get a knife deepest into their coworker's back, or who could conduct themselves in the nastiest eleven year old's whining behavior.

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Specializes in maternal child, public/community health.

Wow! I feel blessed to work in the positive nursing environment I do. Maybe it is different because it is not a hospital (non-profit working mostly with underserved populations) but it is a great place to work. The corporate environment expects and fosters professional, positive interactions.

I work with an amazing team of nurses and social workers who are totally supportive of each other. I could call any of them at the end of a rough day to vent or to ask for advice. Our support staff in the office are great too. They are always willing to help with whatever we need. Each person is important in the care we provide.

I have a great supervisor who recognizes the strength of each team member and gently encourages us in our weaknesses. She challenges us to be our best. She also recognizes the stresses intrinsic in the care we provide and encourages us to take care of ourselves. On more than one occasion she has said, "This might be a tough visit. Call me if you need to talk afterwards."

One thing about my job is that I do not spend a lot of time with my coworkers every day (as hospital nurses do). I am sure that helps but I truly enjoy the people I work with. Maybe some of it is the people who are drawn to this type of work. I don't know but I never get the junior high feel where I work. Many people have worked here for decades and I certainly don't have any plans to move on any time soon.

In case you wonder, no, it is not a "perfect" job. All jobs have drawbacks. Some nurses try it and don't like it They may not like going into strangers' homes, the parts of town we go, or they miss the hustle and bustle of hospital nursing. It involves a lot of teaching and less hands-on tasks than many other nursing jobs. I think some nurses miss doing those things that they are so good at. It definitely is different than hospital nursing but, in case you haven't figured it out, I love it. :)

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Specializes in Neuro, Cardiology, ICU, Med/Surg.

Interesting thread... I worked in corporate America for 20+ years before I became a nurse, and it is different, though I wouldn't call one better than the other. I've seen just as much gossip, childish behavior and backstabbing in the corporate world, though in nursing, there is more passive-aggressiveness, likely due to it's being female dominated.

But to those who gush about corporate culture probably haven't worked in a company that was going through downsizes, as that brings out the absolute worst in people. Someone may be all smiles to you, but if there's a choice betwween them losing their job and you, they would much rather it be you and will sometimes stab you in the back just to make you look worse and more expendable to managagement.

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Specializes in medical surgical.

I do not pay any mind to this individuals that you speak of. I have given report to someone who did not even face me. She turned her back to me. I do not care. I am here to take care of patients, a paycheck (low) and to further my career as a NP. When I drive out of the hospital parking lot I shake off any feelings of craziness anyone has put me through. It does not matter.

You may think I am a non caring, non emotional individual. Au contraire. I enjoy engaging conversations, stimulating ideas, and pleasant encounters. If I do not find that at a hospital, so be it. I will find it elsewhere.

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I worked in corporate america for 9 years. I am not sure what everyone is talking about here, but there as much backstabbing in corporate america as in healthcare. I met quite a few who had a "god" complex. You think doctors are annoying, at least you know that they are smart! try dealing w/someone who thinks there are god just because they were a suit and can walk around like the own the world, but have nothing up there.

In corporate america you can get very far depending on how good you are at kissing a$$. There are plenty of slackers there as well and you end up doing their job. There is A LOT of racism, just look at who wears the suit! There is also plenty of gossip. I don't think that one environment is better than the other, it just depends on your experience. No job is perfect, everywhere you go you will have to deal with nasty co-workers and BS. That is life.

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Specializes in Med/Surg, Academics.

Oh, sure, there are downsides to every workplace, and I agree with a lot of what people are saying about the corporate world.

What I never saw, though, was outright verbal aggressiveness and racist and sexist talk.

The poster above mentioned racism because of who wore the suit. That may be true, and I won't deny it. It was done covertly. But, I never heard people blatantly say with derision, "They're acting like that because they are [insert ethnic/racial/socioeconomic group here.]"

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Specializes in Med Surg.
Interesting thread... I worked in corporate America for 20+ years before I became a nurse, and it is different, though I wouldn't call one better than the other. I've seen just as much gossip, childish behavior and backstabbing in the corporate world, though in nursing, there is more passive-aggressiveness, likely due to it's being female dominated.

But to those who gush about corporate culture probably haven't worked in a company that was going through downsizes, as that brings out the absolute worst in people. Someone may be all smiles to you, but if there's a choice betwween them losing their job and you, they would much rather it be you and will sometimes stab you in the back just to make you look worse and more expendable to managagement.

Yes, the business world has many of the same problems you see in nursing. The difference to me is that in the business world people actually suffer consequences for many behaviors that are widely accepted norms in nursing. Therin lies the problem. Instead of taking a stand and demanding action be taken when these behaviors occur, nurses run to internet forums and write a long, emotionally charged post about it.

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Specializes in cardiac, ICU, education.
They have both stated, independently of one another, that the racism, sexism, and bullying that is openly tolerated in hospitals is Not tolerated in the business world. If one of these problems come up it is severely dealt with---it is Not tolerated and it does not even come into the environment as much as it does in healthcare.

I don't entirely agree with that statement. Although they may have not seen a great deal of sexism or bullying, bullying in the workplace is one of the most problematic issues in business today. The following website describes the issues that many people face in the corporate work force.

http://www.workplacebullying.org/

Another good link is a special produced by the Today Show on workplace bullying:

http://www.workplacebullying.org/2009/07/14/today/

I do agree with some other posts which state that the primary difference is the dominance of women in healthcare vs. the business world, but it is just a different kind of bullying.

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I'm coming from a teaching environment. The medical field and the teaching field are a lot alike in many ways. We want to help people even when they don't want help. We have gossiping and backstabbing that goes on. It is a female dominated field. I know that I'm a people person and want to work with people. I also have always been interested in medical field all my life. I have just always talked myself out of getting an education in some type of medical field. I do realize that I'm not really changing some of the things that irritated me about the education field. It will just be a different environment. I think that I will be a lot more satisfied in this kind of helping people. I guess only time will tell.

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Specializes in Med surg, LTC, Administration.
I saw the "god complex" in business as well. It mostly came from the safety and accounting departments but anyone who held "life and death" power over your project or department was subject to coming down with that syndrome.

As far as nursing goes, the biggest difference I see is in working in a female dominated profession vs. a male dominated one. I had never before in my life found everything I say and do subjected to so much analysis and questioning as I have since entering this field. Example, when informed one night we were getting an admission from the ER I said "Wonderful!" I spent the next 30 minutes being questioned as to what that was supposed to mean.

LMAO!! I so get you...

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Only in nursing is it normal and routine to see employees ***** at each other just to do it without caring that the patient is within earshot, or wait, do it standing over the patient in bed and not be fired. Only in nursing can you keep your job if you do not hop out of your chair and help another employee whose patient is crashing. Only in nursing can you run to a manager to complain about some personal issue you have with another employee again, and again and expect to not be fired for being immature. Only in nursing can you withhold critical life jeopardizing information from another employee and not be fired. Only in nursing is having a good or great professional relationship with all other levels (all MDs) something that you may or may never be allowed to obtain (this is still odd to me as I am used to working side by side with the top folks - which is effortless for me. I don't get rebuffed much by MDs, but i do get odd puzzled looks like, "That one is smart. I think it wants to interact with me on an intellectual level or maybe just wants to know how my day is going" Then what follows is guarded attempts at friendly communications like I'm some patient or something -- until I roll my eyes...)

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Specializes in Med surg, LTC, Administration.

Yes, the business world has many of the same problems you see in nursing. The difference to me is that in the business world people actually suffer consequences for many behaviors that are widely accepted norms in nursing. Therin lies the problem. Instead of taking a stand and demanding action be taken when these behaviors occur, nurses run to internet forums and write a long, emotionally charged post about it.

Bears repeating...

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