Bullied by the Young

kakamegamama · Jun 20, 2011

Sorry this happened to your friend. If she left after she had been assigned patients, without handing them to someone else / being sure they would be properly cared for, yes, she could be accused of abandonment. If she was experiencing a hostile work place, she should document what happened and take this up the chain & to HR. A hostile workplace is illegal, and leadership/HR is required to address this once it has been brought to their attention. I wish her well.

eriksoln, BSN, RN · Jun 20, 2011

What was going on? Why were the younger nurses doing this? There has to be more to the story than "A few young nurses walked into work one day, bullied an older nurse, and she left."

Why didn't the older nurse report anything? Where was the supervisor?

AngelicDarkness · Jun 20, 2011

Sounds fishy. I would have documented the whole situation, especially if other members of the intrapersonal team were witnesses. I've heard this situation happening before, but I've never seen it. I'm young, but I graduated in a group of varied ages. The oldest graduate in my class was 55. The youngest was 18. I'm so proud to have a varied group of classmates that I would turn to b/c each age group had a different perspective on each patient's case.

AOx1 · Jun 20, 2011

This post does not make sense. You state that the nurse was bullied every shift (which would indicate >1 shift), but that she quit after 1 shift. Can you clarify?

Quitting after one bad shift indicates that the nurse is not very professional. This could have been handled through proper channels. This whole post seems unlikely.

iNurseUK, RN · Jun 20, 2011

Very unlikely. Most experienced nurses quickly grow a hard shell to that sort of thing and just get on with the job in hand.

netglow, ASN, RN · Jun 20, 2011

Well, sometimes when you've had enough you just have had enough. When I was a student in day ICU report, everybody was cutting down this much older nurse on nights. This included the day NM. It was a bit much. All silly childish stuff. They were like a pack of hyenas. I get angry when I witness this, as I guess I will always be protective when witness to wrong, heck I'll go after anybody for ya (I am an enforcer at heart) as well as will always be a corporate girl who once she knows her way around can just nail ya. This nurse was such a great teacher, all my night class pals were all about her an how much she helped show them the way.

I guess that is not cool among the too young to be nurses set. :smokin:

leslie :-D · Jun 20, 2011

i have to wonder what exactly does bullying mean in this case?

perhaps the youngins act zealously, assertively, competitively and makes the vet nurse uncomfortable?

all i do know, is when we've asked the youngins and/or newbies, what they consider bullying, it honestly hasn't been.

that phrase is just used too darned often, w/o appreciating the full meaning of the word.

so yes, it'd help me/us tremendously, if there was a bit more information about what specifically vet nurse is responding to.

leslie:)

Sun0408, ASN, RN · Jun 20, 2011

If she finished her 12 hour shift and reported off to the on-coming shift she can not be charged with abandonment..

Ruby Vee, BSN · Jun 20, 2011

this post does not make sense. you state that the nurse was bullied every shift (which would indicate >1 shift), but that she quit after 1 shift. can you clarify?
quitting after one bad shift indicates that the nurse is not very professional. this could have been handled through proper channels. this whole post seems unlikely.

i took it to mean she was scheduled to work a double and quit after the first shift.

sadly, i have seen older nurses repeatedly disrespected by the young -- often on this board. but i'm not sure what is meant by "bullying" in this instance. often the word is over-used . . . to the point where it is nearly meaningless.

sorry · Jun 21, 2011

I never thought that I would every witness this but I did. Every time this nurse worked she was bullied by the young. Years of experience,yes,older than the bully's,yes. This nurse just could not take it anymore and left after finishing the first shift (schedule to work a second shift). Was this nurse wrong for leaving? Could she be charged with abandonment? Any and all suggestions will help me help my friend cope with this suitiation.

Maybe bully was the wrong word to use,but without putting to much information out this person was always moved from a unit when the Supervisor and her friend worked. The move would be made so that the two of them could work together. And yes, she did finish the first shift,gave report and turned the keys over to the friend that was coming on duty.

kakamegamama · Jun 21, 2011

So, based on this new info, it doesn't sound like she was actually bullied (defined as: threatened, made to feel personally unsafe). Perhaps she was treated rudely, but it doesn't sound as though bullying was actually what happened. Again, sorry she went through that experience.