Bullying in nursing school

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I am an older nursing student working to achieve a lifetime goal of getting my RN. I have experienced "Nurses Eat Their Young" from two teachers in the form of remarks like you strntvtsking this seriously, you're the only student struggling with this. When loading a syringe the teacher kept firing questions at me. I finally said to her st one point, "I must not have done this correctly because you keep asking me questions." She said, "Not necessarily." She went on to accuse me of padding my patient assessment. It goes on. Yet I got a final grade of 84.5 in Nursing Theory. I wonder if anyone else has experienced bullying while in nursing school.

Making you tough is an excuse to the behavior. Patients who act out is forgiven, because they are frustrated do to the situation they are in and only see them once in a while, not everyday, like a co-worker. People at work bully others not to necessarily help you get better, because people can get h better with a respectful approach. If is was not so, then the same should be done to the patient since the "tough love" is for the good of their health. I am sick and tired of hearing people say, it's for your own good. Its just an excuse to the behavior and feeling of authority. It doesn't make you help do your job better, it just make you a bully who want to act like an ich. Every single person chooses how to behave towards others. When I was tutoring chemistry, I had students asking the same question so many times, I didn't snap at them and say, you are the only ones struggling! why are you not getting this! Instead I would workout my thinking process out loud, to show them how I approached the situation, and thought them with patience until it clicked. Everyone has the power to choose to be kind andhave patienace.

I was bullied. One girl and her best friend from nursing school was in my class. I misunderstood a professor once and when I came back to my seat I could hear them saying how stupid I am and how I wasn't going to make nursing school. So, turns out I did and I excelled and the ***** who said that failed. I actually did message her on FB letting her know about KARMA. I never stand up for myself and I knew it pissed her off to no end. Of course I messaged her after I passed the boards :)

Nursing bullying does happen. I feel it is used a a learning method or a teaching tool. The problem is that it has been effective so I it will continually be used. The fact that you are talking about feeling bullied versus feeling that you received supportive and caring treatment while being trained is an example of what I am talking about. For many people, they will remember someone either being hard on them or bullying them versus being handled in a supportive and gentle way while being trained. If someone lights a fire under you, you will remember it and most likely won't make the same mistake again .

People get focused on words like gentle treatment. Teachers can and have been tough and by the book. That's why I got a C in A&P1. Or why I failed Algebra 1. Be tough. Be hard. Be curt and blunt. Go by the book. But I was treated like an adult with respect. I could disagree and get an explanation. There wasn't the same insulting, put downs, denegrating that I'm referring to. Being tough, by the book teacher isn't bullying. What I've experienced IS bullying. I notice no nurse has spoken about the floor nurse who disappeared leaving a patient crying out in acute pain because he needed pain medication. Peolple are more focused on explaining whether I was bullied or not.

While in Nursing school some of the instructors were hard on us. We were told the first day we showed up for class what was expected and if we did not like what was said to go ahead and get up and leave. We realized soon after they meant what was said. We had people dropping out and a few were removed due to violating the restrictions at the Hospital. One thing I have realize being an older nurse is to know who has personalities I will clash with due to both of us being type A, headstrong and stubborn. I also realized sometimes when you are being asked certain questions it may mean you need to stop, think and look at what you are doing. When I was taking the EMT state certification the guy checking me and my partner off had asked my partner if he wanted to start over. I saw him miss checking the carotid pulse, he said No and kept on going. He ended up failing to get his state certification. It could have been she saw you make a mistake and was giving you a chance to think the steps you were performing. For me, I had rather a person ask me if they do not understand what I am doing or the task I am performing and it prevents me from harming someone. When I am training Nurses to do IV's, or procedures I will show them, and let them practice. Then I will observe them as they are actually performing the task on a patient, I only ask a question if I see them miss an important step in the process.

Specializes in Community/Public Health.
I notice no nurse has spoken about the floor nurse who disappeared leaving a patient crying out in acute pain because he needed pain medication. Peolple are more focused on explaining whether I was bullied or not.

I didn't see that anywhere in this thread?

Gee Ruby, you found a mistyped word which seemed important to you especially since you pointed it out. It should have been "You aren't taking this seriously." This was after my first clinicals day when we were required to get a certain number of each of the vital signs. Silly me was trying to do this honestly and fell behind and didn't get the assignment completed. I saw classmates who also didn't get the assignment finished and padded the numbers before they handed in their papers. Yes, you get punished for being honest. What I mentioned was just a few of the incidents. It was a constant stream of snide, subjective statements when reviewing my work. I don't need anyone to make me "tougher" and able to deal with difficult patients, family, doctors, etc. I am paying good money for this school. What I need is an education. When I ask a teacher in my first clinicals class what the Angle of Louis feels like and she and her peers stare at me without answering, how is that education? I have talked to one school official who said I was the third person to come to her with this issue. It IS a problem. There is reasearch and documentation available if you want to learn about this. If you don't want to learn then you are perpetuating the problem. Tell me what benefit or how it is education to reduce an grown woman to tears while she is pulling meds for the first time? The teacher totally ripped her apart not only in front of her classmates but the floor nurses and PCAs. You don know me and you don't know my life experiences. How "tough" do you have to be to be a female head union steward for 7 years? I had someone follow me into the parking lot and threaten to beat me up. I also had my car keyed at this time. I've stood up to Management and Administrative people who could make my wortk life miserable. I've sat in contract negotiations with big city lawyers and called them on it when they changed the wording that we just agreed to. So don't talk to me about being "tough." And that's just the tip of the ice berg. That's an excuse for the kind of treatment that is being perpetuated. I'm in nursing school. I'm not at the police academy, or medical school, or law school. I don't care if people in those fields also abuse and mistreat others. I'm concerned first about the nursing field.

Ignore Ruby, she has an issue with bullying topics. Maybe she feels guilty inside, who knows.

Specializes in Psychiatry, Community, Nurse Manager, hospice.

Bullying is very common in nursing school and in nursing. It is part of the culture.

The good news is that there are people who are changing this. I think we will reverse the bully culture in time.

Hang in there and promise yourself to never bully others. Be kind and teach new people. Ignore gossip. When people are talking badly about someone, change the subject. Vow to teach rather than test. Don't tolerate hazing of any kind.

I was 42 when I finished my rn program, my previous career had nothing to do with the medical field. I was very successful at what I had done before, I simply wanted to pursue something new. It's not easy coming into any new career starting at the bottom of the heap when you are more accustomed to being the boss. They expect you to bring a little more to the table than those fresh out of high school. I struggled with a clinical instructor who I thought was a complete b**** for quite awhile. Actually I still kind of do lol but I really learned a LOT from that woman. And you can't react like you normally would, you have to show what you can do and play the game. As a nurse, I have been cursed, spit at, called names, and we have to handle those situations in a calm professional manner. It's a short time in your life, knuckle down, suck it up, and just do it! You can do it! And when you are a nurse, remember to be kind to the students. Too many quickly forget what it was like.

On 5/12/2018 at 6:39 PM, Ruby Vee said:

I'm sure you'll get plenty of responses from posters who are certain they've been bullied in nursing school - whether or not they have actually been bullied. But here's the thing: nurses don't actually eat their young. There is no more bullying in nursing that there is among lawyers, construction workers, law enforcement officers, miners or teachers. Where there are people, there are those who find it difficult to get along with their peers, those who are difficult to get along with and those who would much rather look for bullies than to take responsibility for their own stuff.

I'm not sure what "strntvtsking this seriously" means, but it doesn't sound like bullying. And it's the teacher's job to make sure you understand what you're doing, why you're doing it, how you're doing it, and what are the implications for the patient you're eventually going to be doing it to. If they're not asking you questions to assess your level of knowledge, they aren't doing their jobs.

If you're looking for bullies, you will find them. Even if there aren't actually any bullies. Better to go looking for teachers who expect a lot out of you, peers who help you to learn and colleagues who are supportive and welcoming. You're more likely to find what you're looking for, so look for the good stuff.

What did you think about Hillary Clinton saying nurses were overpaid maids and people who say nursing school is easy? What do think about nursing unions who use the mistreatment of nurses, aka bullying, to justify nursing wages?

Have you been bullied, and is verbal abuse bullying in a domestic relationship?

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