Catty coworkers

mpccrn, BSN, RN · Aug 28, 2008

they just don't get it........that's all...... :smokin:

suepozitory · Aug 28, 2008

Recently I worked in an area of of the hospital that I do not normally work in. A couple of the nurses were nasty. No reason to be that way, just catty. I just don't understand what is inside these people to prompt them to act that way. I can't imagine being nasty to someone for minor minor reasons.
I was teaching a group of 3rd year nursing students on a GU unit and had to pull my students off because of verbal and physical abuse by the nursing staff on the unit:crying2:
I still can't believe that it goes on:banghead:....and for some reason the ones that were the most abusive were new RN's:eek: My students had to be posted on other units to finish their course.
Nothing was ever done, and I still hear that that same unit has not changed:banghead:

akanini, MSN, RN · Aug 28, 2008

What a SHAME!!!!!! Are they women?

Extreme hormone imbalance!!!!!!!

namaste_71 · Aug 28, 2008

Sorry to hear about your experience. I'm sure the problem isn't unique to nursing -- or even to women, to an extent. Chalk it up to big egos, small minds and low self-confidence, or maybe the people in question have miserable lives, and want to share in the misery. Or maybe they just need a nap and a timeout. Don't take it personally.

namaste_71 · Aug 28, 2008

Recently I worked in an area of of the hospital that I do not normally work in. A couple of the nurses were nasty. No reason to be that way, just catty. I just don't understand what is inside these people to prompt them to act that way. I can't imagine being nasty to someone for minor minor reasons.
I was teaching a group of 3rd year nursing students on a GU unit and had to pull my students off because of verbal and physical abuse by the nursing staff on the unit:crying2:
I would guess in this case it filters from the top down ...

BaByNuRsE07, BSN, RN · Aug 28, 2008

OMG! I could not wait to get home so I could respond to this thread.

I worked at an engineering company for 6 years prior to beginning my nursing career. I was the only woman in an office of 8 men. LOVED IT!! No gossip, cattiness, attitudes, passive aggressivness, etc. It really was great working with all men. I guess I got spoiled. Darn this yearning to care for and help heal the sick:wink2:.

First year of nursing got real lucky and ended up on a great med surg unit with a staff who really understood teamwork and while of course there was some gossip, it wasn't malicious and we didn't treat each other like the Hatfields vs the McCoys.

Fastforward. I've very recently transferred to OB. All I can say is WOW! I've been there a total of 3 full days and I've already resigned myself to learning as much as I can, being workplace cordial, doing my job and then going home. I've never been the type to play a role in the workplace politics anyway, so I think it will be pretty easy to do.

oslogirl · Aug 28, 2008

Most of the problem, in my opinion, is management, or lack therof. If these nasty little troublemaking people were told their bad attitudes will not be tolerated, and they have two choices:1. Improve your attitude, or 2. You will be terminated.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Aug 28, 2008

Here's my blunt two cents. :twocents:

Nursing has always tended to attract a decent share of women with low self-esteems. We all know that persons who suffer from low self esteem need a colossal plenitude of validation and ego-boosting in order to feel better about themselves. Hence, the cattiness comes out.

Some nurses who possess low self esteems receive momentary thrills by behaving in a catty manner toward their coworkers. For some bizarre reason, their egos are temporarily boosted when they insult their colleagues.

You must always remember that a person does not feel the need to be catty toward another human being unless their own self esteem is lacking in confidence.

akanini, MSN, RN · Aug 28, 2008

"Nursing has always tended to attract a decent share of women with low self-esteems. "

My point exactly! Us, women. The Commuter, you always seem to hit the nail on the head!!!!

Scrubby · Aug 28, 2008

A couple of years ago a friend of mine worked on a ward where there were about five nurses (all female) who were so catty that they were making life miserable for everyone. They always seemed to work on the same shift (afternoon), they were rude to everyone else and would slack off and do nothing for the first two hours of their shift. It got that bad that management in the end had to split these girls up and sent them all to different areas so they could no longer work together.

There are also a couple of people like this at my work, all female not surprisingly. I just see it as these girls still act as though they are in high school and that their cattiness is meant to impress everyone. I think it's a bit pathetic....

leslie :-D · Aug 29, 2008

Here's my blunt two cents.
Nursing has always tended to attract a decent share of women with low self-esteems. We all know that persons who suffer from low self esteem need a colossal plenitude of validation and ego-boosting in order to feel better about themselves. Hence, the cattiness comes out.
Some nurses who possess low self esteems receive momentary thrills by behaving in a catty manner toward their coworkers. For some bizarre reason, their egos are temporarily boosted when they insult their colleagues.
You must always remember that a person does not feel the need to be catty toward another human being unless their own self esteem is lacking in confidence.

i don't know...

i think some of what you say is valid, but am thinking of many women i know, who lack in self-esteem but still are very gracious people.

i tend to think it zooms more on being insecure but even then, not all insecure people are catty.

maybe it's more of passive-aggressive, r/t inability to be assertive?

who knows?

i really don't...

and it's a pervasive phenomena i would be interested in further understanding.

it drives me nuts.:)

leslie