Colleague treats tech like a slave. Would you intervene?

[cbcle]

There's a nurse on my unit "Anne" who treats all of the techs, in particular a tech named "Mary" in an appalling manner. Anne is well known for her diva behavior. We all hate getting report from her because she is rude, tries to get you in trouble to cover up her mistakes, etc. You all know the type. There's one on every unit. We all put up with it. However, today I observed Anne treating Mary in a way that I consider to be absolutely unacceptable. Mary is a tech and a nursing student. She's one of our hardest working staff members and she's going to be a shining star when she gets her nursing license. Anne treats Mary as though she is the scum of the earth. She barks orders at her, looks upon her with disdain, and just in general treats her in a way that you wouldn't even treat your worst enemy. I was in such disbelief over her behavior that I kept waiting to see if this was some long-running joke between them.

A little later I took Mary aside and asked if this is typical of Anne. Mary burst into tears and said this has been going on since she started working and that she's just too terrified to speak up about it. She gave other examples of times when she'd been treated like dirt by Anne. What would you do? I want to say something to the unit manager about it. I would even volunteer to confront Anne myself to see if she's even aware of how poorly she treats Mary and other individuals. Would this be overstepping my bounds to mention something? I have a feeling management is aware but hasn't said anything because Anne has been around for quite some time. What would you do? I can't stand watching someone be treated this way! This is why nursing will never be considered a profession. We don't behave like professionals!

[trina9230]

It's called horizontal violence and it's a big NO NO.....I would strongly urge you to encourage Mary to have the person reported...the only way to stop a bully is to call them to task on their behavior. Just because she's been around since the first corner stone was laid doesn't give her the right to abuse anyone....Mary should scream bloody murder and scream it in such a manner that it gets managements attention and they have no other recourse but to address Anne the Diva. I am sure there have been others before Mary and will be other "victims" if she's not addressed about her behavior. Good Luck and try to remain neutral and not get into the middle because ultimately Mary needs to speak up for herself.

[cbcle]

Thanks for the input. The thing is, I know Anne won't ever speak up for herself. She's completely terrified. She was telling me how much anxiety it gives her to come to work when she knows that Mary is going to be working. If I saw one of my staff treating someone this way I would fire them on the spot for harassment. I know this isn't really my business, but would it be out of line to just make management aware of the situation?

[trina9230]

I would definitely let them know about it...Mary is going to have to toughen up because unfortunately bullies are in every profession they prey upon the meek and the mild...

[trina9230]

sorry anne needs to speak up....getting the characters confused

[caliotter3]

You can bring this to the attention of management but you can't make Mary speak up for herself if she does not want to.

[brillohead, ADN, RN]

Why not slip an anonymous note under the DON's door?

Or write an anonymous letter to the administrator, saying something like, "I was on such-and-such unit on and I witnessed Nurse Anne treating a tech in an unbelievably rude manner. In this day and age, I would expect that a hospital would be interested in providing a healing environment, not one full of such rancor as I saw displayed on more than one occasion by this nurse towards her tech." (even though it's written to give the impression that you were a patient on the unit, it technically never says so -- just that you were on the unit -- so there's nothing dishonest about the note)

Normally I would be against anonymous notes, but given how back-stabbing and political hospitals can be, you need to protect your own job. But plain and simple, this woman needs to be stopped. If she's this rude to her coworker, how can she possibly display appropriate therapeutic caring behaviors with her patients?

[Whispera, MSN, RN]

If you report her, give specific examples of what Mary did, since being rude is in the eyes of the beholder sometimes...

It's one thing to put up with a diva. It's an entirely different thing to let an abuser continue to abuse. Please do something. Since you hadn't seen Mary's behavior at such a high level before, it's possible management hasn't seen it either. Maybe she's on better behavior when management is around.

[I<3H2O, BSN, RN]

I also work with a nurse who treats others horribly at times. I call her on her crap EVERY SINGLE TIME I hear it. Mgmnt doesn't do anything about it. It's kind of one of those "that's just how she is" attitudes in our small hospital. It is very sad but I always stick up for those people who I feel are being bullied.

[leslie :-D]

i wouldn't 'confront' divanurse, but as a colleague, i would share my observations with her, "you talk to mary like absolute ****...how can you treat another human being like that?", shake your head and walk away.

in the meantime, encourage mary to speak up...even offering to stand behind/with her.

ultimately it really is mary's responsibility.

leslie

[mzrainydayz, BSN, RN]

Mary needs to speak up for herself and tell Ann look you are the nurse and I am the tech, BUT you are not going to talk to me that way you need to respect me women to women and coworker to coworker. If Mary doesn't stand up for self and have a back bone Ann will continue to walk all over her. I was in a similar situation and you know what, one day I had enough and I went off on the nurse that was always rude and mean to me for no reason. Lets just say she never did it again. Time has passed it's been six years and we have a good working relation. I am a quiet person but don't push me.

[demylenated, BSN, RN]

I am one who believes we have to stick up for the staff that works with and for us. But, specifically and ESPECIALLY if we are their charge. Then it is up to us to stick up for them as well. I encourage you to take Mary with you to the DON (or immediate supervisor) and you start telling them, objectively, what you observed. Also, if Mary is still too anxious, you can say, "Further, when I addressed this with Mary, she had these concerns..." At which time, Mary will feel more comfortable, she'll feel championed, and will start talking as well.