Do people exaggerate with the “nursing is a catty field” comments or is that legit?

[cookie123d, CNA]

I’m still a student but I keep hearing the old “All nurses eat their young” and oh it’s a catty field with all women etc. stereotypes. The thing is, I have worked many jobs, in food service, in a tax office, as a CNA etc.  Honestly each workplace had some bullies, some catty people, some nice people, it has been like this for every non health field job I have had since. So do people exaggerate this famous saying or is this field just somehow more cattier than any other job?

[Davey Do]

This is an oft discussed subject, cookie.

I would encourage you to put your "NETY" in the Search option and you will come up with a virtual plethora of threads and posts.

 

[HiddencatBSN, BSN]

3 hours ago, cookie123d said:

I’m still a student but I keep hearing the old “All nurses eat their young” and oh it’s a catty field with all women etc. stereotypes. The thing is, I have worked many jobs, in food service, in a tax office, as a CNA etc.  Honestly each workplace had some bullies, some catty people, some nice people, it has been like this for every non health field job I have had since. So do people exaggerate this famous saying or is this field just somehow more cattier than any other job?

It varies a bit by workplace. Some places have a catty culture and that sucks. I think with so much focus on how "nurses eat their young" being toxic and self-defeating (do you want your new coworkers to be well trained or not?) that things are changing on the new-grad treatment front, but again, really dependent on the unit culture.

[SmilingBluEyes]

some  young eat their old too.

[RNperdiem, RN]

In many ways you will see what you want to see.

Generally happy people tend to see pleasant, good-to-work with people everywhere with the occassional exception of the not-so-nice. These people tend to leave a toxic workplace quickly; since volunteering to stick around in a toxic, badly run environment is bad for your mental health and inner peace.

People with a negative bent will look at the same workplace and see cattiness, widespread gossip and nurses throwing each other under the bus. Of course they are probably spreading the cattiness around and stirring up chaos. 

[JadedCPN, BSN, RN]

On 1/3/2021 at 8:02 AM, RNperdiem said:

In many ways you will see what you want to see.

Generally happy people tend to see pleasant, good-to-work with people everywhere with the occassional exception of the not-so-nice. These people tend to leave a toxic workplace quickly; since volunteering to stick around in a toxic, badly run environment is bad for your mental health and inner peace.

People with a negative bent will look at the same workplace and see cattiness, widespread gossip and nurses throwing each other under the bus. Of course they are probably spreading the cattiness around and stirring up chaos. 

This. So much this.

[cookie123d, CNA]

6 minutes ago, JadedCPN said:

This. So much this.

I agree but theres a limit. You could be the nicest happiest person in the world but if you have coworkers lieing on you and picking on you and bad management, thats a toxic workplace no matter if the person is happy or not

[JBMmom, MSN, NP]

People are people, and all personality types exist in almost all professions. I think there is more of a perception that nurses should be caring and sweet because we are in a profession perceived as nurturing. So when a new nurse is assigned a preceptor and that preceptor is a regular person, with the stresses of a regular person in an ever changing field, they may have to deal with someone who doesn't bend over backwards to tell them how the world rises and sets on them as a new nurse. There may be (hopefully) constructive feedback as the new nurse comes to realize that nursing school didn't really make them a capable nurse by itself, there's going to have to be some additional effort. 

Sometimes there are toxic nurses and units and there will be unfair treatment of new nurses, old nurses, foreign nurses, short nurses, heavy nurses, etc. Sometimes there are toxic managers that are on power trips, as there are in many other fields. There are also fantastic units where the nurses work together and form a team that optimizes the health delivery for the good of their patients. And there are great work environments that make you get up every day and not dread going to work, maybe even look forward to it. 

So, some are exaggerations, some are accurate, it's certainly not worth worrying about. As the OP said, you've already experienced many of these situations in other fields. 

[speedynurse, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

There are toxic workplaces for sure....I have only worked in 3 different areas of nursing since starting....well, 4 if teaching/faculty counts. One workplace was miserable and toxic.....some of this was due to poor leadership, burnout, very strong personalities, etc. The other 3 have been great....not perfect and I left the departments for other reasons, but the teams have been super supportive except for the one job I stayed in for less than a year. Every job has its issues but no, not every job “eats their young” or is toxic. There are plenty of teams that are a joy to work with and are like a work family.

[PhillyQueenRN]

it can be sometimes, anytime you are dealing with a female dominated profession there is bound to be some Catty drama. I have had various experiences with women who liked to gossip behind your back and tell lies about you. You also get those certain nurses that like to report everything to the manager. 

[cookie123d, CNA]

1 hour ago, speedynurse said:

There are toxic workplaces for sure....I have only worked in 3 different areas of nursing since starting....well, 4 if teaching/faculty counts. One workplace was miserable and toxic.....some of this was due to poor leadership, burnout, very strong personalities, etc. The other 3 have been great....not perfect and I left the departments for other reasons, but the teams have been super supportive except for the one job I stayed in for less than a year. Every job has its issues but no, not every job “eats their young” or is toxic. There are plenty of teams that are a joy to work with and are like a work family.

Thats good to hear ? some of these stories over here and from other people have scared me LOL

[speedynurse, ADN, BSN, RN, EMT-P]

3 minutes ago, cookie123d said:

Thats good to hear ? some of these stories over here and from other people have scared me LOL

Maybe work as a tech if you can to see if you like a unit. There ARE toxic units and I have been in one of them, but I have had really wonderful teams in all the other departments.....if you get in one, just get the experience then move on. There are some great teams out there that will be not just coworkers but some friends as well.