Examples of times you have been bullied in nursing profession

[luvmyyorkie24]

I am doing a presentation on hostile work environment and bullying in the nursing profession. I was wondering if anyone was willing to give examples/stories of a time they were bullied in nursing school and or the nursing profession.

Thank you!

[KatieMI, BSN, MSN, RN]

When I was in so-called "nursing residency", the NM responsible for it called me in his office every second or third shift and for a couple of hours communicated approximately like this:

- I was walking down the corridor one day and met a lady and she told me you are awful.

- you are too smart, that's why you have problems. You got to make yourself less so if you want to make successful nurse.

- you have no right to live here unless you speak only English, at home too.

Then there was "teaching English" (that is, making fun of my accent, daily and publicly). Leaving me in 1:1 room with airborne and contact isolation AND working oscillatory vent (for those who do not know, try to sit as close as possible to playing rock band for a while) for hours in a row, with no relief. Someone would ask me what I thought, then take the smart idea to attending and present as their own. I was written up for "doing too much assessments", "too much teaching" and for "reporting unrelated findings" (found a developing spinal stroke on deeply sedated, paralyzed patient - right it time, the guy walked out of there on his two feet).

Stress-related cardiomyopathy was a price I paid for my first year in nursing.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

When I was being trained on telemetry I said something - I forget what, but as I'm generally friendly and boring it was probably not much - that upset my preceptor. Instead of talking to me about it she tried to get me fired. For two years. During my orientation she would see things on the monitor and not mention them to me, then when we were giving report she'd pull the oncoming person aside and say, "Dogen didn't tell you about this because he didn't realize it was ectopy..." Then she tried to get my orientation lengthened because I was making so many "mistakes." Eventually she started telling the charge on our shift that I was "the most dangerous person she'd ever worked with" and totally unsafe, which is when I found out - that charge RN was the first person to tell me what was happening. When I asked my preceptor she exploded, screaming in my face that I'd never work at that hospital if she had anything to say about it.

I talked to my manager, HR was brought in to mediate... meanwhile my preceptor called staffing and told them to take me off the schedule (to which the staffing clerk said, "Who are you?"). Eventually 4 or 5 other people told stories about how she behaved. She told one person who had recently started dating that she should give up because she was too dumb for anyone to love and going to die alone. The nurse manager had no idea anything was happening, my preceptor was never anything but polite and kind when she was around and no one else had ever complained. My preceptor was sent to night shift, I survived.

Wow, she sounds like a sociopath. When sociopaths are crossed, they don't want to get even, they want to ruin your life. But since you are in psych, I guess you already knew that, lol.

How did they catch on to the fact that she was taking your strips off and putting her own on?

[Dogen]

Wow, she sounds like a sociopath. When sociopaths are crossed, they don't want to get even, they want to ruin your life. But since you are in psych, I guess you already knew that, lol.

How did they catch on to the fact that she was taking your strips off and putting her own on?

It surprises me that it took them so long. She never brought them to management, just the night shift nurses, who never said anything. We used double sided tape to stick the strips on the paper forms, so when you pull the strips off it leaves residue and bits of paper. Someone added that bit to the fact that strips with "errors" were only found by her (measuring tele strips is pretty easy), and only my strips had errors, and began suspecting. So they told someone who told the manager who did... Something. I was never privy to what happened after. Just that one day she was let go.

[Lesley2]

I work in Mental Health and had horrific bullying from manager which took the form of slander and malicious gossip. I suspected this was happening as others in the team began to shun me a few weeks after she joined. I "eavesdropped" on her telling all and sundry in an open office that I stink and not to sit next to me in meetings, she was telling student nurses not to talk to me as I talk rubbish and I am a psychopath and a narcissist. She said I was not entitled to my salary as I was so lazy. She said I was a thief and would steal any money left lying around. She told anybody who would listen not to worry as she would make sure I was got rid of soon. She undermined my confidence so much I found it hard to look anybody in the eye. She went to the top manager with these false allegations and blatantly denied that she had ever said anything derogatory about me. The whole thing was turned round to make it look as if it was my fault as I had been "disrespectful" to this manager by not talking to her - the truth of the matter was I had been made so ill by what she had been saying about me behind my back I had lost confidence to speak much to anybody at that point. She threatened to take a grievance out against me for my "unprofessional conduct" in the office by making a bad atmosphere. When my dad died she said I had made it up to get time off work because she had "had a go" at me the week before. When I was on compassionate leave the bullying top manager came to my house and demanded to see my father's death certificate to prove I had not made it up about his death. I resolved never to go back to that place. After being made very ill I was off sick for a year. When fit enough to return to work I was given a job in a different department a band lower than the job I was bullied out of, so this has affected my pension and income. I was too ill and traumatised for months after the event to try to seek resolution to the situation, so my tormentors have got away with it. Three years on I have had no "closure" on the episode and remain very unwell, traumatised, depressed, afraid of people; I never socialise, go to the hairdressers, doctor or dentist, I never have holidays because my confidence has been completely shot - this has ruined my life. After 34 years in the profession with an unblemished record the biggest regret of my life is that I ever went into nursing - I never imagined my career would be ending on this nightmarish note.

[Horseshoe, BSN, RN]

I work in Mental Health and had horrific bullying from manager which took the form of slander and malicious gossip. I suspected this was happening as others in the team began to shun me a few weeks after she joined. I "eavesdropped" on her telling all and sundry in an open office that I stink and not to sit next to me in meetings, she was telling student nurses not to talk to me as I talk rubbish and I am a psychopath and a narcissist. She said I was not entitled to my salary as I was so lazy. She said I was a thief and would steal any money left lying around. She told anybody who would listen not to worry as she would make sure I was got rid of soon. She undermined my confidence so much I found it hard to look anybody in the eye. She went to the top manager with these false allegations and blatantly denied that she had ever said anything derogatory about me. The whole thing was turned round to make it look as if it was my fault as I had been "disrespectful" to this manager by not talking to her - the truth of the matter was I had been made so ill by what she had been saying about me behind my back I had lost confidence to speak much to anybody at that point. She threatened to take a grievance out against me for my "unprofessional conduct" in the office by making a bad atmosphere. When my dad died she said I had made it up to get time off work because she had "had a go" at me the week before. When I was on compassionate leave the bullying top manager came to my house and demanded to see my father's death certificate to prove I had not made it up about his death. I resolved never to go back to that place. After being made very ill I was off sick for a year. When fit enough to return to work I was given a job in a different department a band lower than the job I was bullied out of, so this has affected my pension and income. I was too ill and traumatised for months after the event to try to seek resolution to the situation, so my tormentors have got away with it. Three years on I have had no "closure" on the episode and remain very unwell, traumatised, depressed, afraid of people; I never socialise, go to the hairdressers, doctor or dentist, I never have holidays because my confidence has been completely shot - this has ruined my life. After 34 years in the profession with an unblemished record the biggest regret of my life is that I ever went into nursing - I never imagined my career would be ending on this nightmarish note.

While this person sounds despicable, only YOU can allow your life to be "ruined." You need counseling, and that is absolutely nothing to be ashamed of. A counselor can help you regain your sense of joy in living, and she can help you develop strategies to deal with difficult people in the future. At some point you rolled over and let this person bully you into complete submission. You need to find out why. A counselor can guide you back to a place where you regain your self esteem and confidence in yourself so that you are able to stand up for yourself and never again let another person rob you of what's rightfully yours, which is the belief in yourself, inner peace, and contentment.

Good luck.

[Lesley2]

To WKShadowRN,

Thank you for those words of wisdom. I think I have needed to hear what you said for a long time. You have really helped.

[caliotter3]

I was told in no uncertain terms that I had better not report another nurse for the elder abuse that I witnessed because this particular nurse was the DON's favorite. The nurse who committed the abuse jumped me and informed me that she was special to the DON because she provided controlled meds to the DON from her med cart. Yep, they were right. I reported the abuse as I was required to do, was fired, and later found out that the report I made to the police went absolutely nowhere because the facility had removed the real problem.

Another time I was bullied by a group who were discussing in English for my personal edification as well as the mentioned resident within earshot, what was going to happen because she had complained about their refusal to speak English while providing care. I left that employer soon afterward with an appropriate excuse.

Another two times I was bullied out of a job that was not in nursing. Losing one's livelihood is very possible as a result of bullying, as I have experienced.

[caliotter3]

Just noticed this thread is more than six years old. Hope the OP's presentation went well way back then!