Other nurses being abusive against other nurses.

Nurses General Nursing

Published

Let's talk about other nurses being abusive against other nurses. Degrading them and telling them they have psychiatric disorders. Attempting to diagnose them with "bipolar" disorder. Knowing that this nurse does suffer with depression, taking advantage of that and calling them crazy and degrading them with every chance. Using them. Treating them like a yo-yo. Degrading their appearance, their actions, and their character. Yeah these nurses exist, and they are among us. Some of them even HERE on all Allnurses. I can name a few, but won't.

Let's end nurse on nurse abuse.

It is never about "one person". Bullies do not act completely alone as they are always cowards and wouldn't shoot until feeling "protected" by their immediate management, and probably also by "unit core", the rest of it might not be directly involved but just enjoying the show nevertheless.

We all have our likes and dislikes of people. What makes bully a bully is a feeling of being invincible and free of sequela, whatever they do.

He said it was. One person.

If it is on AN, report the abuser to the mods and/or try to settle it on PM.

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.
This is not workplace abuse but I'm glad a lively and productive discussion could come from this.

Something tells me that there's not much difference between bashing someone online vs. doing so reality. Words can hurt, whether are said or written or kept for posterity up there in Cloud.

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Specializes in Critical Care.
Something tells me that there's not much difference between bashing someone online vs. doing so reality. Words can hurt, whether are said or written or kept for posterity up there in Cloud.

SO true, especially when those words come from people you used to trust. Sad... what a shame.

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Specializes in Case Manager/Administrator.

OK I have to just comment on this thred

Maybe I am out of touch, maybe it is because I am also a healthcare administrator and BSN, maybe it was the way I was raised as an only child by my father but it makes no sense to me how nurses can be so critical of their co-workers. Here is my opinion and this is my view, not to offend anyone for you are entitled to your own thoughts as well as me....

There are good and bad nurses just like in any other profession. Just look at what is going on in the current news pictures of "stupidness" of playing around with babies and patients who have expired. There is no room in our profession for this behavior for we have a trust profession and really why would you place your licensure at risk for something so stupid. I think it reflects our current culture. Is it a generational gap?, I do not think so because in the information age (also known as misinformation age) there really is no age gap, people of all ages are trying to get their 15 mins of fame or one up to you.

The workforce has changed, nurses who went to school back in the early 1980 and back had a different kind of nursing education. Our education consisted of scenario based cases, of time spent on a unit on a regular basis, and our testing in school reflected this with Case 1 patient presents with...our possible answers were ether write the steps of what you would do as a nurse in order or there would be an essay question and perhaps some A, B, C possible answers. Today students coming out of school think A, B, C, D. It is scary what new nurses do not know and for older nurses the expectation is higher than what the new nurse is showing. This new nurse may have only administered 5 injections, may have only completed 1 IV...in most cases they have only seen the OR from the observation room. As older nurses we need to assess our new nurse and meet them where they are at. If they do not improve then I would let management know, hope they do improve and I would refuse to work with them. New nurses (not all) are to be treated with respect but need the extra guidance to really succeed in nursing and older nurses/experienced nurses need to adapt their ways of think to allow for the basic growth we except those nurse to come with, when they clearly do not have that basic knowledge. Lastly we need a new nursing pathway in that the new graduated nurses should not be able to take the NCLEX for at least a year, that they must work as a graduate nurse for at least 1920 hours of graduate nursing before they can take the test., then when they can put RN after their name they are not so green behind the ears. I also think the baseline for nursing should be BSN-no diploma and no associates degree. We have lives at stake and there is no room for error, and no room for bitterness in the workplace, leave your mental health issues at the door and you can pick it up on your way out. (I am not saying only diploma and ADN nurses have issues we all do)

Come across me with bad attitudes bad behavior I will call you on it the first time, if it happens again I will just report it. If it continues and you yell/throw things I will have a witness call management and then I will call the police for your bad behavior can be considered assault (verbally threatening a person of committing a physical harm i.e. waving your stack of papers/throwing a chart towards me) or battery when you pull my stethoscope out of my hands, throw the chart and it hits me in my arm) or grab my arm when I am walking away so you can yell at me more. I will also get a level of protection against you so I can be safe at work. Just my beliefs.

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Specializes in ED, psych.

This is not going to turn into a productive thread.

OP, you give topics but nothing concrete. You state "lets talk about this" but pepper the conversation with innuendo.

Like others have said, if you have a problem with a specific poster, report or PM.

Maybe I'm incorrect for feeling this way, but my kids know how to handle bullying. I feel adults don't, aeb threads such as these.

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I agree. I don't think creating a post which vaguely calls out one poster in this manner is very professional.

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OK I have to just comment on this thred

Maybe I am out of touch, maybe it is because I am also a healthcare administrator and BSN, maybe it was the way I was raised as an only child by my father but it makes no sense to me how nurses can be so critical of their co-workers. Here is my opinion and this is my view, not to offend anyone for you are entitled to your own thoughts as well as me....

There are good and bad nurses just like in any other profession. Just look at what is going on in the current news pictures of "stupidness" of playing around with babies and patients who have expired. There is no room in our profession for this behavior for we have a trust profession and really why would you place your licensure at risk for something so stupid. I think it reflects our current culture. Is it a generational gap?, I do not think so because in the information age (also known as misinformation age) there really is no age gap, people of all ages are trying to get their 15 mins of fame or one up to you.

The workforce has changed, nurses who went to school back in the early 1980 and back had a different kind of nursing education. Our education consisted of scenario based cases, of time spent on a unit on a regular basis, and our testing in school reflected this with Case 1 patient presents with...our possible answers were ether write the steps of what you would do as a nurse in order or there would be an essay question and perhaps some A, B, C possible answers. Today students coming out of school think A, B, C, D. It is scary what new nurses do not know and for older nurses the expectation is higher than what the new nurse is showing. This new nurse may have only administered 5 injections, may have only completed 1 IV...in most cases they have only seen the OR from the observation room. As older nurses we need to assess our new nurse and meet them where they are at. If they do not improve then I would let management know, hope they do improve and I would refuse to work with them. New nurses (not all) are to be treated with respect but need the extra guidance to really succeed in nursing and older nurses/experienced nurses need to adapt their ways of think to allow for the basic growth we except those nurse to come with, when they clearly do not have that basic knowledge. Lastly we need a new nursing pathway in that the new graduated nurses should not be able to take the NCLEX for at least a year, that they must work as a graduate nurse for at least 1920 hours of graduate nursing before they can take the test., then when they can put RN after their name they are not so green behind the ears. I also think the baseline for nursing should be BSN-no diploma and no associates degree. We have lives at stake and there is no room for error, and no room for bitterness in the workplace, leave your mental health issues at the door and you can pick it up on your way out. (I am not saying only diploma and ADN nurses have issues we all do)

Come across me with bad attitudes bad behavior I will call you on it the first time, if it happens again I will just report it. If it continues and you yell/throw things I will have a witness call management and then I will call the police for your bad behavior can be considered assault (verbally threatening a person of committing a physical harm i.e. waving your stack of papers/throwing a chart towards me) or battery when you pull my stethoscope out of my hands, throw the chart and it hits me in my arm) or grab my arm when I am walking away so you can yell at me more. I will also get a level of protection against you so I can be safe at work. Just my beliefs.

"Older nurses" typically had diploma's, not BSN's correct? Now a days, more places are looking to hire only those newly graduated RN's who have a BSN. So I feel like this contradicts some of your points.

Also is your concept of new nurses really so bad? Saying they don't have basic knowledge? I agree, some new grads lack certain skills/education and some programs are better. I was lucky to go to a university where there was a significant clinical component starting in our first year which was well known when compared to other schools. BUT, some older nurses are also stuck in their ways and don't keep up with current literature, etc.

Lastly, your working as a new grad for a year idea is good but will never happen. New grad positions are few and far between. I think a lot of it comes down to preceptor's during orientation which are typically the senior nurses. Just my opinion.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
This is not going to turn into a productive thread.

OP, you give topics but nothing concrete. You state "lets talk about this" but pepper the conversation with innuendo.

Like others have said, if you have a problem with a specific poster, report or PM.

Maybe I'm incorrect for feeling this way, but my kids know how to handle bullying. I feel adults don't, aeb threads such as these.

I agree. OP, I don't intend to say that your experience isn't valid. However, I don't think this thread is going to do anything constructive to solve the problem. I hope that you went through the proper channels (reporting inappropriate behavior to the mods and/or possibly trying to resolve differences directly if appropriate) in addition to starting this post.

Up Vote Up Vote ×
Specializes in ED, psych.
OK I have to just comment on this thred

Maybe I am out of touch, maybe it is because I am also a healthcare administrator and BSN, maybe it was the way I was raised as an only child by my father but it makes no sense to me how nurses can be so critical of their co-workers. Here is my opinion and this is my view, not to offend anyone for you are entitled to your own thoughts as well as me....

There are good and bad nurses just like in any other profession. Just look at what is going on in the current news pictures of "stupidness" of playing around with babies and patients who have expired. There is no room in our profession for this behavior for we have a trust profession and really why would you place your licensure at risk for something so stupid. I think it reflects our current culture. Is it a generational gap?, I do not think so because in the information age (also known as misinformation age) there really is no age gap, people of all ages are trying to get their 15 mins of fame or one up to you.

The workforce has changed, nurses who went to school back in the early 1980 and back had a different kind of nursing education. Our education consisted of scenario based cases, of time spent on a unit on a regular basis, and our testing in school reflected this with Case 1 patient presents with...our possible answers were ether write the steps of what you would do as a nurse in order or there would be an essay question and perhaps some A, B, C possible answers. Today students coming out of school think A, B, C, D. It is scary what new nurses do not know and for older nurses the expectation is higher than what the new nurse is showing. This new nurse may have only administered 5 injections, may have only completed 1 IV...in most cases they have only seen the OR from the observation room. As older nurses we need to assess our new nurse and meet them where they are at. If they do not improve then I would let management know, hope they do improve and I would refuse to work with them. New nurses (not all) are to be treated with respect but need the extra guidance to really succeed in nursing and older nurses/experienced nurses need to adapt their ways of think to allow for the basic growth we except those nurse to come with, when they clearly do not have that basic knowledge. Lastly we need a new nursing pathway in that the new graduated nurses should not be able to take the NCLEX for at least a year, that they must work as a graduate nurse for at least 1920 hours of graduate nursing before they can take the test., then when they can put RN after their name they are not so green behind the ears. I also think the baseline for nursing should be BSN-no diploma and no associates degree. We have lives at stake and there is no room for error, and no room for bitterness in the workplace, leave your mental health issues at the door and you can pick it up on your way out. (I am not saying only diploma and ADN nurses have issues we all do)

Come across me with bad attitudes bad behavior I will call you on it the first time, if it happens again I will just report it. If it continues and you yell/throw things I will have a witness call management and then I will call the police for your bad behavior can be considered assault (verbally threatening a person of committing a physical harm i.e. waving your stack of papers/throwing a chart towards me) or battery when you pull my stethoscope out of my hands, throw the chart and it hits me in my arm) or grab my arm when I am walking away so you can yell at me more. I will also get a level of protection against you so I can be safe at work. Just my beliefs.

Some of the best nurses I've worked with have diplomas and ADNs. Some are recent grads, some have been in the field for years. You certainly don't need a BSN to be successful.

As for "leaving your mental health issues at the door" -- this truly rubs me the wrong way. Maybe because it wrings true to someone calling another "bipolar" when they're being merely moody; it has nothing to do with mental health. Perhaps it's because I do have mental health "issues" as I AM bipolar; maybe we can just say it as, "leave your baggage at the door to pick up when you leave."

Mental health issues does not equate to violence.

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The internet can be a really terrible place sometimes. I hate to hear of anyone getting treated the way mentioned by the OP. I've been there.

If it's on here, it should be reported - not just by the person it's happening to, but by anyone who sees it.

I'm not sure if this thread is attempting to have a discussion about these types of things, or to call someone out though.

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Specializes in Pediatric Critical Care.
Some of the best nurses I've worked with have diplomas and ADNs. Some are recent grads, some have been in the field for years. You certainly don't need a BSN to be successful.

As for "leaving your mental health issues at the door" -- this truly rubs me the wrong way. Maybe because it wrings true to someone calling another "bipolar" when they're being merely moody; it has nothing to do with mental health. Perhaps it's because I do have mental health "issues" as I AM bipolar; maybe we can just say it as, "leave your baggage at the door to pick up when you leave."

Mental health issues does not equate to violence.

Not only that, but "mental health issues" are not something that can just be put down and left at the door when its convenient. If they could be, nobody would ever pick them back up. Maybe you can leave you "bad day" or "grumpy attitude" at the door, but those aren't mental health issues.

"Leave your cancer at the door and you can pick it back up when your shift ends"

"Leave your diabetes at the door so it doesn't interfere with your work"

It's all just really cringe-y.

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Specializes in ICU, LTACH, Internal Medicine.

Dear Neats,

If new nurses do not know "basics" (which exactly, BTW?), who or what prevents you, as an "administrator", from meeting with staff from local schools and letting them know that? You can even suggest changes, for example make RN externship program.

Your comment about "leaving mental health stuff home" also irked me very wrong way. I have mental health problem, as thousands of other nurses. We are not cut by the same cookie cutter, neither of us, you including, is "perfectly normal". We may not be able to to "leave it all there" altogether. I never will become a bubbly extravert because I have PTSD, Nurse Mary always will be a bit OCD type, but it doesn't mean that we're violent or generally bad nurses only because of it.

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