I read recently in an article in Nurse Magazine, about the so called horizontal abuse,the ridicule and hostility between fellow nurses.My question is this,and I know I will be flamed for sounding like a male chauvenist,but does this happen as much with male nurses toward another male nurse as it does between two female nurses?I think the problem stems from the very nature of the profesion,it is female dominated and men have a different way of dealing with problems.Say my fellow RN"Joe"rebuked me about a mistake I made,ok,noted and I carry on,but we would probably go grab a bite or have a cup of coffee later as if nothing happened,unless Joe was a compleat jerk,the matter would be forgoten on a personal level.But a woman sees this as a confrontation,and even though she is polite and agreeable about it,in her mind and behind that persons back,she is showing resentment.Fact is,most women can be catty,men tend to blow it off.I have the utmost respect for female nurses and women in general,but there is a reason why we are male and female,and its not just body parts.What say you? James
That isn't true in my experience. I'll leave it at that.
Bingo.
Why look for differences between the sexes when we have more in common as individuals? It will only serve to perpetuate old & often negative stereotypes.
My best friend is an organizational communications PHD student. He brought a study of businesses to me one time. It compared businesses that were run and staffed by only females and ones staffed and ran by only males. The businesses ran and operated by soley women failed miserably because of the catyness every single time. The men did alright. But the businesses ran by a combination did the best by far. The businesses were not high stress operations either. This is an extremely simplified version, but you get the drift.
I don't want to sound chauvanistic, but men in nursing is a great thing, the combination of personalities and with the stregnths of both sexes coming together is a good thing. In general (not all cases) men let things slide more easily. They both have stregnths and weaknesses. As do individuals.
BTW
Just because things are stereotypes doesn't mean that things are not true in most cases. And not all stereotypes are negative either.
My best friend is an organizational communications PHD student. He brought a study of businesses to me one time. It compared businesses that were run and staffed by only females and ones staffed and ran by only males. The businesses ran and operated by soley women failed miserably because of the catyness every single time. The men did alright. But the businesses ran by a combination did the best by far. The businesses were not high stress operations either. This is an extremely simplified version, but you get the drift.
I got my B.A. in Communication from MSU, with a concentrations in org. com, public relations, and interpersonal com.
While I know that my level of education is less than that of your friend, I am awfully skeptical that such a study exists, and/or stood the test of publication & peer review of the methods & variables. This is because in social science, it is extremely difficult to isolate variables without crippling the sample size.
If I was a peer reviewing that study, I would be questioning the method of research because I've never heard of a company in this day & age that is run & operated solely by men or solely by women. This is because of necessary EEO laws.
And, if these "companies" were created in a lab setting, the study is worth little more than toilet paper, since they aren't actually companies.
If you would, please provide the cite for this study. I would love to read it since I haven't yet!
James, I think you're right that women are in general less well able to separate criticism of their work performance from criticism of themselves. That can certainly contribute to a less enjoyable work place, for the reasons you've mentioned - that individual can then feel resentment or unhappiness, and pass it along.
That said, that's not really what horizontal violence is. Horizontal violence occurs when an individual or group systematically, consciously and consistantly undermines a colleague or group of colleagues - through direct attack, inference (subtle undermining), gossip and innuendo.
I agree. I think you people do not know what horizontal violence is. i read the same article and posted a copy on my work communication board. it fit the description of a coworker. this coworker gossiped, judged, and ran people that were not their "friends" off the unit as much as possible. this person was also mentally abusive to their coworkers as well. This person would undermine the nurses, Rts' and anyone who did not fit their mood at the time. THAT is horizontal violence. it is normally that persons' low self-esteem and issues that causes them to be that way, and you must understand that their behavior has nothing to do with you. It could be about power, home issues, or mental illness among other things.
But to address the problem you are really asking, the guys on my unit are just as catty as the females. and it goes by the individual if they want to play the 'catty' game
However, there are many cases of male postal workers, police officers, firemen, stock traders going on a shooting sprees in their workplaces.
"cattiness" in the workplace is better than getting shot by a coworker.
At least in my opinion.
So all men are potentially violent? Anyhow...a short definition of horizontal violence or mobbing. Same thing.
- mobbing in working life involves hostile and unethical communication which is directed in a systematic manner by one or more individuals, mainly toward one individual, who, due to mobbing, is pushed into a helpless and defenseless position and held there by means of continuing mobbing activities. These actions occur on a very frequent basis (statistical definition: at least once a week) and over a long period of time (statistical definition: at least six months´ duration). Because of the high frequency and long duration of hostile behavior, this maltreatment results in considerable mental, psychosomatic and social misery.
- The scientific definition of the term mobbing thus refers to a social interaction, through which one individual (seldom more than one) is attacked by one or more (seldom more than four) individuals on almost a daily basis and for periods of many months, forcing the person into an almost helpless position with a potentially high risk of expulsion.
- Because of this conceptualization, a typology of activities could be developed and subdivided into five categories depending on the effects they have on the victim. The following shows the results of informal interviews and heuristic analyses:
* Effects on the victims´ possibilities to communicate adequately (management gives you no possibility to communicate, you are silenced, verbal attack against you regarding work assignments, verbal threats, verbal activities in order to reject you, etc.).
* Effects on the victims´ possibilities to maintain social contacts (colleagues do not talk with you any longer or you are even forbidden by management to talk to them, you are isolated in a room far away from others, you are "sent to Coventry", etc.).
* Effects on the victim´s possibilities to maintain his personal reputation (gossiping about you, others ridicule you, others make fun about of handicap or your ethnic heritage or your way of moving or talking, etc.).
* Effects on the victim´s occupational situation (you are not given any work assignments at all, you are given meaningless work assignments, etc.).
* Effects on the victim´s physical health (you are given dangerous work assignments, others threaten you physically or you are attacked physically, you are sexually harassed in an active way, etc.).
This guy was the source of at least one book written on the subject and he had done quite a bit of research on the subject prior to his death.
What I do know is that horizontal violence (mobbing) is wrong and it is very destructive to the target and to the workplace.
It just so happens that women are better at mobbing activities then men for a variety of reasons. It has been well researched but not well circulated as of yet.
My experience so far has been very positive, though I am only in the second year of clinicals for by B.N.
In my previous llife working in the a corporate environment I found it to be much different. While there were differences between males in females in how they undermined and back stabbed each other the end result was the same. In fact I left my job convinced that the key requirement for a senior manager is that they suffer from sociopathic personality disorder.
I got my B.A. in Communication from MSU, with a concentrations in org. com, public relations, and interpersonal com.
While I know that my level of education is less than that of your friend, I am awfully skeptical that such a study exists, and/or stood the test of publication & peer review of the methods & variables. This is because in social science, it is extremely difficult to isolate variables without crippling the sample size.
If I was a peer reviewing that study, I would be questioning the method of research because I've never heard of a company in this day & age that is run & operated solely by men or solely by women. This is because of necessary EEO laws.
And, if these "companies" were created in a lab setting, the study is worth little more than toilet paper, since they aren't actually companies.
If you would, please provide the cite for this study. I would love to read it since I haven't yet!
You rule!
Strong points. It does seem very unlikely that such a study exists in a valid form. Furthermore, you know the results would headline every major periodical "Scientists at Harvard Prove Women are Catty Backstabbers... Just Like Your Dad Always Said". :rotfl:
So all men are potentially violent? Anyhow...a short definition of horizontal violence or mobbing. Same thing.
What I do know is that horizontal violence (mobbing) is wrong and it is very destructive to the target and to the workplace.
It just so happens that women are better at mobbing activities then men for a variety of reasons. It has been well researched but not well circulated as of yet.
Let's see a research project (that was later disproven), showed that a single woman over 35 (or was it 30) was more likely to get killed by a terrorist than married. Every major network/magazine covers it ad nauseum. Few cover the study that refuted it. The media boldly publish that women that have had an abortion, have a much higher risk of breast cancer, from a very inept research project, that was roundly rejected by legitmate researchers.
Chances are if there is a study "proving" that women are better at mobbing, well then it would be all over the media. Trust me ,O'Reilly, Hannity, and Rush would be all over it like flies on garbage.
The point that I was trying to make, is that while women are perceived to be more "catty", men are perceived to be more physically violent in the workplace. Both are highly dysfunctional responses to the stress of work/life. However, I personally am less likely to survive an onslaught of a baseball bat or gunfire compared to a few rude comments and a bit of snubbing.
Horizontal violence is wrong but the so is physical violence. I come armed to fight silly rumour mongers, but it is much harder to wear a bullet proof vest at work.
Generally I enjoy working with my male coworkers as the females tend to be more gossippy as a rule. However, some males overadjust to the environment and become the worst of the worst as far as backstabbing vindictiveness. So...I take each nurse as an individual and resist stereotyping by sex. :)
Chances are if there is a study "proving" that women are better at mobbing, well then it would be all over the media. Trust me ,O'Reilly, Hannity, and Rush would be all over it like flies on garbage.
Not "a" study. It's ongoing research into relational aggression and redefining what constitutes aggression. Pretty interesting if you're open minded. I am inferring from what you wrote that you aren't open minded so I suppose any further discussion would only lead to argument.
Pvt. Parts
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Bingo.
Why look for differences between the sexes when we have more in common as individuals? It will only serve to perpetuate old & often negative stereotypes.