Horrid Grad Year

gonzo1, ASN, RN · Sep 25, 2006

I had to quit my first job due to bullying. Have run into a couple of the nurses who worked there years later and they told me they were sorry the other nurses were like that to me. I have encountered hostile working environment two out of the three places I have worked. Work in a great place now where everyone gets along.

Hang in there and learn all you can. It's all about learning as much as you can. You never know what opportunities may open up for you later. Remember, at least you don't have to take these rotten people home with you.

I am sorry that you have to deal with this. I am praying for you.

Grace Oz · Sep 25, 2006

Sorry you are experiencing this. If you are absolutely sure you are being bullied, please go to your DON and file a complaint. Bullying in the workplace is wrong!

A word of caution regards being too outspoken when a new grad......

Certainly have your say, especially if it's relevant to the situation. However, show caution in HOW you say things. Carefully select the things you are outspoken about. It's not worth getting into battles over each and every thing. If as you say, you were "bailed up and yelled at", you have good reason to complain about being treated that way. That kind of behaviour is abuse. Abuse is not acceptable in the workforce. PERIOD!

Not that I'm doubting you for a minute, but sometimes we need to take a good hard look at ourselves and ask some pertinent questions of ourselves. Maybe we're projecting an image which we ourselves do not see and therefore are unable to change, if change is needed. Self critique is useful at times.

I hope things soon resolve for you and that you will begin to see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Good luck!

Cheers..........

purplemeech · Sep 26, 2006

I am a grad too and one of my friends has had a similar experience to yours - bullied in her first rotation, and copping it again in the second.

Our DON was quite supportive when she was made aware of the situation, and the bully was basically told to resign or she would be sacked, however we have found that she has still managed to get a job across the road in one of the other hospitals that is run by the same organisation which runs ours.

The ward my friend is on now is not much better, and she is basically biding her time until the end of the year when she will be able to move to another hospital (as it seems you cannot get a job in Queensland unless you have completed a grad program).

I think one of the major things about being a grad is that the uni's tell you how good you are because you have all this scientific evidence/knowledge, and they tell you how you can change nursing and the world etc etc, and then you find out that it's not so. I think also older staff (especially the ones without uni qualifications) sometimes feel threatened by us, and that's when the bullying happens - so they can continue to feel superior. The only easy way out of this situation is to leave, and I feel for you being in a country area and not having the employment options that we do in the city. It must be incredibly difficult. But don't give up just yet - do your time, get the grad program under your belt and then reconsider your options (at least, that's what I'm doing....).

Stay brave and best of luck - you're not alone.

older_grad_nurse · Sep 26, 2006

Thanks guys your support and advice is so wonderful! :thankya:

augigi, CNS · Sep 26, 2006

Have you asked the nurse why she feels the need to call the coordinator to "dob" on you? Of course she may just be a cow, but people usually have some reason for what they do. I'd just say "Can I ask you in which ways you feel I am not meeting your expectations? I would really like to do well here, and I can see that you are not happy with me, and I was wondering if there is anything I can do to improve that?"

Of course, you have to work there and know how that would be received, and it may be useless, but at least she'd know that you were onto her games, and who knows - maybe there is a reason you're not aware of. I know as a grad I often didn't know what I didn't know, if that makes sense!

Grace Oz · Sep 26, 2006

i think also older staff (especially the ones without uni qualifications) sometimes feel threatened by us, and that's when the bullying happens - so they can continue to feel superior.

how wrong you are to generalise! with that attitude it's no wonder there's dysfunction amongst nurses!

i think one of the major things about being a grad is that the uni's tell you how good you are because you have all this scientific evidence/knowledge, and they tell you how you can change nursing and the world etc etc, and then you find out that it's not so.

interesting you say this given your statement above. new graduates do well to remember the pathways forged, and respect older nurses who went before them!

joannep · Sep 27, 2006

I have found myself in a situation where I felt that I was being given a hard time and I was miserable and thinking of leaving. I made the effort (and found the courage) to approach the person who was intimidating me and said to them that I really admired their work and knowledge and asked if I could work with them and could I come to them if I had a problem or a situation I didn't feel competent with. And could I rely on them to come to me and tell me if I hadn't done something, and to help me learn what I should be doing in that situation. I forced myself to work with this person, to continue to be friendly and found that very soon this person had adjusted and was behaving more friendly towards me. In fact, this person adjusted so much she became the resource person for the grads and new staff on this unit and she learnt that she loved to teach.

augigi, CNS · Sep 27, 2006

how wrong you are to generalise! with that attitude it's no wonder there's dysfunction amongst nurses!

she did say "sometimes", so that hardly qualifies as generalising. it's definitely true that some resent uni-trained nurses, although i don't think they are threatened so much as they feel the uni-trained grads are not as useful when they get to the hospital as they don't have enough clinical experience.

some people, you just can't make happy. i don't lose any sleep over them. i know that i worked throughout my uni degree in aged care, and i was plenty comfortable with patient care upon graduation. so long as they know i can contribute to the unit, rather than increase their workload, i've never had a problem.

RavenRaving · Oct 1, 2006

I was also bullied my first year. Because of my community college education, 2 university educated nurses decided I wasn't worth their time to orient. Talking to them didn't help the situation. Yeah, I looked stupid, especially since they didn't do their job teaching me that wards' ways. My revenge? I learned as much as I could when I could and was as helpful and nice as I could be to all the nurses and axilliary staff, especially going out of my way with the new grads and anyone floated to my floor. Naturally, within a short period of time, I was the 'Go To' gal, had a lot of friends, and since I was easy to approach, people felt comfortable talking to me, teaching me other ways of doing skills, and asking for help. The upshot was the 2 nasty nurses found themselves isolated and barely tolarated until they changed their evil ways. Then we all got along and even started socializing outside of work. It turned out to be a great floor, and a terrific life experience. So hang in there, and kill them with kindness. Try to talk to them, but don't let them get your goat. They were once new too.

monstermunch · Oct 1, 2006

I was also bullied my first year. Because of my community college education, 2 university educated nurses decided I wasn't worth their time to orient. Talking to them didn't help the situation. Yeah, I looked stupid, especially since they didn't do their job teaching me that wards' ways. My revenge? I learned as much as I could when I could and was as helpful and nice as I could be to all the nurses and axilliary staff, especially going out of my way with the new grads and anyone floated to my floor. Naturally, within a short period of time, I was the 'Go To' gal, had a lot of friends, and since I was easy to approach, people felt comfortable talking to me, teaching me other ways of doing skills, and asking for help. The upshot was the 2 nasty nurses found themselves isolated and barely tolarated until they changed their evil ways. Then we all got along and even started socializing outside of work. It turned out to be a great floor, and a terrific life experience. So hang in there, and kill them with kindness. Try to talk to them, but don't let them get your goat. They were once new too.

Good on ya RavenRaving

purplemeech · Oct 2, 2006

Hi Grace,

Sorry I didn't mean to offend with my earlier post, must have come off night duty or something that day :rolleyes:

What I meant to say is, there seems to be a big divide between hospital and university-trained nurses, with each side viewing the other with suspicion and not necessarily always recognising what the other has been through to get to where they are. I also think one of the issues that nursing (like a lot of occupations) is struggling to come to terms with is how to manage younger people in the workplace - while we younger nurses may appear not to "respect our elders" in the way older hospital-trained nurses did, I think this is the trend with younger people in general, not just in regard to nurses. This is not to say that I don't value the knowledge that older nurses have and recognise how far nursing has come as a profession due to their efforts, but I am also aware that often their practice is based on tradition, rather than evidence/research (another side-effect of going to uni I guess).

I should also note that I am the daughter of a hospital-trained nurse who never went to uni or did further study, and I'm probably guilty of generalising too much about "older nurses" based our (really poor) relationship!

I'm sure these sorts of discussions will be around for plenty of years to come... keeps life interesting