Hospital bullying?

[Phlebandcma2rn]

I am a waitlisted nursing student working as a phlebotomist. I achieved my CMA waiting to get into nursing school and also gained 2 years of in home caregiving experience. Since working in the hospital environment I have experienced caddy cliques of women who ignored me daily and then who complained about me to my supervisor for not working fast enough. And these same women would argue, screaming around patients at one another. As well discuss pumping their breast milk and how big they thought their behinds were on a daily basis.Now I am in an inpatient environment working at nights. I had brought a half-sized notebook to track my speed of draws per room and random information I needed to know for the job. An anonymous person emailed my supervisor claiming I was journaling about patients and violating HIPAA. Needless to say I do not bring a nitebook to work anymore.A week or two later an incident was filed because I Left a tourniquet in someones bed untightened. Finally a week later I was told that a couple patients complained that I hurt them and they excessively bruised from their blood draws and nurses said I was yelling at patients which is ridiculous. But I lost my job anyway. It seems like anyone..a random nurse or someone that you dont even come into contact can say anything about you and you lose all that you have worked so hard for. Why should I even bother working hard in nursing school to end up in this kind of work environment? I am trying to get into healthare beause I am a cancer survivor not looking for this kind of drama. Nor would I take good patient care for granted and ever do things I have been accused of..hurting and yelling...absurd.

[Been there,done that, ASN, RN]

Lateral violence is every where. I was a victim long before the term was coined. As nursing becomes more stressful, it will only increase.

In my case.. I was charge nurse for years on the day shift. I even won a system wide yearly award for excellence in leadership.

I went on the afternoon shift. Three months later, a particularly nasty bunch of nurses got together, made up a bunch of lies and I was in the directors office trying to answer them.

It turned out to be a positive, I got the h*ll out of there ... and have had fantastic experiences since.

There really is no answer to your question. It would depend on the luck of the draw regarding where you end up practicing.

You've suffered enough. Use the empathy you have gained and direct it towards another field.

Good luck.

[Phlebandcma2rn]

I had called in my availability and am waiting assignment at another hospital. Since this healthcare network is the largest in the state. However, its not sitting right with me and I do not feel protected from this being able to happen again. Not only were the "bruising" complaints worrisome but accusing me of yelling at patients too. Quite ludicrous. Since I am also a CMA and have not been able to find back office work in the state due to lack of two to three years of experience which is literally a requirement on all job ads. I have looked out of state too. I did get a job referral out of state and think its best to pursue that while I wait to be called to start RN school since Im waitlisted. I decided for now that I do want to continue pursuing nuRsing and perhaps will have the opportunity to stay away from the hospital? Or as I advance to NP or informatics can gain even better insights of how to avoid these situations? I had been a caregiver in the past and was thinking surely these dramas dont go on with home health??

[Phlebandcma2rn]

I LOVE when people tell me these sidewalk stories about getting stuck and "OMG SHE PUT THIS HUGE BRUISE ON MY ARM." I always say "OH MY GOSH, DID IT GO AWAY IN A FEW DAYS?" lol seriously shut up laypeople. Oh and pumping the breast milk, cervical dilation stats and baby-go-potty stories, all things I could really do without. Don't want to hear it from my friends, surely don't care about it with my coworkers.

. Exactly! I would be drawing a patient and literally be quiet with them concentrating while switching tubes and begin to overhear these coversations about inappropriate topics, their butt size, birth control methods, etc. discussed by my co-workers on the other side of the curtain/wall and try to start talking about anything just in case the patient heard them..hoping they didnt. :/

[Phlebandcma2rn]

Should I try to get more clarity from supervisor about complaints even though I knowmthere is no truth in them? Since I was only given brief generalities about the complaints and then asked my side? I had no idea there was a problem until Imwas notified there were multiple complaints allmof a sudden in one night bear in mnd.

[Orca, ADN, ASN, RN]

My first job out of nursing school was one that I totally loved. However, a new nurse manager changed all of that. From the beginning, she saw me as a threat to her authority (why, I have no idea to this day), and she set out to get rid of me. She confronted me with a number of allegations. Most of them were fabricated by staff she had cultivated to work against me, and the remainder were very minor issues I had resolved with the previous nurse manager long before. Her intent was clear, however, and I took the opportunity to move on (I actually relocated to a city I had planned to move to for some time), and my career has gone much farther than it would likely have gone had I stayed put. Some things are blessings in disguise. Getting out of a toxic work environment is one of them, even if it wasn't your idea.

One suggestion: Don't invest a lot of energy trying to figure out what went wrong in your previous job. From the sound of it, you went into a place with a well-established clique and you weren't part of it. It happens. Learn from it and move on.