Hostility

allnurses Guide · Sep 19, 2014

It happens... but my school the students really pull together and support each other. It isn't as though we grad e on a curve!

No, it isn't universal in nursing, just like any workplace, some are toxic, some aren't.

mrsboots87 · Sep 19, 2014

Def not universal. When you get to the workforce, there will definitely be some rude or aggressive nurses because at the end of the day we are all just people. In clinical I have only seen one rude nurse so far in to different settings. In my class, we all get along for the most part, but its an 80 student class so people have their own little groups. No one fights with each other though. That sound terrible and the faculty really should have stepped in long ago to solve that issue because its ridiculous. Sorry you have such nasty people in your cohort. Try to just power through and get out so you can work in the real world, where most of the time that behavior doesn't fly and you wont see the bullying and aggressiveness so often.

studentnursemon86 · Sep 19, 2014

I just started an ADN program and so far we are getting along fine. Maybe it's because we are all just starting out; but some of us have experience while others have never worked in a healthcare setting. We have been trying to help each other out and study together when able to. It is hard to schedule study groups because a lot of us work full time or have kids.

I see hostility where I work though. A lot of gossiping and people running to the director over small arguments.

I only work weekends now, so there is a little less drama with that crew.

SionainnRN · Sep 19, 2014

I am in my senior year of nursing school and I continue to be shocked by the hostility the students display toward one another (and to staff). It is a regular, constant event for my classmates to talk about one another, aggressively confront each other, start rumors, fight, even sabotage each other. This is my second degree. I have never experienced this level of hostility in a single setting before... not in high school or my first college experience, and never before in the workplace. We are in an adult accelerated program, so the students are not young kids. Most have families and work during the day.
I have seen more bullying in the last 2 years than I have in all of my elementary, middle, and high school education combined. And that, is saying a lot.
I am worried that this type of behavior will translate into the workplace among nurses. Is this behavior common among the profession? Does it lessen after graduation? Is it just specific to my class? I am worried that I will be in this type of environment forever....

I just want to point out that you are calling people who are getting their first degree or in their early 20's as "kids" and specifically say they aren't adults. Maybe the behavioral problems you're having in your class are specific to the attitude presented by you and your classmates.

gearedup · Sep 19, 2014

I know it isn't like that where I am in nursing school, but they have a very "no-nonsense" environment. This is going to be my second career, so I don't know specifically about the healthcare environment, but any workplace can turn into that kind of environment if it's allowed. I had a job once where we had adults in their 40s and 50s who acted like that, they were far worse than the younger ones. I attempted to address it, but once I saw management had that same attitude, I found a job where "grown-ups" worked and never ran into it again. Answer: it just depends!

SopranoKris, MSN, RN, NP · Sep 19, 2014

We had a few students who felt the need to act like "mean girls" our first semester. It got so bad that the faulty felt the need to do a presentation on bullying and lateral intimidation during class. The student handbook was revised to include bullying as grounds for dismissal from the program. Luckily, this really got the offenders to tone down their overt rudeness to other students.

MissRis13 · Sep 19, 2014

SioainnRN, I didn't meant to imply that students working on a first degree don't have the ability to behave as adults would. Instead, I just mean that these adult students should absolutely be able to behave the way adults should behave, since they are in fact adults.

MissRis13 · Sep 19, 2014

Thanks to all who replied! I am hoping that this is just a tough group...

Everline · Sep 19, 2014

My classmates are very supportive of each other, sometimes surprisingly so. I expected something different and was pleasantly surprised. There will always be some people who are hostile in almost any environment. Stress doesn't help. But I don't think you should expect to encounter so much of it as you are doing now, once you graduate and begin working.

akulahawkRN, ADN, RN, EMT-P · Sep 19, 2014

Each class is different and has a different personality as a group. My first cohort (I was in two) was reasonably close but not very close. They were, however, pretty supportive of each other. The group that followed them was a bit rough on each other and the instructors. They kind of made the instructors a little "gun shy" when dealing with my second cohort. That group is incredibly close and supportive of each other even after we graduated and are now competing against each other for many of the same jobs.

If your group suddenly changed character, it very well could be due to the stress of approaching graduation and having to figure out how to survive and find a job in the real, post-school world. If many of your classmates are approaching, or actually are in, burnout, it very well could be that you're seeing what people who are psychologically exhausted can end up doing to themselves and each other, and possibly not even realize it.

rob4546, ADN, BSN, MSN · Sep 20, 2014

Were we in the same class? Sounds like we were.

Our class had 3 people like this. One person regularly dropped the F-bomb in class or in private conversations with staff if she didn't like something that was required (private conversations, but loud enough for everyone in the building to hear). I felt the brunt of her wrath when I wouldn't stand with the majority of the class to boycott the final assignment before graduation because she thought it was more than expected of us. In my opinion she should not have graduated because if you cannot be professional with peers and staff in nursing school then you will not learn to be professional while practicing as a nurse.

Dance to your music, ignore the negative you encounter.