You might think that bullying only happens inside the walls of schools. We often hear stories about bullying between younger children and even teenagers. But, if you've been a nurse for any amount of time, you've probably experienced nurse bullying yourself or witnessed it on your unit. In fact, one study reported that 45% of nurses have been verbally harassed or bullied by other nurses.
You might be thinking that you've heard so much about bullying in recent years that you no longer need more education. Renee Thompson, DNP, RN, CMSRN, owner of the Healthy Workforce Institute and bullying subject-matter expert, has this to say about continuing the fight against bullying, "It's just like anything else you want to master - you can't just attend one workshop on a particular topic and then check a box...yep, mastered that! If we really want to eradicate bullying and incivility from the healthcare work culture, we must engage in consistent, ongoing education and training related to disruptive behaviors."
This is precisely why every October, our nation comes together to recognize bullying across all settings during National Bullying Prevention Month. Organizations such as STOMP Out Bullying and the National Association of People Against Bullying educate others on this community problem in the hope of curing our culture.
What is Nurse Bullying?
According to stopbullying.gov, bullying is unwanted, aggressive behavior. Renee has described bullying as having three components: it's targeted, meant to cause harm, and it happens over time.
Not all unwanted or mean behaviors are considered bullying. Some actions may be classified as incivility. For example, if you've had a particularly bad day at work and get a little testy with a co-worker, this might be incivility. But, if a co-worker continuously yells at you, picks on you, or turns others against you - this could be a classic case of nurse bullying.
Recognizing the Behavior
Do you remember the playground bullies you dealt with in elementary school? They would pick on you or others only when the teachers weren't around or paying attention. Bullying in nursing isn't much different.
There may be times when the bullying is overt, such as another nurse who yells at you, insults you, or lets you know in no uncertain terms that they don't care for you. However, often the bullying is a bit more subtle and may even leave you wondering if you're interpreting the actions by others correctly.
A few examples of subtle bullying include:
- Others not helping you, even to the point of putting patients in unsafe situations to avoid lending you a hand
- Not giving you all of the information you need to perform your duties in hopes that you make a mistake
- Spreading rumors about others
- Excluding certain nurses from activities on the unit
What to do if You're Being Bullied
If you find yourself in a bullying situation, you need to speak with your nurse manager. Renee offers this advice to anyone breaching this difficult conversation, "The first action is to get clear on the specific behaviors of that nurse. Instead of saying to your manager, "she's bullying me," try saying, "she refused to take report from me, yet she takes report from everyone else." This takes the emphasis off of the person and places it firmly on the behaviors.
Renee went on to say, "Once you're clear on the behaviors, start a documentation trail. Include date, time, location, an objective account of the incident, and most importantly, link that behavior to a patient safety, quality, or satisfaction concern. If done well, documentation can increase the chance that your manager will take action."
The last thing to do if you're being bullied is to confront the person. Renee said that she shares many scripting techniques that work well. "Most importantly," she shared, "is that if you're being bullied, you must do SOMETHING about it."
How to be a Positive Influence
Even if it's never happened to you, there are things you can do to improve the healthcare culture. Try one of these simple actions that let others know that you support a kind, caring nursing environment:
- If you witness one nurse bullying another, intervene on the target's behalf. You don't have to get in the middle of the situation, but you can redirect the behavior.
- Befriend and mentor new nurses on your unit.
- Notify your supervisor if you witness bullying or incivility.
- Be kind to others, treating them how you expect to be treated.
- Be positive. Recognize others for the behaviors you want to see on your unit.
Have you ever experienced or witnessed bullying? We invite you to share your story to bring more awareness to this problem by placing your thoughts in a comment below.
kbrn2002, ADN, RN
3,973 Posts
The vast majority of bullying behavior I've seen is from resident to staff which is almost always condoned since "they are here because they need help." In my opinion needing help doesn't excuse horrible behavior towards staff by a person that is alert, oriented and well aware of what they are saying and doing.
The second most prevalent bullying I've seen is from management. Some staff get noticeably preferential treatment while others may be written up for the smallest of infractions. Some get pretty much any day off requested while some others seem to never have their requests approved. Some may always get the gravy assignments while another nurse always seems to get the most difficult patients. When the pattern of bullying is perpetuated by management who exactly are you superposed to complain to? An employee hotline? Not likely to help in the least little bit. Remember they work for the employer not for you so they are not about to take any action that confirms your complaints for fear of opening the company to a lawsuit. Sadly about the only recourse is to tough it out and hope it gets better or leave.