management not sensitive to bullying present on unit

mamaxmaria · Aug 23, 2011

What do mean by blaming the victim? and what type of bulling are you referring to?

If your Manager is not responsive maybe you should go directly to HR and write a complaint with them, letting them know your manager is aware and what his or her actions have been thus far in dealing with it.

Just make sure your hands are clean before you go stirring the pot....don't give you manager any room for retaliation...

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Aug 23, 2011

My management is not very professional went it comes to dealing with horizontal violence or bullying. I feel that this manager may not be worth working for.
Management has taken the approach of "blaming the victim", which is , I guess, the fasted but not the most efficient way of dealing with horizontal violence on the unit. I guess that,... they feel I am dispensable, or I am not too valuable to the team.
What can I Do ?

All nurses are dispensable. You can't look to external sources to deal with some issues- and a lot of bullying is "she said, she said"... it's not an easy offense to discipline. You have to find ways to deal with jerks- they're everywhere. That doesn't mean blaming you- just that nobody is going to stick up for you like you will :) EVERY manager will have flaws. There will be bullies anywhere you go. They're not a new phenomenon- we just don't call them b*@ches anymore :) There's now a "PC" term... :uhoh3: It's not right that it continues, but without documented evidence, managers are pretty well helpless in doing anything about those who are the problem. SO, you have to either ignore them for the morons they are, or leave- and hope the next place isn't worse.... you're gonna have to fix this for yourself...It's not fair- but it's how it's been ever since two women were in the same cave together :)

nola1202 · Aug 23, 2011

administration is more likely to come down hard on any person who opens their mouth about subjects that could result in a lawsuit. Hard lesson to learn but it's better to try to solve problems at the lowest level possible.

CVmursenary · Aug 23, 2011

nice thing about being a male nurse....no bullying. Treat bullying with kindness and maybe it will go away.

pedicurn, LPN, RN · Aug 23, 2011

My management is not very professional went it comes to dealing with horizontal violence or bullying. I feel that this manager may not be worth working for.
Management has taken the approach of "blaming the victim", which is , I guess, the fasted but not the most efficient way of dealing with horizontal violence on the unit. I guess that,... they feel I am dispensable, or I am not too valuable to the team.
What can I Do ?

IMO

These managers are:

- Cut from the same cloth as the bullies ( either directly or less so)

- Lacking in professional skill

It's a job getting away from this in nursing. I am happiest when my manager has genuine professional skill and doesn't possess social/cultural characteristics of the typical nurse bully

nerdtonurse?, BSN, RN · Aug 23, 2011

One of the few things (besides the paycheck) that I miss from my computer days. I fired any bully who thought they were going to work on my teams -- and I had the most productive, cost effective teams in the division as a result.

A bully costs money. They cost money in lost productivity, they cost money because people leave and you have to pay to train newhires, they cost money because they drive away business -- whether in business or in the hospital, are you going to want to come back if you watch the workers fighting with each other? They cost money in that they take up management time trying to straighten out the messes they make due to complaints, you can't do your job because HR's calling you every other day. If something bad happens, and the employer gets sued, the bully costs even more money.

When my boss wondered why I'd fired one guy (went golfing with another manager, were buddies, and thought he was golden), I showed him how many man hours I'd spent the prior 3 months not doing computer stuff but sitting in meetings and with HR because of him. At 90 billable dollars an hour x so many hours, my boss saw how expensive the guy was, and the guy wasn't rehired.

When it finally dawns on nurse managers how extremely expensive bullies are, they will stop hiring, stop keeping them.

Healing Soul · Aug 23, 2011

Hello,

I just addressed this topic in a previous post "Forgive and Forget" where I shared how bullying can escalate to a crime if left un-checked. In my case, relentless bullying led me out of the field and although it might not have been my tormentors goal, I today am better off because I left. Today I help adults who are going through career transitions and many are interested in nursing. I came to this board to learn from others and see different perspectives. However, bullying is a hot topic for me because I was victimized for so many years while nursing management turned a blind eye.:redbeathe

country mom · Aug 23, 2011

... It's not right that it continues, but without documented evidence, managers are pretty well helpless in doing anything about those who are the problem. SO, you have to either ignore them for the morons they are, or leave- and hope the next place isn't worse.... you're gonna have to fix this for yourself...It's not fair- but it's how it's been ever since two women were in the same cave together :)

Cowpies, I say! When managers are equipped to be leaders, they certainly CAN influence the behaviors of the people they are leading. That's IF they have the skills and the desire to be leaders. Petty behaviors, unkind remarks, lack of teamwork, sabotage of another's work- all lead to poor outcomes. That isn't always stuff you can "document" because of the subversive nature of lateral violence. It's like a bad smell in the wind, you don't always know where the stink is coming from, but you sure know it's there.

And for the male who said he's immune from bullying.... Males can certainly be bullies, and males can be victims also. Females aren't the only ones involved in bullying. The tactics may be different, but the capability for the behavior is there.

As to the dilemma of the original poster, the situation is not likely to change until the leadership changes. So unless you see a person on your unit who might rise to the occasion and come out front as an informal leader, you yourself are equipped to emerge as that leader and take up the cause, or you see changes coming down the road that could mean a change in leadership, the situation will not change.

xtxrn, ASN, RN · Aug 23, 2011

Cowpies, I say! When managers are equipped to be leaders, they certainly CAN influence the behaviors of the people they are leading. That's IF they have the skills and the desire to be leaders. Petty behaviors, unkind remarks, lack of teamwork, sabotage of another's work- all lead to poor outcomes. That isn't always stuff you can "document" because of the subversive nature of lateral violence. It's like a bad smell in the wind, you don't always know where the stink is coming from, but you sure know it's there.
And for the male who said he's immune from bullying.... Males can certainly be bullies, and males can be victims also. Females aren't the only ones involved in bullying. The tactics may be different, but the capability for the behavior is there.
As to the dilemma of the original poster, the situation is not likely to change until the leadership changes. So unless you see a person on your unit who might rise to the occasion and come out front as an informal leader, you yourself are equipped to emerge as that leader and take up the cause, or you see changes coming down the road that could mean a change in leadership, the situation will not change.

I absolutely agree that's how it should be- and in many places, the bullying happens when the brass is home....nobody there to see anything to do formal write ups. Disciplinary action can't be done on someone's word- and definitely not firing them... it takes a lot of documentation to get rid of someone. If the complainer is found out, their life just becomes greater h8ll. There are a LOT of young inexperienced, ineffective managers out there (and some excellent ones that DO foster an environment of civility. If the charge nurses are as bad as the other bullies, then what? It should be stopped- but if a nurse has a decent performance record, and patient care isn't an issue DIRECTLY, they stay.

It'd be nice to have all of the bullies on their own floor, and see who shows up as the Alpha *****.....:)

sabatical · Aug 24, 2011

comment to all remarks. The bullies are the control freaks that management thinks are doing a great job. Because of the bully's so-called 'good patient care' nothing can be said to that person to stop bullying. The bully in particular choosed who she is going to be a ***** to or not. If the bully doesn't like someone or is jealous of someone , or if someone doesn't follow her game, the bully harasses the nurse.

Marisette, BSN, RN · Aug 24, 2011

I think it's best to confront the bully on her good day without her audience, when she least expects it.

NOT a loud confrontation, but take this person aside. Remind her of her actions, let her know you won't tolerate it and will report this to management if it continues. Follow up on your threat, if she continues the behavior. If managment ignores you, it's best to leave this toxic work environment anyway. One can only be bullied for so long, before it affects your self esteem and your health. Bullying is the results of poor management!