Sixty percent of new nurses quit their first job within the first six months due to the behavior of their co-workers, and nearly 50 percent of nurses believe that they will experience bullying at some time in their careers, according to research presented in a new e-book from Aurora, Colo.-based American Sentinel University.
The new e-book, "Dr. Renee Thompson's Series on Nurse Bullying," examines the roots of bullying and conflict resolution as Renee Thompson, DNP, RN, a nursing professional development/anti-bullying thought leader, shares her professional insight on how to best address and eliminate workplace bullying.
Here are five other thoughts and statistics from the e-book.
1. Nearly half — 48 percent — of new graduating nurses are afraid of becoming the target of workplace bullying.
2. In Dr. Thompson's research and observations, she identified two primary reasons why bullying is prevalent in nursing:
Nursing is a female dominated profession. "Theories suggest that age-old female 'competition' has shifted from competing over a man to competing over status, respect and position in the nursing environment. The same behaviors once witnessed between two women fighting over a man are the ones witnessed today in the behavior of bullies," Dr. Thompson wrote.
Nurses are an oppressed profession. Dr. Thompson noted that nurses are seen as a silent majority, which can bring about frustration. "Feelings of frustration, coupled with an increasingly complex and stressful job, can create environments where nurses 'take it out' on each other. Since nurses can't 'take it out' on administrators or physicians, the theory is that they take it out on the already oppressed, subservient group," she wrote.
3. Dr. Thompson identified the following as common overt bullying weapons:
Verbal criticism or name-calling
Intimidation
Blaming
Ethnic jokes or slurs
Finding fault
Threatening
Physical violence
4. Dr. Thompson identified the following as common covert bullying weapons:
Sabotage
Withholding information
Excluding others
Unfair assignments
Undermining
Downplaying accomplishments
5. Dr. Thompson's recommended action steps to address bullying are:
Name the behavior. "Bullies who feel a sense of power during their tirades gain momentum as they scream, yell or spread rumors and sabotage their co-workers. Naming the behavior as it occurs can stop things immediately and prevent an escalation of that behavior," Dr. Thompson wrote.
Document, document and document. "If you are being bullied, start a documentation trail. Keep a small notebook with you and write down dates, times, witnesses, verbatim comments, and any behaviors you believe undermine a culture of safety and a professional work environment," Dr. Thompson wrote. "Keep growing this documentation trail until you are at the point where you can file a formal complaint."
As we all know, bullying is not always about what people do, it is also about what people don't do. In fact, the most cruel and severe types of bullying are covert and include disrespect, exclusion, gossip and withholding. These behaviours are also unprofessional and against most States' Nurse Practice Acts.
Any nurse who says that being a positive mentor or that the teaching of junior nurses is not their job is espousing negative behaviour that most likely violates the policy of their employer and/or the Nurse Practice Act in their State. It most certainly reflects negatively upon the nursing profession and has a negative impact on patient care.
Passive aggressive behaviour is a big issue in nursing and it is difficult to identify as it is indeed covert. It is subterfuge, it is counter-productive and it is not acceptable in a healthy work place. Is it uncommon? Not in my experience.
Well now, lets clear this right up, shall we? Please open North Dakota Century Code and open 43-12.1. Read through it all please.
As far as I being duty bound to love/cherish/coddle/educate/pet the new nurses? Please find me the statement that makes me required to do so as laid out by my NPA. Go on, I'll wait. Actually, no I won't, because you won't find one. I AM NOT REQUIRED BY MY LICENSE to mentor new nurses.
On to the idea that the most cruel and severe bullying of disrespect and gossip - really, this is the most severe? Gossip? How about keying cars, physical and verbal abuse, racial hate, threats of harm? That's severe bullying. And That would be in my practice act - because they are legally wrong. Gossip, for the most part, is not legally wrong. There is no moral turpitude clause in my NPA. My BON is more concerned about addressing and disciplining the drug diverters, nurses who neglect patients, those with untreated medical and psychological conditions that put their patients at risk. They don't give a single solitary fart in the wind that little Susie got her feelings hurt because mean old Janey wouldn't smile and greet her with a cheery Good morning every shift, and instead kept telling sweet poor Susie that if she didn't start getting her ducks in the proverbial row, her non-proverbial patients were going to be up a Effluent Channel without any means of propulsion shortly.
So, in short, you are incorrect on each point, at least in ND. Now, does my employer have policies regarding mentorship? Yes, and they do not require you to mentor new hires, it is entirely voluntary. As far as "bullying"? Well, I've seen some real bullying that was addressed appropriately, and I've seen some gluteal-injured new nurses have their complaints handed back to them with "Put your big-girl panties on and start solving your own problems, because you lie in the bed you've made."
I can see something of both sides of the issue, however I think sometimes we forget all about the growth and development theories we learned in school. New nurses are entering the workforce at a very different level than I find myself in, being an RN of 20+ years. Erikson's stages of development would place most new nurses in the "intimacy vs isolation" stage (age 20-25). In this stage, the individual is just learning about the complexities of relationships and learning the value of tenderness and loving. If we approach a person who is working through this stage and tell them "it isn't about your feelings", we ignore the realities of what the new nurse is struggling to learn. It isn't just about learning how to do nursing tasks, it's learning how to relate to a myriad of diverse relationships, colleagues, doctors, patients, families. In response to this, a little understanding and a lot of compassion goes a long ways to retaining and encouraging our new nurses. To do otherwise is not only detrimental to the new nurse, but to the future of nursing as a whole!
As we all know, bullying is not always about what people do, it is also about what people don't do. In fact, the most cruel and severe types of bullying are covert and include disrespect, exclusion, gossip and withholding. These behaviours are also unprofessional and against most States' Nurse Practice Acts.
Any nurse who says that being a positive mentor or that the teaching of junior nurses is not their job is espousing negative behaviour that most likely violates the policy of their employer and/or the Nurse Practice Act in their State. It most certainly reflects negatively upon the nursing profession and has a negative impact on patient care.
Passive aggressive behaviour is a big issue in nursing and it is difficult to identify as it is indeed covert. It is subterfuge, it is counter-productive and it is not acceptable in a healthy work place. Is it uncommon? Not in my experience.
No, my job is to take care of the people in the beds, not the student's feelings. When students demand the same compassion, effort and unconditional positive regard that I owe to my patients, they are trying to bully me into taking care of them instead of the patient in front of me.
Contrary to common opinion, nurses are not responsible for fixing everything that happens to anyone, anywhere, ever. Reality checks are a necessary part of any apprenticeship and the realities of our workplace require that our feelings take a back seat to the necessities of the job. Healthy boundaries are also necessary for a healthy workplace.
Any student who dissolves into tears because of a hostile look, snarky remark, or lack of sympathy for her discomfort has failed to learn that foundational lesson.
So put your high horse back in the stable. We can revisit the issue when staff nurses are offered sufficient resources and support to do both patient care and student teaching. Until then, my priority must be the patient. I'm pretty sure that's in most nurse practice acts, too.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
Try to think of it this way: when you become a nurse, your focus is on others. What do your patients need? Do your coworkers need help? If your main focus is still on who's noticing you, how nice they are to you, how they make you feel, etc., then you are not ready to be a nurse. Still too immature and self-absorbed.
Almost every place I've ever worked, someone was prickly. I didn't like having to work with them, or try to learn from them. But it wasn't my place to worry about whom I liked, or who liked me. My focus was doing a good job and EARNING respect. Sometimes it takes time. And effort. Eventually you develop a reputation for having a brain and a work ethic. It really isn't about your precious feelings.
Any student who dissolves into tears because of a hostile look, snarky remark, or lack of sympathy for her discomfort has failed to learn that foundational lesson.
yeah, why don't everyone take this advice....,
But tears? Save that for when someone dies.
WoW. Just wow.
It's no wonder you hear on the news of kids in school committing suicide because of bullying. And no, it's not all because a person has been physically abusive, it can also be simply because of emotional / verbal abuse. Unfortunately, bullying continues in adulthood.
Now on to my point with what statistics showed that was first posted, it's NO WONDER why "sixty percent of new nurses quit their job within the six months due to the behavior of their coworkers."
I want to put it out there right now, before some poor soul gets off on a tangent, that the Nurse Practice Act is in place to establish the duty of care that the Registered Nurse has TO the PATIENT. NOT to the Student.
The NPA in every State gets to tweak it to define their RN's duty of care to patients in THAT State. The people who oversee the enforcement of the NPA are not concerned at all with the Student Nurse: Unless the Student Nurse is harming a patient.
........It's all about the patient.
There IS a governing body that sees to it that the school of nursing is maintaining what they are supposed to do in order to maintain accreditation.
I see a trend that concerns me greatly over the past 10 years: Students are coming out onto the clinical floors and need waaaaaaay more direction than they used to. The students used to be assigned to the PATIENT, and seek out direction from the Clinical Instructor for guidance.
NOW, the Student Nurse appears to be assigned to the Patient AND the RN, with the Clinical Instructor off somewhere else.
It absolutely astounds me that the RN is having to take a full patient assignment, AND step into the role of the C.I. at the same time, AND get told that they're gonna LIKE it, or else.
Personally, I love students, and the CI's know this, so they make sure to send them my way when they see that I'm working the floor to keep up my CCRN.
When I went to nursing school, I didn't even hardly pay attention to what nurse was taking care of the patient because I had patient care to do, and everything was highly structured. There was very little that I didn't know about the patient, the care they needed, and the tests that were ordered. Boy were you in trouble if you came to clinicals unprepared, and weren't ready to spout of with an entire life history, and know every single detail of every possible outcome! If I had questions, I had to go to the CI because she was the one who had to know whether or not I knew what I should.
I can imagine it's a lot easier to ask "HUH?!" questions to someone who doesn't have the direct capability of flunking you.
It's no wonder you hear on the news of kids in school committing suicide because of bullying. And no, it's not all because a person has been physically abusive, it can also be simply because of emotional / verbal abuse. Unfortunately, bullying continues in adulthood.
Now on to my point with what statistics showed that was first posted, it's NO WONDER why "sixty percent of new nurses quit their job within the six months due to the behavior of their coworkers."
All nurses should just support one another.
We are not discussing children, we are discussing adults. Part of being an adult is learning to tolerate and work through unpleasant emotions like anxiety. If, as an adult, you don't have coping skills to be able to process those unpleasant emotions, you need therapy, not me. I can give you a hand with your duties if you need to take a little space. I'm happy to brainstorm solutions to patient care problems. I'll listen when you need to vent about unpleasantness on the job. But I can't fix your boundaries for you.
It's no fun dealing with uncivil or hostile behavior on the job, that's true. If a hostile coworker is taking deliberate action to harm me or force me to do something I don't choose to do, which is what I think of when I think of bullying, then s/he needs to be dealt with. But nobody owes me friendship or free therapy, least of all a coworker or employer.
Specializes in Psych, Corrections, Med-Surg, Ambulatory.
It's really disturbing when adults still see themselves as bullied schoolchildren and then try to be nurses. I like having students, too. But they'd better be ready to put their focus on the patient. If they insist on competing with my patients by being high-maintenance themselves, they're not going to be happy. If what they want is a solid learning experience and come prepared to do a little work, they'll have a great day.
I'll say it again: if you're that wrapped up in your own feelings, you're not ready to be a nurse. Now I'm done. Not my circus; not my monkeys.
We are not discussing children, we are discussing adults. Part of being an adult is learning to tolerate and work through unpleasant emotions like anxiety. If, as an adult, you don't have coping skills to be able to process those unpleasant emotions, you need therapy, not me.
There are many different types of bullying - many in forms of physical, verbal, emotional abuse. Bullying can have an affect on all ages. I was just making a point in regards to bullying, because it is a very serious issue. Some people including you act like emotional / verbal abuse isn't at all a form of bullying. It is.
There are many different types of bullying - many in forms of physical, verbal, emotional abuse. Bullying can have an affect on all ages. I was just making a point in regards to bullying, because it is a very serious issue. Some people including you act like emotional / verbal abuse isn't at all a form of bullying. It is.
Where did I say that? What I am saying is that your painful feelings are not the definition of bullying and that it's not my job to make sure you feel good all the time.
It's no wonder you hear on the news of kids in school committing suicide because of bullying. And no, it's not all because a person has been physically abusive, it can also be simply because of emotional / verbal abuse. Unfortunately, bullying continues in adulthood.
Now on to my point with what statistics showed that was first posted, it's NO WONDER why "sixty percent of new nurses quit their job within the six months due to the behavior of their coworkers."
All nurses should just support one another.
You are clearly confused about what happens in high school, and the expectations of adults who are accountable for patient outcomes.
Look closer at those statistics: what you don't see spelled out for you, and what you will find when you do a more in depth analysis of the raw data, is that nursing students are being spit out of school UNPREPARED for the shocking transition of the level of accountability they have to take on the minute they show up to the floor.
I'm plain sorry, but when my patient is constantly coding and he is a 1:1 fresh open heart I CAN NOT throw a pillow under your fresh derrière every time you fall. NOT happening. I am bound by oath and that pesky Nurse Practice Act to advocate for MY PATIENT. If you need to go cry in a corner because I didn't sit down with you and hold your hand to explain to you why your patient across the way needs to have a cardioversion, then do so. But you'd better step your game up PDQ, because you'll be needing to take care of the next open heart that comes up after I get my license taken away for failure to rescue while I sat with you and held your hand. What are you going to do then?
My duty is ALWAYS to the patient first. ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS.
I have students ask for me specifically, because they know that I am a good teacher, and am patient with them. But God Help You if things are going south and you want to put me in a predicament that will compromise my patient. You may very well find yourself in that corner crying and thinking that I'm a bully. I'll wear that title without problem as long as my patient survives and thrives.
Also, I'm an old person and a new nurse. Where do I fit on your age=bully scale? I've got the newer than me younger than me nurses who get upset when I don't act all motherly and yoda-like. I have the older than me in both age and experience who get upset when I don't immediately know something because they didn't realize I'm a late bloomer. I don't consider it bullying, I accept that as a late entry to the field I was going to encounter situations regarding my age/experience and attempted to adapt to them.
So many good posts this morning about the perception of bullying but I wanted to address this one.
I'm training in a new area of nursing right now and I've been a nurse for 19 years. My background is L&D, postpartum, ER, med-surg, hospice, pre-op and I've been the baby nurse during cesareans. So, I'm not inexperienced.
I have two co-workers who mentor me and one is younger and a friend of mine and the other is about my age.
My friend gets irritated with me at times because I have to come back and ask a question about something she's already trained me about and the truth is it is usually about the *racking fracking* computer system. I hate computer charting but that's another thread.
Sometimes she makes a comment like "Are you listening?". However, that is NOT bullying.
Some people are "prickly" and hard to get along with but that isn't bullying.
Plus, we need to teach about standing up for yourself and not allowing anyone to truly bully you. That means teaching examples of true bullying.
What many of us are trying to say is people are mischaracterizing someone being in a bad mood (not liking to be a preceptor or having a tough shift or just being a negative person) with bullying someone.
This whole anti-bullying movement has crossed the line. In my opinion.
I am not a fan of the cries of "NETY" and never have been.
I hate computer charting but that's another thread. 
CountryMomma, ASN, RN
589 Posts
Well now, lets clear this right up, shall we? Please open North Dakota Century Code and open 43-12.1. Read through it all please.
As far as I being duty bound to love/cherish/coddle/educate/pet the new nurses? Please find me the statement that makes me required to do so as laid out by my NPA. Go on, I'll wait. Actually, no I won't, because you won't find one. I AM NOT REQUIRED BY MY LICENSE to mentor new nurses.
On to the idea that the most cruel and severe bullying of disrespect and gossip - really, this is the most severe? Gossip? How about keying cars, physical and verbal abuse, racial hate, threats of harm? That's severe bullying. And That would be in my practice act - because they are legally wrong. Gossip, for the most part, is not legally wrong. There is no moral turpitude clause in my NPA. My BON is more concerned about addressing and disciplining the drug diverters, nurses who neglect patients, those with untreated medical and psychological conditions that put their patients at risk. They don't give a single solitary fart in the wind that little Susie got her feelings hurt because mean old Janey wouldn't smile and greet her with a cheery Good morning every shift, and instead kept telling sweet poor Susie that if she didn't start getting her ducks in the proverbial row, her non-proverbial patients were going to be up a Effluent Channel without any means of propulsion shortly.
So, in short, you are incorrect on each point, at least in ND. Now, does my employer have policies regarding mentorship? Yes, and they do not require you to mentor new hires, it is entirely voluntary. As far as "bullying"? Well, I've seen some real bullying that was addressed appropriately, and I've seen some gluteal-injured new nurses have their complaints handed back to them with "Put your big-girl panties on and start solving your own problems, because you lie in the bed you've made."