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."
Ya, you probably thought I was talking about how I think you guys are bullying me... haha um no. I was referring to all the bullying that occurs with nurses in the workplace. What I am getting at is that you don't think that nurses eating their young (or even young eating the old) is a form of bullying, and you also think that a new nurse isn't being bullied when another nurse totally ignores her and is rude/unhelpful...just to give a few examples. Yes that is bullying people. Bullying just isn't the violent type. It is emotional/verbal/actless abuse! So, with that I find no compassion / care in nurses bullying other nurses.
When nurses bully other nurses, there is no compassion or care about it.
What I meant by my post is that there are people who are quick to say nurses on this forum have no compassion because they disagree with what you are saying. And that's what your post is. People don't agree with you. That doesn't mean they aren't compassionate.
What I meant by my post is that there are people who are quick to say nurses on this forum have no compassion because they disagree with what you are saying. And that's what your post is. People don't agree with you. That doesn't mean they aren't compassionate.
What I meant by my post is that there are people who are quick to say nurses on this forum have no compassion because they disagree with what you are saying. And that's what your post is. People don't agree with you. That doesn't mean they aren't compassionate.
I specifically said "when nurses BULLY other nurses, there is no compassion about it" When did I say, "People don't agree with me, so you guys aren't compassionate" I did not say that. I never personally seen you bully someone else in person.
Why? Because bullies will be bullies regardless of what profession they are in. So either that person is miserable or you are working in a setting where management allows bullying to fester or both.
I worked in retail and retail management for 5 years. There are nasty mean people in management and staff. How come there is no handy term for retail employees who "eat their young". Because it's stupid.
I think that by claiming NETY we perpetuate the myth and also absolve ourselves of any fault in the situation, whether partially or wholly.
I'm in my 2nd semester, all my instructors have been great. We have one clinical instructor who is a bona fide bully. Even staff from a clinical sites reported her once. And yet she's still here (see a management problem). She's miserable. I think she truly believes that it's her job to toughen up us nursing students and uses that as an excuse for her behavior.
A nurse is less than excited to have a student assigned to her patient? I do my best to make myself less of a burden rather than complain that "my nurse doesn't like me". Because she's not my nurse. I'm not her responsibility. She doesn't get paid to teach me. She's busy. And I have yet to have a bad interaction with any of my coassigned nurses. And part of it I think it's because I don't believe in NETY. Just sad, mean people.
Why? Because bullies will be bullies regardless of what profession they are in. So either that person is miserable or you are working in a setting where management allows bullying to fester or both.
I worked in retail and retail management for 5 years. There are nasty mean people in management and staff. How come there is no handy term for retail employees who "eat their young". Because it's stupid.
I think that by claiming NETY we perpetuate the myth and also absolve ourselves of any fault in the situation, whether partially or wholly.
I'm in my 2nd semester, all my instructors have been great. We have one clinical instructor who is a bona fide bully. Even staff from a clinical sites reported her once. And yet she's still here (see a management problem). She's miserable. I think she truly believes that it's her job to toughen up us nursing students and uses that as an excuse for her behavior.
A nurse is less than excited to have a student assigned to her patient? I do my best to make myself less of a burden rather than complain that "my nurse doesn't like me". Because she's not my nurse. I'm not her responsibility. She doesn't get paid to teach me. She's busy. And I have yet to have a bad interaction with any of my coassigned nurses. And part of it I think it's because I don't believe in NETY. Just sad, mean people.
Not sure if I'll get flamed here but: is this a Millennial generation-type attitude on bullying? I'm an almost 40-something in a class with almost all 20 somethings ... and I've seen the bullying card be pulled out more than once over the last year of schooling.
The thing is: they weren't actually bullying behaviors.
It seems as (sweeping generalization - apology in advance) this generation is ensconced in a world of positive reinforcement, of shelter, that a less than pleasant look of a professor, or a to-the-point mannerism of a clinical instructor is viewed as detrimental to the students' learning environment, lacking in compassion, and creating a difficult and/or hostile work environment.
I was a schoolteacher before going to nursing school. I wasn't friends with everyone I met. There were some staff members I downright wished I could avoid. A few I did get in disagreements, one that the thought of seeing the next day made my stomach drop. But they weren't bullies. Just personality conflicts. Overall, our focus was always on the student. That's what a working relationship is. If I cried foul every time I thought the speech and language pathologist looked at me funny, the student never would have progressed.
I'm expecting the same in my nursing career. Work hard, earn respect. If a nurse rolls her eyes at me or mutters under her breath, whatever. I'll deal. Not a bully.
Not sure if I'll get flamed here but: is this a Millennial generation-type attitude on bullying? I'm an almost 40-something in a class with almost all 20 somethings ... and I've seen the bullying card be pulled out more than once over the last year of schooling.
As a millennial in my 30s, it has NOTHING to do with the generation, rather, how sheltered or even inexperienced one can be with dealing with challenging personalities.
As someone who has been bullied-made fun of, gotten into fights, etc, etc-as a child, it seems as though when someone is expecting one to challenged themselves out of their comfort zone, the challenged party will derive feelings of being uncomfortable, and if the person is direct, then they are "mean" or "bullies"; I have seen allegedly "grown folks" play the same games, even though we are WELL past middle school; some in positions of leadership.
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believeallispossible
171 Posts
Ya, you probably thought I was talking about how I think you guys are bullying me... haha um no. I was referring to all the bullying that occurs with nurses in the workplace. What I am getting at is that you don't think that nurses eating their young (or even young eating the old) is a form of bullying, and you also think that a new nurse isn't being bullied when another nurse totally ignores her and is rude/unhelpful...just to give a few examples. Yes that is bullying people. Bullying just isn't the violent type. It is emotional/verbal/actless abuse! So, with that I find no compassion / care in nurses bullying other nurses.