nurses attacking nurses

[bethgrace]

I've been an RN for 23 years now, and there is an awful aspect of this profession that I will never get used to - nurses attacking and tearing down their fellow nurses. Nurses who seem to revel in trying to make themselves look good by trying to make other nurses look bad. Its at its worst in bedside type nursing. And worst of all in hospital nursing. I don't work in hospital nursing anymore because of it and am moving away from all patient care type situations. I can't stand it anymore. Most of the reporting that goes on is ridiculous and mean spirited. Managers need to stop feeding into this kind of nurse's behavior because it make life miserable for everyone else. I think some nurses are so scared of making a mistake themselves that they go looking for mistakes in others, and spend large amounts of their time reporting their coworkers. Or maybe they are just mean.

[itsmejuli]

Its not just nurses that do this. I've worked in several different jobs, backstabbers are everywhere.

[Spritenurse1210, BSN, RN]

I really despise this. In my career I only had one supervisor that didn't feed into this bull. If I ever become management, I will be just like her.

[GoECU]

Amen! My workplace is so petty. It is ridiculous how some can blow the smallest things out of proportion. I have never worked somewhere that is so backstabbing as the place I work now, but like the previous poster stated it is not just nurses. I enjoy the people I work with on my shift but boy does the report room get tense when the next shift comes in. I feel like I need to put on my armor and shield. We are all there for a common goal, why is all drama necessary?? I'm just trying to get along with everyone!

[IowaLPN]

Chris Rock does a whole comedy routine about how women should be ruling the world but they dont. Why? Because women hate other women. The worst jobs I've had are where it is all women. Flame me for throwing a stereotype out there but it is totally true.

[RNperdiem, RN]

Oh, I was picturing a brawl with punches flying. Now, in 16 years in the business, I have never seen that.

Cattiness? Eh, I guess I never had a problem with that.

[Hospice Nurse LPN, BSN, RN]

I used to work @ a place like that. Even management was in on it, crazy stuff, and having a manager tell you personal things about a co-worker. That woman would whisper to others when she wrote someone up. I couldn't stand it and left. The place I work now is nothing like that.

[AOx1]

It happens all the time on this board as well. I am too busy trying to be a good nurse and a good educator to have time to tear others down. My guess is that those who do this must have too much time on their hands.

[Truth66]

I see this all the time where I work. Unfortunately many Nurse Managers will fuel this kind of environment. A former co-worker of mine said it best when she stated: "Management love it when staff are at each others throats, because that means staff are not directing their anger at management."

At my workplace, like many others, the Nurse Managers office is like a revolving door with various nursing staff routinely going in to complain about other nursing staff. This is so easy to stop if both Nurse Managers & Union officials (if applicable) had the guts to stop it. Here's how it can be stopped.

Nurse Managers and Union Officials (if applicable) need to state: "If a staff member has a complaint against another staff member, they are to properly submit that complaint in writing. If the complaint is not submitted in writing, then there's no complaint."

Why does this work? First there's dual accountability. The person making the allegations can't go back on their statement by saying "I never said that". It reduces the ongoing game of the she said - she said syndrome. There's also accountability with management because management can no longer make these allegations up by saying something like: "We received a complaint that you were......" This notion of management making up allegations against various nursing staff happens all too frequently where I work.

When a documented complaint is made, then the person who has the complaint made against them has the opportunity to read exactly what the allegations are in order to prepare a proper defense. Far too often, in my workplace staff will never know what the exact allegations are because Nurse Managers will often say, "I can't tell you who made the complaint", or "I can't go into the specifics of the complaint."

Another reason why this works is that it raises the standard and credibility of these complaints. For example our governing body will not accept any complaint against any nurse from anyone (including a member of the public) in our jurisdiction, unless that complaint is properly documented.

[BluegrassRN]

Be the change you wish to see.

This seems to work for me. Occasionally I get sucked into the cattiness, but over all, I try to stay calm, positive, and supportive. When a few people on the unit manage to stay above the negativity most of the time, and routinely are helpful to others, thank people for their hard work, and compliment someone on a job well done, that sort of behavior is contagious, too.

I recognize that some environments will be toxic and hellish no matter what. But I think many uncomfortable environments are only negative and catty because we allow them to be so.

[LegzRN]

I've seen this a lot, but it always seemed like the males were immune to it. I don't know if it's because we didn't feed into the machine or if women just didn't hate us, haha.

[gsands]

In my facility there is an increasing awareness of "Horizontal Violence", which is exactly what you are talking about. The Joint Commission has a stated policy regarding behaviors that the rest of us call "backstabbing" or gossipping. Also, in a class I am taking the instructor had a test question regarding this topic. In my discussion with her she said the best way to handle horizontal violence is to break the cycle by either talking to your direct supervisor or --if you are comfortable doing this-stating to the offenders that talk of this nature is not appropriate. It is difficult and insidious. Before you know it you can be sucked into other people's negativity.