Nurses continue to eat their young

Nurses Relations

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I am about done. Where I work there is this culture that allows for day shift nurses to be flat out ******* to the offgoing night shifters during report. It is a poisonous culture on my otherwise great unit.

It stands in such contrast to a few wonderful day shift nurses who will come in and help solve problems and are a calming presence.

Specializes in Emergency, ICU.
I have to disagree. Coming from a few different fields myself (military, criminal justice, construction, martial arts) it is much more prevalent in nursing in my experience. In some fields, people just want to test what you know. In others, they want to see how tough you are or if you can hang (can they trust you?). When patient care is a priority, neither of those are appropriate.

Just my 0.02.

I agree. I've worked many different jobs and fields before nursing and it is more prevalent.

The term NETY should be substituted for what this behavior truly is:

Disrespectful

Unprofessional

Violent

Bullying

It should not be tolerated. I certainly don't. I call people out on it and magically, they stop trying it with me.

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Specializes in CCRN, ED, Unit Manager.
It's the same thing in nursing...pt care is a priority, and the experienced ones want to know whether one is mentally tough AND smart enough to do this business...it is owed to our pts in their vulnerable state to be BOTH.

I must have missed the memo where an experienced RN has the God-given or professional duty to test someone who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an 11-bravo about "mental toughness" (or anyone else, for that matter). Not only is it extremely presumptuous, but it's unprofessional. As I already stated, in the field of nursing and the setting nursing is conducted in, this mindset is not compatible or appropriate -- and most importantly it's ineffective. It's evidenced by as much by topics exactly like this one -- experienced individuals thinking they have some privilege of mistreating those with less experience than them and the fallout it causes. I'd expect that sort of attitude in a barrack, a fraternity or a football locker room -- all of which I've been a part of -- but not from mature professionals.

I agree. I've worked many different jobs and fields before nursing and it is more prevalent.

The term NETY should be substituted for what this behavior truly is:

Disrespectful

Unprofessional

Violent

Bullying

It should not be tolerated. I certainly don't. I call people out on it and magically, they stop trying it with me.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Bullying people new to the profession doesn't make you mentally tough -- it shows how mentally weak you truly are. I'm out, cheers.

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Specializes in Pediatrics, Emergency, Trauma.
I must have missed the memo where an experienced RN has the God-given or professional duty to test someone who did tours in Iraq and Afghanistan as an 11-bravo about "mental toughness" (or anyone else, for that matter). Not only is it extremely presumptuous, but it's unprofessional. As I already stated, in the field of nursing and the setting nursing is conducted in, this mindset is not compatible or appropriate -- and most importantly it's ineffective. It's evidenced by as much by topics exactly like this one -- experienced individuals thinking they have some privilege of mistreating those with less experience than them and the fallout it causes. I'd expect that sort of attitude in a barrack, a fraternity or a football locker room -- all of which I've been a part of -- but not from mature professionals.

Couldn't have said it better myself. Bullying people new to the profession doesn't make you mentally tough -- it shows how mentally weak you truly are. I'm out, cheers.

Maturity doesn't always become a person in ANY profession...that's the REALITY...there are a tons of the population that lack emotional maturity, and some of those people employ US.

Not everyone is a great communicator, either, so the outrage of high emotions when this business is dealing with the most vulnerable and stressful issues, that the public truly doesn't understand or has negative connotations for certain people in our communities which comes to a head in this business, yes communication and coping may be off the mark.

Am I condoning it? NO.

I'm just aware of the realities; and handle it accordingly; when the root cause and the issues are handled, or there is a healthy comraderie-which IS NOT an exception in this business-the attitudes of are you mentally tough and knowledgeable or willing to learn may have a more positive

"tone", so to speak; in other places,

not so much,or not at all, but to say that NETY exists,instead of pointedly stating the obvious does NOTHING to the profession.

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Specializes in Critical Care, ED, Cath lab, CTPAC,Trauma.

As a young nurse I never experienced this...did I ahve some tough older nurses that were tough on me? Sure. But it made me a better nurse.

Have I experienced bullying? You betcha. From a seasoned male nurse who was threatened by my intelligence and the respect I received from the other physicians when I started a new job at another facility. Didn't I call him out on it. I sure did. I made it clear that his childish antics would not be tolerated in front of his respected peers.

I experienced it again when I moved from the Midwest to New England. I was experienced with 20 years under my belt and I was greeted with hostility and disparaging comments. I was even once called on the office and told to stop having intellectual conversations with the MD as it was intimidating to the other nurses. I said really? So you promote stupidity amongst your staff? I will not dumb down my conversations.... I would think that the other nurses could benefit from intellectual conversations to promote quality care of the patients. Of course this was the facility that didn't wash their stretchers in between patients because they were too busy. That soon stopped as well.

Somehow I was not bullied any further and I wasn't young either.

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