Nursing co-workers' tension... is this everywhere?

[Orange123456]

Hello, I really need some advice because I am having a hard time in my current nursing field and have no idea if I should continue to become a nurse or if there is a different healthcare career that may be better for me...

I became a CNA in May and have been working at a LTC center for three months. I love my patients and some of my co-workers are very nice, but for the most part every interaction most of them have with each other is all drama. The conversations consist mostly of trash talking the most recent person to leave the room. At first I wrote it off and thought that it was only the CNAs and that being an RN wouldn't be like this, but after some time I realized that the RNs did it just as much WITH the CNAs. The RN who often works my shift comes to give us a daily report and starts the conversation talking trash about the nurse who she just relieved and the day shift CNAs. I have a few friends who are CNAs at other facilities and are so sweet, they're the reason I thought I would enjoy becoming a CNA as a bridge to learn more about the nursing field and become an RN! Three of my aunts and one of my uncles are nurses and they love their jobs! I really want to work in the nursing field, but is every job environment like this? It's brutal. I have come to stay under the radar so that I am not involved in the drama, but doing so has restricted my relationships with my co-workers very much. The thing is, I just don't want to be involved in their conversations about our co-workers. This is my first healthcare job and I want to use it as a reference for nursing school, but it's hard because I am not bonding with my co-workers the way I would like to. One of the other new girls is from my graduating LNA class and her and I have talked about how uncomfortable we are when we work with people who talk trash about each other. People have complained to the director and assistant director about the hostile environment, but they ignore it and have even told us to just "be careful who you talk around" and "keep your voices down next time".

I have never worked in an environment that was this hostile and it's very discouraging. As a new person, it was really hard to learn my daily duties because no body wanted to help me learn or answer my questions. I'm having a really hard time with it because I love the healthcare field and I want a career where I can continue to learn and help people. I thought nursing was the way to do this, but is it? Is every nursing environment like this for RNs?

Any advice anyone has to offer would be great!

[RN2784]

Some places are better than others is the best I can tell you. There are some places I've worked that are horrible about gossip. Most places have been tolerable or even very minimal. You just have to find the right place. I tend to try and take your approach as well. I keep my head down, work very hard, and try not to pitch in with the trash talking and make it worse. Hang in there. Every career has its drawbacks and nothing is perfect. I would never go back on my decision to become a nurse, even on my worst days.