Nurses setting up other nurses!

nurseontheball · May 8, 2010

I am surprised no one else has replied to this yet. I would also like to know if this is a common practice in facilities among nurses or just isolated at certain LTC places. I heard years ago of experienced nurses "eating" their young when they were orienting them, but I do not think, that is even common anymore. To answer your question, I also am appauled that this is going on.

caliotter3 · May 8, 2010

I'm from a different part of the country and witnessed this behavior in LTC about 15 years ago. I once overheard some nurses bragging about how they had set up a new hire and easily got rid of him. For all people at that facility that did not belong to the "majority", your presence was only tolerated as long as the group decided to keep you around for their own purposes. Management turned a blind eye or enabled the behavior by favoring the "majority". Am not surprised to hear that this behavior is not an isolated occurrence.

gerotina, ASN, RN · May 8, 2010

Thanks for your input. I still cannot believe nurses are doing this. I guess there are not many of us Florence Nightingales out anymore!

"Florence said she heard the voice of God tell her she had a mission."

elizabeth321 · May 8, 2010

What exactly are they doing?

Nursemom64 · Jun 23, 2010

I was recently fired from my med/surg job from what I considered a witch hunt. Nurses on the other teams on my unit would write me up or complain about stupid things to the manager. I am a great nurse, have always had good evaluations and have had 29+ years of customer service experience (nursing is a second career for me) so I found it a little odd they would just let me go, ironically it was 2 days short of the end of my probation period when I would have been a full union member...hmmmm?! Anyway, yes I do believe that some nurses eat their own young and they gang up (for whatever reason) on any new hires. What makes it worse is when the manager is in on it too! Are they that intimidated by new people?

morphed · Jun 24, 2010

There was a thread on here a few weeks ago where some of the posts discussed this. It's really scary to think your license could be on the line because of someone else. I think some managers are aware and yet they pretend they don't see what's going on because they don't want to get involved with the "petty/catty drama" on the floor. Other managers though probably don't know; some people are very manipulative and while they may show you their teeth, their probably kissing ass when they're around managers. They make it seem like you're the incompetent one and if they getting along with the manager, then they have a little more influence over what happens to you.

Nursemom64 · Jun 24, 2010

"They make it seem like you're the incompetent one and if they getting along with the manager, then they have a little more influence over what happens to you."

That's exactly what I think happened in my situation. By the end I felt like nothing I did was good enough...even though I am an excellent nurse!

Thanks for your reply, it makes me feel better knowing I'm not the only one!

rainstorm83 · Jul 22, 2010

I'm a little curious what you mean by setting up?

If they are going out of their way to point out mistakes of someone rather than helping them because they feel that person is incompetent , even if all they need is a little training specific to that facility, it is pretty obnoxious. However in that case it is still your actions or lack of which that determines if what happens to you.

However, if they are claiming you did something you didn't, or vice-versa if they are claiming you didn't do something you did, that is really dishonest. No matter if they think someone deserves to be fired or not, it is their own actions that a person should be fired on, not on a story someone thinks will get them fired. That just shows they probably don't have a good reason to want the person fired.

In cases like that, I'm inclined to wonder why and have to suspect poor practice whether due to laziness, incompetence, or whatever. They get rid of the person who won't "fit in" the environment. Even though it may not help the original victim, observing the underlying problems and filing complaints about the facility may get enough attention on the facility to change the environment and eliminate the culture that's behind it.

Still very curious about the details though. What is going on?

feisty_lpn, LPN · Aug 17, 2010

A disheartening aspect of nursing that I learned through experience is that we (as a profession) are caring and compassionate to our patients and their families... but not with each other. Its sad.

truthbtolled77 · Aug 22, 2010

This is so funny you should ask! It happened to me once, then I saw it happen in another facility to a new nurse! What happened, exactly, to me is they were on me like white on rice, pressuring me to do my work...the paperwork (change-over) now that is not bad, but standing over me with arms crossed and asking "what are we going to do about this" in a very demeaning manner (like I was a child); constantly running to the unit mgr. to "tell" on me for not getting the trash before they arrived. STUPIDITY, that is what it exactly is! :spbox:Anything to get rid of you. They could not get me on nursing mistakes so they would do the most petty and ignorant things possible. I remember how the "in" group would take forever on breaks and leave me to be the only nurse in the whole facility...nice! Couldn't tell the unit mgr. because my first day she told me that she "hates nurses from ________school". To top things off they were all buddy-buddy with the DON. Yeah, I left, so did a WHOLE lot of people! It was not just me, I just held on the longer than the others. I have seen it happen to others as well. I told the new nurse just to hang in there, stand your ground, speak with the DON frequently and that I was there for her. I am not sure how some do not see this happening, or it is denial. If there are facilities that do not take part in this.....PLEASE let EVERYONE know, our jobs are hard enough! Doctors stick together but nurses don't why? That is exactly what we need to do...we don't have to be best friends, but damn it we are all nurses! Sorry, I get sick of no one ever standing up for what is right. Also, I have seen with my own eyes and heard with my own ears, covering for each other, yup I did do what was right, now I don't have a job and would do it again for the safety of a patient.*wine:vlin::cheers::kiss:hug::nuke:

truthbtolled77 · Aug 22, 2010

probably kissing ass when they're around managers. They make it seem like you're the incompetent one and if they getting along with the manager, then they have a little more influence over what happens to you.

Of course they are kissing ass when any mgr. is around, but then act like your friend saying how that particular person is such a/an "fill in the blank here". Will we ever agree to just do our job so we can focus on why we are nurses in the first place. Hey if you really don't like the person...too bad, fake till you make it; just grin and bear it; say/do whatever you need to get through the day in a professional manner and take all that hate put it into some energy to focus on your work. :twocents: :banghead: *wine:oornt: