kechels

(please forgive me any mispellings and lack of grammar) Trust me... to let it roll off your back does not work. The only way to stop a bully is to confront them in a professional manner. Then, keep tight records of incidents and contact with your manager. You have the right to work without being treated as if your stupid or an inferior nurse due to one mistake... granted it was a big one but i would lay money on the fact that you NEVER make another mistake like it! Some of the very best lessons we learn are learned from mistakes and as a nurse you pray that no true harm comes as a result to the people you care for. I tried letting it roll off my back for 8 years. It doesnt roll. It doesnt go away as long as you allow it to go unchecked. Worst of all it makes you doubt yourself, your ability to get along with people, your ability to be a good nurse... your intelligence. And if you let it go unchecked it follows you from job to job and your confidence takes a nose dive. Only those who have very strong and positive early roll models survive it. Thank god i had one. When i started wanting to strike out and return the treatment... i got out of the hospitals. I did not go to nursing school to learn to be the kind of nurse that i encountered as a floor nurse. I know it is further reaching than the hospitals... but its not as bad in my experience. Now, i work with people who love what they do and show respect to everyone. I finally found my place to be. To change this sick subculture in nursing... its not gonna be easy that is for sure but a good place to start would be in our nursing schools. Do not continue to NOT discuss it in the spirit of setting the new nurses up to be negative... but instead educate them so that if and when it happens to them they will know what it is when they see it... and not internalize the negativity. Also... help them develope skills to deal with it effectively. Every nurse should develop a zero tolerance personal policy and hold the feet of management to the flames of accountabilty. I rescently became employed as an educator at a community college where the dirty little secret of nursing is not talked about either. I will strive to change that. This sick subculture of "nurses eat their own" or "nurses eat their young" (i detest the terms) is allowed to thrive and proliferate because everyone accepts that it is just how it is.... and do not talk about it. Start talking about it. When you witness it happening to someone else do not keep your mouth shut... it is hard to speak up but speaking up is the only hope we have of stopping this mistreatment of our peers and further eroding the profession.