YogiGal

Serenity, that's a very good point, I found this oldish NYT post: When the Nurse Is a Bully - NYTimes.com on the topic so I guess its not just the unit I work on which makes me feel better. I suppose I'll just have to weight the consequences, but thanks for your input I do appreciate it. Hopefully I can leave gracefully and the market will pick up here on the east coast by the time I graduate... but I'm not counting on anything. Thx again.

Hi SoldierNurse, 1) Yes, I love the hospital (or at least I thought I did) so it was my plan to stay there after graduation if able. I've had important life experiences there, so originally I thought this was *it*. Also, in meeting other nurses and nursing aides on other units within the hospital, they wouldn't transfer to my unit for anything because it is known for being so terrible, so I really do not think like its like this throughout the hospital but I'm locked in to this unit for one year and I'm not sure I can make it. 2) I'm glad to hear you think I can be honest with a future employer on this topic. Thank you! 3) You're right. It shouldn't matter but it does because (I didn't disclose in my original post) is that I have an immediate family member who works in an entirely different unit w/in the hospital but we fall under the same ND. My fellow unit co-workers know that we are related (not by my own disclosing but by GOSSIP) and I'm worried if or how leaving will reflect on her.

Thanks serenitylove for sharing your experience and your honesty about the field. Glad to know it was worth sticking it out. I have worked female dominated fields before (education), so I refuse to believe that it is just about working with women, I think it must be something specific to nursing. Or maybe specifically this unit, as other nurses in the hospital make an awful face when I tell them what unit I'm on. It's just so strange, and I can't believe individuals working in a field where compassion seems to be necessary can treat each other this way. ICK!

Thanks serenitylove for sharing your experience and your honesty about the field. Glad to know it was worth sticking it out. I have worked female dominated fields before (education), so I refuse to believe that it is just about working with women, I think it must be something specific to nursing. Or maybe specifically this unit, as other nurses in the hospital make an awful face when I tell them what unit I'm on. It's just so strange, and I can't believe individuals working in a field where compassion seems to be necessary can treat each other this way. ICK!

Thanks for sharing your experience and your honesty about the field. Glad to know it was worth sticking it out. I have worked female dominated fields before (education), so I refuse to believe that it is just about working with women, I think it must be something specific to nursing. Or maybe specifically this unit, as other nurses in the hospital make an awful face when I tell them what unit I'm on. It's just so strange, and I can't believe individuals working in a field where compassion seems to be necessary can treat each other this way. ICK!

Hi All, I'm currently in my first year of nursing school and was recently hired in a hospital as a CNA. I was really looking forward to this position, however the past few weeks have been one of the worst experiences of my life simply due to low morale on the unit. The drama, backstabbing and politics are downright awful. Nursing is a second career path for me, and in my 15+ years of job experience, I have never witnessed such terrible behavior occurring amongst co-workers. The nurses and aides constantly gossip about one another, the patients - some of whom are in hospice (!) - and its really devastating to witness how this distracts the staff from their patients. The patient is not the focus at work, but rather drama on the unit, and I can't stand it. It is a known fact in the hospital that this specific unit has very low morale (something I wish I had known before accepting the position), and at a recent staff meeting it was the first point of discussion. It has brought so much anxiety into my life that I'm seriously considering leaving, as the stress distracts me entirely from my nursing studies. However I'm worried if I leave so soon, I'll ruin my chances at ever being hired at this hospital again, and that it will be difficult to ever explain my short run of employment at this hospital to a future employer. Not to mention that the unit will probably gossip about me leaving so soon! The fact that hiring in my area of the country is slow for new grads has me feeling like an idiot about considering leaving over this, but my anxiety is through the roof. Since I haven't been there for a year, transferring to a different unit is not an option. I guess I'm not sure what to do! How to handle this? Has anyone been in a similar position before? Advice is needed! Seeing this type of behavior has me nearly running and screaming from this profession. I just can't believe that hospital staff can be so mean to one another! Help! Thanks.