Sabotaged at Work

Sorry to hear about your situation. I have great news though. Nursing is one of those fields that is always in demand. Even during this time where people are scared of getting sick, you are valuable. 

I've seen nurses argue and fight with managers and walk off the job and get another one the next day. This is your opportunity to be bold! Puff out that chest and know your worth. Every work environment is susceptible to change. Take this as the sign to move on to bigger and better things. This is how you do it.

Don't use your ex-managers as a reference if you get wind that they are going to throw you under the bus. Use people that know your work, but are interested in helping you get to your next job. At this point, call your ex-manager and give them a talking to. Let them know that their review cost you your job. Let them know the gravity of what they have done. Then let them go. 

Call your ex-coworkers and see if any of them would give a good reference for your next job. If they agree, then use them as a reference. Be a boss. Get that courage to use your co-workers as references. 

Next job interview, tell them not to bother your references because they get a lot of calls. I've told just about every job I had in nursing not to call my references and harass them. It never stopped me from working. Yeah, people will say, "oh that's a red flag" in reality, they need a nurse and you're here ready to work. If they like you, they'll take a chance. 

Nursing is half about technical skills, the other half is working with people. People that are awful, scared, excitable, weird, and straight out bullies. You have to show that you're in charge of all situations and that you are valuable. You do this with courage and risk (small risk). Set yourself up for success and win.  

Thank you so much for your advice Nurse Beth, Nurse Shannon.  I applied to another hospital and was hired so I am beyond excited!  I am the utmost professional so mentioning other jobs negatively is not my forte; however, 7 years of skills would certainly be mentioned by me just to let them know my broad range of knowledge, if they ask me. I"ve thought about contacting the previous managers, but I have done this in recent past, I've communicated my concerns over being targeted etc and it didn't seem to do anything. I feel like I just ended up being labelled a "troublemaker" and "not a team player". Such a common occurrence if you speak up for yourself in our field, smh.  I've put the toxic workplace behind me and I am ready for a new start.  You are correct, nurse bullying certainly exists and as a slightly older nurse (54) I feel as though it remains prominent. It's a shame, as we are all supposed to be a team and helpful to one another, yet somehow certain nurses feel threatened by others.   I will keep you updated with the new position!  Thanks again.  

And you learned a valuable lesson.  Never quit one job until you have another.  Good luck in your new position!

Yes, I have felt targeted by a manager. I transferred to a new procedural  unit but shortly after, there was a reorganization and a non-nurse was named the manager. She wanted corners cut and felt that nurses should only do what doctors wanted, even if it was not safe. I even blew the whistle (anonymously) about her delegating a task to an aide that was clearly out of her scope. Perhaps she figured out it was me.  And I was expected to be on call every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday night for add-on cases, even though there were 8 other nurses who could take call.

She often made inappropriate, crude remarks to staff. For instance, an aide reported her pager wouldn't work at her home because it was in a "dead zone". The manager said, "I hope that doesn't apply to your bedroom." In the middle of a staff meeting.

She wrote me up for  a false accusation of sexual harassment, but with the union's help, that was dismissed. I was determined that she was not going to run me off, so I stayed one more year before transferring out. 

I didn't want to be run off either, however, my working environment was toxic and affecting me physically and psychologically. You know when people are treating you poorly but in ways in which you may not be able to "prove". No, I am not paranoid.  Backstabbing and plotting to make nurses look bad happens all the time.  One example? : One of my coworkers went through all of my prep work one day and re-dated it and erased my initials and put her own down. (we chart prepped for surgeons). sound crazy? Yep, it sure was and when I questioned her about it, she ran to the new manager and cried that I was bullying her.  I was then labelled "not a team player".  All I did was ask her, in a professional way, WHY did you re-label all of work and change dates and put your initials down? "That looks like sabotaging my work to me". Thats all I said to her. Was I annoyed? of course, but I did not behave in an unprofessional way.    These were the sort of incidents I dealt with.  That's why I had to leave. I wasn't going to be fired after having a satisfactory record after 7 years  and I had a feeling the new manager was trying to just find reasons.  I hope things work out for you also.  People don't realize how much bullying really occurs in our field.

Dear Beth,

Likely personal and does there really have to be a reason?  Managers often pick and choose regardless of your ability to perform your job.  After 30+ Year career, I have found 2 types of management.  1.  Those who surround themselves by weak skills and knowledge so they can feel smart and in control.  2.  Those who surround themselves with strong skills, knowledge and yes, often vocal, staff.    A unit or agency that does amazing work takes amazing staff.  Those staff didn’t get there by laziness or lack of knowledge.     I find that when a manager feels the need to push you out, it is because you, your skills, your knowledge or sometimes just your relationships at work intimidate them.    

I have had a few of them,  I always see it as their loss and my gain.  Time to learn a new unit, new job, something to challenge me.  In those instances I have used physicians, PA, nurse coworkers or a previous manager as my reference.  Don’t feel locked in to that manager as your reference.  

Nursing is wide open.  Challenge yourself, go a different direction, learn some new skills.  It will only enhance your overall practice , knowledge base and confidence!!  Good luck! Go for it!!  You can send her a thank you note later! ?

I'm glad you got out of that toxic environment. Congrats on the new job! I hope it's going well.

Yes, I went through a time in a unit with an abusive, nasty, lazy Head nurse. Every week she would pick on the meekest, attack, deride and make them cry. Yell and scream, pull on their uniform.  I had never seen such a turnover in staff, yet the administration continued to turn a blind eye. She abused residents, Chiefs of staff. One time a patient complained of hunger and this HN told the patient that she was too fat anyway. She would remark on other workers' ethnicity. Eventually, threat of being sabotaged was quite evident so I left, but the exit interview was while on duty, so one could not speak up honestly. I did overhear the VP asking her "so,...why is this nurse leaving?"