A new grad, young nurse landed her DREAM job. Or what she thought would be her dream job in ICU. After orientation and on her own, she quit and said she thought she was dangerous and could kill a patient. The training was poor and the bullying was second to worst I have seen. That day she went home and gave up her life. Later, her parents notified the floor/ unit.
Now, obviously not every nurse under these circumstances has the same outcome. But, what can be done to change the (mean-girl- middle school) culture on floor? Who do you complain to? Who recognizes this as an issue with not just that nurse but many whom have left the floor for the same reasons?
How do you cope, who should be there to help nurses cope? Has this happened where you work?
Could we please be a little more respectful of the person that said there is a trend in nursing suicides? This is enough of a problem that ANA sponsored a presentation of the problem. It is one symptom of compassion fatigue. When we shame others of our profession we become part of the problem rather than part of the solution. I'm a doctoral candidate and I am researching compassion fatigue and eventhough I am well versed in research techniques finding this particular topic in the research is difficult.
How is it "disrespectful" to question whether or not suicide among NEW NURSES is a trend? Many of those posting just want to see any evidence that this is the case. Personally I would like to see how "being at increased risk" translates to actual suicides. I don't even dispute it. I just want to see the data that reflects that is actually a problem in terms of significant numbers, and one that could be corrected by different behavior by coworkers of new nurses. References to articles discussing it isn't data. From what I've read here, the studies are few and far between and don't actually support the claims being made. At best they have concluded that more study is needed before any inferences can be made.
I'm not a nurse yet, and I struggle with depression. Making statements like this can be pretty damaging to people in situations like mine. I'd like to see some evidence of this claim.
In a cursory search on the subject, healthcare is kinda, sorta, a little bit up there in terms of the number of suicides per 100,000 but it's healthcare workers in general. In other words, there's not really a trend to be found, though the data remains very minimal and this is the most recent CDC data on the topic: Suicide Rates by Occupational Group — 17 States, 2
Specializes in NICU,Visiting Nurse, LTC Assessment..
Bullying in Nursing has been going on for over 50 years; maybe since the Civil War. it is BAD MANAGEMENT. They will not pull bullying, gossipers into their office and direct them to focus on their jobs. What they DO, is listen to the bulliers and then victimize the person, "The Gang" is agaisnt. I went to college, got my RN license to help patients get better, not babysit 20-30 year olds with social issues. And 40-50 year old managers OUGHT to know better! Even Directors of Nursing cannot handle lower management, nor Human Resources. These bullying nurses are not punished and continue to thrive, like street gangs and psychological snipers, who prevent you from getting your best work done. My best advice is to move to a hospital with a union for nurses; I wish I would have followed my uncle's advice in the late 80's and moved to Philly, but I felt I had to be home. So I put up with bullies, bad managers for 23 years and paid a high psychological & physical price. I am SO SORRY I gave away so much of my life and power. I am 53 now with Fibromyalgia and yes, there WAS a time I wanted to kill myself over my nursing career.
I mean I think a lot of your are missing out on a important discussion regarding suicide and depression. Yes the OP used a poor choice of words referring it to a trend that can be observed statistically among new nurses. So everyone's jumping on that and missing the main point because they don't want to deal with the ugly truth.
Some people are so beaten down by society and are constantly dealt a rough hand. This, depression, and the fact this new nurse worked with bully type employees, it was obviously a trigger. You cannot deny those employees triggered something in that girl to end her life. Yes it was something built up in her but they were the catalyst. That scares the crap out of most of you I can tell, it holds us ALL accountable to the power of our words and the negative repercussions they can have. She probably felt worthless, hopeless, and like a failure. The nurses she worked with did nothing but confirm her deep rooted fears.
Bullying is not just in the nursing profession however experienced nurses tend to be at times ruthless with new nurses. It was how they were trained so they assume it's ok to carry it on to the next generation. I see it on here as well, attitude given when a new grad asks a simple question, there is an air of a superiority complex in some of the responses.
I see responses saying millennials are to coddled, they won all the prizes, blaming her parents for not giving her coping skills. Thats a gross assumption, ageism, and unfair. Millennials have had it harder than gen x and the baby boomers. We cannot pay our tuition with summer jobs like previous generations, we can't find job straights out of HS or even college/university.
RPN jobs for new grads in my city are impossible to find. Everything requires 2-5 years of experience, school doesn't count. We don't have a house, a car, and kids by the age of 25. We can't afford to. Employers think were entitled by trying to improve things meanwhile we go home to our bachelor apartments, struggle to pay bills, while our parents wonder why it's so hard for us to get it together and then there's people who tell new grads how easy it is to find nursing jobs and assume something is wrong with them specifically when they can't.
Anyway be kind to all, you never know what inner battle they are fighting.
The fact that you seem to find so much passive aggressiveness, anger, nastiness and bullying says way more about YOU and what you look for in your interactions than it does about the people you encounter. If you were looking for kind, pleasant, POSITIVE interactions, that is what you would find."
Ruby Vee I mean I'm all for law of attraction but this sounds like a cop out. You cannot control the type of people you work with, and sometimes the environment you work in is just toxic, and it has spread like a disease. If an employee hostile I doubt any person was seeking that negativity out when they asked that hostile employee a simple question and they were snapped at or was spoken down to. People need to stop putting blame on the victim for "attracting abuse" and hold people accountable for toxic behaviors. This type of attitude will NEVER solve the problem. Good nurses will just leave and your left with a cesspool of emotionally stunted nurses.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
I mean I think a lot of your are missing out on a important discussion regarding suicide and depression. Yes the OP used a poor choice of words referring it to a trend that can be observed statistically among new nurses. So everyone's jumping on that and missing the main point because they don't want to deal with the ugly truth.
Some people are so beaten down by society and are constantly dealt a rough hand. This, depression, and the fact this new nurse worked with bully type employees, it was obviously a trigger. You cannot deny those employees triggered something in that girl to end her life. Yes it was something built up in her but they were the catalyst. That scares the crap out of most of you I can tell, it holds us ALL accountable to the power of our words and the negative repercussions they can have. She probably felt worthless, hopeless, and like a failure. The nurses she worked with did nothing but confirm her deep rooted fears.
Bullying is not just in the nursing profession however experienced nurses tend to be at times ruthless with new nurses. It was how they were trained so they assume it's ok to carry it on to the next generation. I see it on here as well, attitude given when a new grad asks a simple question, there is an air of a superiority complex in some of the responses.
I see responses saying millennials are to coddled, they won all the prizes, blaming her parents for not giving her coping skills. Thats a gross assumption, ageism, and unfair. Millennials have had it harder than gen x and the baby boomers. We cannot pay our tuition with summer jobs like previous generations, we can't find job straights out of HS or even college/university.
RPN jobs for new grads in my city are impossible to find. Everything requires 2-5 years of experience, school doesn't count. We don't have a house, a car, and kids by the age of 25. We can't afford to. Employers think were entitled by trying to improve things meanwhile we go home to our bachelor apartments, struggle to pay bills, while our parents wonder why it's so hard for us to get it together and then there's people who tell new grads how easy it is to find nursing jobs and assume something is wrong with them specifically when they can't.
Anyway be kind to all, you never know what inner battle they are fighting.
Genx-almost-baby-boomer here. I graduated at a time when the economy was in the tank and joined the military to be employed. I never had it easy, nothing handed to me. I went to school on a GI Bill, after 10 years' military service, when I had a toddler and military husband who was gone frequently. I did not own my own home til in my 40's. I had to live in 1000 sq ft military housing and ate beans and rice more often than I ever cared to. Drove used cars, never had anything new then. We lived on a shoestring junior military paycheck. I put off having my first kid til 29. I had to wait, so what?
Being responsible means you sometimes have to wait for the things you want; more importantly, you have to earn them. That has not changed over time. What has changed is the sense people have that things should come earlier than they can earn them, and that they should come more easily. I grew up knowing nothing would ever come easily and I was not shocked by how hard it could be. It was a struggle.
My point? It's never been "Easy" and to say we boomers and X-ers had it "easier" shows what you don't know. No one ever had it easy. Each generation has its challenges. You are right that we should not disrespect the Millennial Generation, but you could learn a thing or two from us who "have been there and done it". But so many don't even try and ageism against older nurses is epidemic. Too bad, so many are missing out on an opportunity to learn from vast experience;, I always respected and listened to the "old" nurses before me and the teaching they gave me was priceless. I still hold on to their teachings today in my current practice.
I see a LOT of younger nurses who have NO intention of spending a day "wiping butts" or one minute longer at the bedside than necessary to be in supervision, or NPs before even having real experience. I am concerned by this as we will have NPs and managers/upper management (who are currently pretty clueless) even more clueless about the business of patient care. The "I want it now" culture is the order of the day.
I mean I didn't want to get into what generation had it harder, obviously people have had it hard in any day and age but I will defend my generation against condescending remarks from mainly your generation, that we we have it easy and this whole coddled every one get's a prize narrative being pushed on us. I don't expect it to be easy but again DO NOT push that narrative that I do on me. I didn't ask for your condescending advice on "waiting for the good things in life."
I never said anything about "easier" I just am comparing the new struggles my generation faces vs. what wasn't as big of an issue before in the past two generations in GENERAL. I was speaking in GENERALIZED terms and not yours or anyone here's specific life experiences. At the end of the day yours and mine experiences are anecdotal evidence but in general there are many articles to support my claims, your condescending remarks are not appreciated... 4 Economic Facts to Shut Up any Baby Boomer Saying Millennials Are Lazy | Inverse
You say you want to teach the younger ones and I believe you. I just don't see it often in reality, in the workplace, but that's not to take away from your feelings about wanting to help and having a hard time as well. It's just rare I see an older nurse really support and take a new nurse under her wing. Not even limited to nursing in general in life, it's rare, there are no real mentors and everyone's in it for themselves. That's the reality.
Your remarks about new grad not wanting to wipe butts and the "I want it now" culture shows you don't get it and you judge others. What was that you said about these young nurses not wanting to learn from your vast experience? Maybe your just not approachable and judge young people. People can sense when your not genuine.
One group of people vocalize their grievances another group will always be like what about me? No one will ever get heard. The MAIN point of my comment was about suicide prevention and helping some of the nurses on here understand my generation better. It was not even heard by you, Your ego got in the way. Everyone will always want to be the most right.
This is more of the typical generation gap nonsense. "In my day, we...." and the new kids saying "No one understands/respects us..."
This will go on to the end of time, and the generations following the Millenials will have a whole litany of complaints about the shortcomings of the current younger generation. And then the Millenials will go on and on about "Well, when I was young, we were better about blah blah blah."
There is a vast difference between PTSD and compassion fatigue and traumatologists are far and few between. Traumatologist are the only professionals that are equipped to care for those with either PTSD or compassion fatigue. When others attempt to treat they can and do make it worse. I do know of two programs that train compassion fatigue specialist if you meet the educational criteria. The study of these two states of health have been going on since the 90s but there seems to be little consensus on how to effectively treat the conditions. In nursing we have proved via research how we can avoid much of the trauma, but unless we support each other and the leaders in healthcare support us it will not change. Denying the symptoms and shaming each other only makes it worse.
All generations have issues. I'm sympathetic to the Millennials plight, but I like others also have under employment problems and I'm far from being a Millennial. The nursing industry is expanding and changing roles so quickly that we cannot keep up with them no matter how educated we are. Nursing educators in the state where I live are also in a difficult place b/c those jobs go to NPs even though they are not educated in educational pedagogy. NPs who take educator's roles without the appropriate education are out of their scope of practice. Anyone else that practices out side of their scope is breaking the law. I've become the bad guy when I say this in my state association b/c it is seen as not supporting the NP role. If I'd wanted to be an NP then I would have gone to school to be an NP, but that is not how I want to carry out my practice.
I'm not making light of the problems of any one generation. I think we have a problem on all sides of the issue. How do we come together and solve the problems? Are we members of the state nursing association, ANA, and do we make our thoughts known to the nursing leaders? Do we take on the role of advocate and leader? If we just complain then we are not really helping the problem.
I see a LOT of younger nurses who have NO intention of spending a day "wiping butts" or one minute longer at the bedside than necessary to be in supervision, or NPs before even having real experience. I am concerned by this as we will have NPs and managers/upper management (who are currently pretty clueless) even more clueless about the business of patient care. The "I want it now" culture is the order of the day.
.thumb.gif.9c97ffa9443a5f22ff38e1eac832292c.gif){kind=avatar}
Horseshoe, BSN, RN
5,879 Posts
How is it "disrespectful" to question whether or not suicide among NEW NURSES is a trend? Many of those posting just want to see any evidence that this is the case. Personally I would like to see how "being at increased risk" translates to actual suicides. I don't even dispute it. I just want to see the data that reflects that is actually a problem in terms of significant numbers, and one that could be corrected by different behavior by coworkers of new nurses. References to articles discussing it isn't data. From what I've read here, the studies are few and far between and don't actually support the claims being made. At best they have concluded that more study is needed before any inferences can be made.