Nursing is a profession built on compassion, respect, and care — not just for our patients, but for each other. When bullying happens among nurses, it breaks down the very foundation of what nursing stands for.
You may have forgotten, but every nurse was once a beginner. We all had shaky hands, unsure voices, and moments of doubt. No one becomes strong by tearing someone else down.
Bullying isn't leadership. It isn't toughness. It's a betrayal of the oath we took to advocate, support, and heal. When you bully, you create fear instead of teamwork, silence instead of learning, and pain where there should be encouragement.
"Nurses eat their young" should never be a tradition — it should be a warning that something needs to change.
If you've bullied someone, it's not too late to reflect, apologize, and do better. Real strength is shown in kindness. True leadership lifts others up.
Be the nurse you once needed. Be the colleague who heals with words, not wounds.
The OP is unambiguously addressing the unique problem of bullying in nursing.
The problem I have with the phrase "nurses eat their young" is that workplace bullying is not unique to nursing nor is it perpetrated only by senior nurses. I agree with Tweety that the statement needs to go away and instead of pointing the finger at one particular group recognize that this is an issue that impacts all humans in all walks of life and somehow we need to figure out how to make it stop.
This is hysterical and so amazingly archetypical of the precise attitude this post is targeting.
Tweety, do you really believe this post is saying that bullying in nursing really isn't a thing, and that people should stop saying it? Could anyone who can read come away with that understanding? You're forgetting this the internet, where passive aggressively pretending to be oblivious to the situation at hand in order to force your point of view doesn't work, because we don't know or care who you are.
if you genuinely believe bullying in nursing is overhyped, that's a totally fine opinion to have. However, you tell on yourself big time when you seemingly are unable to directly confront the OP's point of view with a genuine response. What it says is "I have no argument against this but I'm compelled to be defensive anyway, so…”
I validated the original post. But not at length. I didn't feel I had anything further to say other than it was a good post.
I'm regret that your takeaway is something that I don't think I said, but I'll take responsibility because that's how it was perceived, but I also won't elaborate further because I said what I said: "Tweety, do you really believe this post is saying that bullying in nursing really isn't a thing, and that people should stop saying it?" No people should address bully situations head on.
I've been a floor nurse for 34 years now and obviously have come across bullies in nursing. My issue is branding the entire profession with a vile statement "Nurses Eat Their Young". I might have mentioned that's a trigger statement for me.
It's very unfortunate that nurse bullies are out there. I don't post much on this side (mostly in the break room area) but in the 20 odd years I've posted, I've been supportive of nurses who feel they've been bullied and do so without branding the entire profession.
It's also unfortunate that when (particularly a new grad) comes across one they brand the entire profession as "Nurses Eat Their Young".
So in all this time I can confidently say that probably 99% of us nurses are good people working in a tough situation that sometimes breaks us, burns us out and sucks the life out of us. I've had all that happen to me and yet I still don't see my profession as on that eats it's young and has a lot of bullies.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe nurses eat their young and is rampant with nurse bullies. For context I was a sissy boy and was bullied mercilessly growing up all the way to high school, so I have extremely thick skin and a tolerance and a wall built up around me. I don't get bullied and when and if I do by nurses I know how to handle it.
I know for sure a new nurses it's a tough and demanding profession and period to get through and they are more vulnerable to bullies than a seasoned nurse like myself.
It interesting through all of that I would become a nurse, care deeply for patient's wellbeing, and now I'm an elder nurse mentor who never left the bedside and never let "nurses eat their young" jade me or the few bullies out there affect me.
Takeaway what you will and form your own opinions as you should.
I validated the original post. But not at length. I didn't feel I had anything further to say other than it was a good post.
I'm regret that your takeaway is something that I don't think I said, but I'll take responsibility because that's how it was perceived, but I also won't elaborate further because I said what I said: "Tweety, do you really believe this post is saying that bullying in nursing really isn't a thing, and that people should stop saying it?" No people should address bully situations head on.
I've been a floor nurse for 34 years now and obviously have come across bullies in nursing. My issue is branding the entire profession with a vile statement "Nurses Eat Their Young". I might have mentioned that's a trigger statement for me.
It's very unfortunate that nurse bullies are out there. I don't post much on this side (mostly in the break room area) but in the 20 odd years I've posted, I've been supportive of nurses who feel they've been bullied and do so without branding the entire profession.
It's also unfortunate that when (particularly a new grad) comes across one they brand the entire profession as "Nurses Eat Their Young".
So in all this time I can confidently say that probably 99% of us nurses are good people working in a tough situation that sometimes breaks us, burns us out and sucks the life out of us. I've had all that happen to me and yet I still don't see my profession as on that eats it's young and has a lot of bullies.
Maybe I'm wrong. Maybe nurses eat their young and is rampant with nurse bullies. For context I was a sissy boy and was bullied mercilessly growing up all the way to high school, so I have extremely thick skin and a tolerance and a wall built up around me. I don't get bullied and when and if I do by nurses I know how to handle it.
I know for sure a new nurses it's a tough and demanding profession and period to get through and they are more vulnerable to bullies than a seasoned nurse like myself.
It interesting through all of that I would become a nurse, care deeply for patient's wellbeing, and now I'm an elder nurse mentor who never left the bedside and never let "nurses eat their young" jade me or the few bullies out there affect me.
Takeaway what you will and form your own opinions as you should.
My takeaway is that I have a lot of empathy for nurses and the working conditions that they endure, and I 100% understand that these conditions mean that it's not always possible to be perfectly pleasant and congenial with fellow colleagues, especially where they're making your job more difficulty. I do get that--I am not coming at this from an irrational nor inherently biased perspective.
You have to understand, though, that prioritizing the good name of veteran nurses such as yourself over new nurses who consistently report workplace cultures in which they've been harrassed, hazed, and abused sends a very clear signal. You're very clearly setting the priority of addressing said abuse as more marginal than addressing the harm done by that clichéd phrase, which is honestly absurd when evaluated on-face, and confirms an attitude of hostility that you make explicit when you characterize such nurses as being like "sissy boys" who should "develop thicker skin."
Honestly, if you think "nurses eat their young" is a vile statement that should actively be suppressed, then perhaps an even further thickening of the skin would do you some good as well? Why is the sanctity of the public image of nursing more important than addressing a widespread problem that, deny it or not, is brought up ceaselessly and is an oft-cited as a reason for attrition from this line of work?
While I _personally_ do believe that hazing and office politics is leagues worse in healthcare than in other professional domains, my opinion actually doesn't even matter in the end. If there is a problem of bullying _equal_ to that in any other profession, it still merits being addressed, not being diminished nor dismissed over concern over micromanaging the terms in which it is discussed, lest it harm the public face of the profession that, empirically, is considered among the most well-respected in North America.
I'm glad and respect that you, in your professional career, haver stood up for nurses who've been bullied on the job. The only thing I wish to impart is how the defensive offense nurses in the field take to the issue being addressed is a roadblock, and even more so that ANY tolerance for bullying in our field is acceptable.
My takeaway is that I have a lot of empathy for nurses and the working conditions that they endure, and I 100% understand that these conditions mean that it's not always possible to be perfectly pleasant and congenial with fellow colleagues, especially where they're making your job more difficulty. I do get that--I am not coming at this from an irrational nor inherently biased perspective.
You have to understand, though, that prioritizing the good name of veteran nurses such as yourself over new nurses who consistently report workplace cultures in which they've been harrassed, hazed, and abused sends a very clear signal. You're very clearly setting the priority of addressing said abuse as more marginal than addressing the harm done by that clichéd phrase, which is honestly absurd when evaluated on-face, and confirms an attitude of hostility that you make explicit when you characterize such nurses as being like "sissy boys" who should "develop thicker skin."
Honestly, if you think "nurses eat their young" is a vile statement that should actively be suppressed, then perhaps an even further thickening of the skin would do you some good as well? Why is the sanctity of the public image of nursing more important than addressing a widespread problem that, deny it or not, is brought up ceaselessly and is an oft-cited as a reason for attrition from this line of work?
While I _personally_ do believe that hazing and office politics is leagues worse in healthcare than in other professional domains, my opinion actually doesn't even matter in the end. If there is a problem of bullying _equal_ to that in any other profession, it still merits being addressed, not being diminished nor dismissed over concern over micromanaging the terms in which it is discussed, lest it harm the public face of the profession that, empirically, is considered among the most well-respected in North America.
I'm glad and respect that you, in your professional career, haver stood up for nurses who've been bullied on the job. The only thing I wish to impart is how the defensive offense nurses in the field take to the issue being addressed is a roadblock, and even more so that ANY tolerance for bullying in our field is acceptable.
I'll leave it alone at this point because I don't want to sound like I'm not supportive of the many new grads that pass my way or anyone that reports work place bullying.
I'm just thankful that in my current job we have a reasonably positive culture. I work med surg and new and young nurses pass my way a lot. We're not perfect and often the stress of being a new grad is overwhelming to them and as far as I know no one has reported that we have a bully. They just feel overwhelmed with all the work. Heck, even I do.
I'm also thankful when I was a new grad I wasn't bullied and the older nurses were supportive and treated me with respect. It was the older LPNs that took me under their wing as a new grad RN and never was I bullied. That doesn't mean I think that's the reality for everyone.
That doesn't mean I don't have compassion for the many people that report that workplace bullying is a problem for them. I agree that any work place bullying is a problem while thinking it untrue that as a profession it's the norm that nurses eat their young.
I would never stay in a profession where "nurse's eat their young" and had a culture of bullying nurses, but it also does't mean I need to defend the profession when someone is bullied and says "nurses eat their young" even though they are usually talking about one person and not all of us. I will use my thick skin to attempt to not be triggered by that phrase.
I would never want to be considered a roadblock for improving the profession.
Specializes in Mental Health, Gerontology, Palliative.
I had an experience of posting on the nurses forum on reddit a rant about dealing with a challenging student nurse. I freely admit that there were things I could have been clearer about. However all of a sudden it went from me having a rant about an incredibly unsafe nursing student being allowed to remain on placement to me being an appalling human being, an awful nurse and how student nurses hope they never have me as a preceptor.
I posted about how this student was mentioning their sexuality all the time. I don't have an issue with that, when it keeps being bought into every single conversation, when its not relevant to the conversation. Dag nab it, I'm bi, neurodiverse and I will never go after a student soley for mentioning their sexuality in a relevant conversation. The student was regularly engaging in unsafe nursing practice and I'm the b on wheels for wanting them away from patients?
The whole thing felt like a dog pile, if someone looked at my post history they would have seen the conclusion gathered by the mob were wrong.....
(FYI, if something I've said rankles and rubs the wrong way, please ask me before dog piling on 🥹 I know often what is clear to me may not be clear to my reader)
Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
heron said:
Me, too. Do any of the old fahts here remember the thread that gave rise to the COBs (aka crusty old bats)? Apparently we owe it to the young'uns to retire early so they can get jobs. Or something.
The point being that bullies exist everywhere and in every age range. They are just as likely to be cheerleaders rocking their Figs and dropping their luxurious tresses in every wound and sterile field on the unit, as they are to be tired old burnt-out clock-watchers.
Meanwhile, OP seems to have seagulled (dropped a load and flown away). So ... who's bullying whom?
Yes, and the new young nurses were thought they were being bullied believed it was because the older nurses were jealous of their youth and beauty. (That was a hilarious thread.)
Then there was the thread from the new nurse who was sure she was being bullied because the preceptor didn't invite her to lunch. Or walk her out to her car. Or, my personal favorite, greet her first on her way in from the garage. As it turns out, the Crusty Old Bat who failed to say hello first had a habit of driving to work wearing her glasses, leaving them in the car and putting in her contacts when she got to the unit. She didn't recognize the newbie and the newbie didn't say hello to her, which might have alerted her to look a little closer and say hello back.
There was the nurse who started out in the Cardiac Surgery Intensive Care Unit and six months in, couldn't identify the "yellow thing sticking out of his neck.” (Something that should have been learned by the end of her first shift with a patient.) She was sure she was being bullied when she was put back on probation and placed with a 1:1 preceptor again. (The preceptors all thought she should have been fired, especially when, another month in, she still didn't understand the "yellow thing sticking out of his neck.”)
Wuzzie
5,245 Posts
The problem I have with the phrase "nurses eat their young" is that workplace bullying is not unique to nursing nor is it perpetrated only by senior nurses. I agree with Tweety that the statement needs to go away and instead of pointing the finger at one particular group recognize that this is an issue that impacts all humans in all walks of life and somehow we need to figure out how to make it stop.