Has any one out there experienced the old saying "nurses eat their young"
I worked in a hospital on the floor from hell! All three shifts of nurses were horrible to one another.
Very clickish groups on each shift who harassed, made fun of, talked about on the floor in ear shot of patients and other staff members about nurses that worked on this floor.
I've never seen or heard any thing so unprofessional in my life.
It was awful. When I started the first thing I noticed was all the talk. Right in front of me a new nurse on the floor, these nurses did not have one good thing to say about any of the other nurses. I've never experienced any thing like this before and I've been a nurse for 13 years. I'm talking critising the safety of other nurses right at the front desk of a very busy floor with patients and family members walking about. This was a daily occurance on this floor.
I hate this behavior and I'm a bit of a rebel so of course I started making comments like "well, if you haven't got any thing good to say then don't say it." Or "I really don't care to hear all this, I'd rather be able to form my own opinion." One nurse in paticular was badgered and picked on constantly. While I was trying to chart one evening, this night nurse came on and at the front desk, with patients and family members and other nurses and aids all in ear shot started picking on this nurse; very loudly I might add. I couldn't take it any more and said "so and so; get off her case" the nurse picking on this nurse then said "this is none of your business", I then said "you've made it my business by simply harassing one of my co-workers in front of me, not to mention every one else that can her you"
Well you can imagine what my life on this floor ended up like.
I and other nurses were picked on to the point to where it was very difficult to work, and eventually difficut to even walk on the floor.
The next thing I know I'm being repremanded by my nurse manager because these nurses are complaining that they cannot stand to work with me.
So, at that point I started tellling this nurse manager every thing that had occured.
The next thing you know I'm on a step 2 action and two weeks ago I was terminated.
Now the reason for my termination was because I refused to come in to chart in the computer medications that I failed to chart. These medications were charted on the MAR, I had no doubt that I had given all the medications and that my patients were safe.
I didn't come in as asked because my daughter was in town from Chicago, I had just started on antibiotics and was running a temp.
It was a Saturday and Sunday that I failed to chart meds in the computer. I had 6 patients that day, ran non-stop until it was difficult to think any longer. The nurse manager was requesting me to come in at 10:00 at night that following Monday. The nurse manager kept saying "this is a big risk to you, you really should come in" I knew I'd be there in 6 hours to chart and just didn't go in.
I was especially anoid when my nurse manager said "this is a big risk to you" when during the weekend I took care of 6 acutely ill patients on an oncology unit, no break, no lunch and she's acting concerned about what "risks" I'm taking?
Hummmmm
I would love to hear all of your comments on this?
Specializes in Gerontological, cardiac, med-surg, peds.
Hi,
Have you heard of horizontal violence? Sometimes referred to as nurses eating their young. It's a form of negative behavior that decreases morale and prevents us from uniting and achieving professional power.It happens alot in nursing. Maybe not to the degree that you experienced it.
In the 1970's Friere,a South American educator, described horizontal violence as behavior of oppressed people in third world countries who coped with powerlessness by displacing negative emotions on each other rather than on the dominant social group. His work, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, is a classic.
Our self image and public image is many times defined by stereotype. There is elitism within nursing. Many times nurses in power identify with the dominant social group/medicine and not with nursing. Nurses are at times subjected to HV by negative portrayals in the media.
It's upsetting when people ask, "Why didn't you go to med school", or "what's a masters degree in nursing???" I've been asked if I needed to go to college to become a nurse? Or remarks like,
"All you have to do is follow doctor's orders". I use these opportunities to try and educate.
Every time we belittle another nurse or not offer assistance to a new nurse we are perpetuating HV.
Nursing and issues of power are hot topics.
Good luck on your next job search. When you take a tour of a unit watch the body language of the staff. Are they welcoming?
Do they look uptight, unfriendly? Ask about continuing ed., inservice education, preceptors.
A google search of : horizontal violence is informative. Nursing Spectrum online also has a few good articles.
Ida
WOW!!! Excellent post, ikelly. I am a nursing instructor and I want to develop a lecture on HV. I believe the students need to be forewarned and forearmed. Cannot find much information on this phenomenon in any of our nursing texts:confused:
Had a terrible experience with HV almost a year ago. Had a group of students on a general medical floor for clinical. The atmosphere on this floor was "knives in the back" from the start. I have never experienced such coldness, hatred, and pettiness in all my life! Talk about a hostile work environment! I was mobbed by the nurses (being a new instructor) and the students were treated so horribly that not one student from that class plans on going to that hospital after graduation . I refused to go back. All of my other clinical experiences were positive.
I was marked "the prey" for the clique of nurses who I worked with when I first graduated, too.
Anything and everything I did was marked for inspection with a fine tooth comb....I was written up a couple of times, and talked about nearly everyday....
I grew into one heck of a nurse who learned to do ALL her work and to do it properly....
and I learned to start making copies of everything (ie: incident reports that the DON "conveniently" didn't get, to MAR sheets that mysteriously were re-written and I was expected to sign my name to, to nurses notes that didn't "jive" with what was going on with the pt) The reasoning behind this was a lovely nurse (whom they have since fired for rediculous reasoning), who always told me to "Cover my orifice, and not worry, cause as soon as someone else new came along, they would leave me alone and strike out on the new one."
I have since grown a backbone that the gossipers know they cannot bend, much less break, and I know I am a good nurse.
It's a bad situation, but it happens everywhere....
I've been a nurse since 1977 and your experience was the most blatant act of bullying that I have heard about. I've seen covert acts and nurses just not helping new nurses, gossiping, etc.
Did you stay on that unit? How do you respond to new nurses now that you are an experienced nurse? Just wondering how that experience changed you. Sounds like you've got it together now. Good luck.
I grew into one heck of a nurse who learned to do ALL her work and to do it properly....
and I learned to start making copies of everything (ie: incident reports that the DON "conveniently" didn't get, to MAR sheets that mysteriously were re-written and I was expected to sign my name to, to nurses notes that didn't "jive" with what was going on with the pt) The reasoning behind this was a lovely nurse (whom they have since fired for rediculous reasoning), who always told me to "Cover my orifice, and not worry, cause as soon as someone else new came along, they would leave me alone and strike out on the new one."
I have since grown a backbone that the gossipers know they cannot bend, much less break, and I know I am a good nurse.
It's a bad situation, but it happens everywhere....
Sad, but true....so true.....
It's also good to make copies in case you need them for a wrongful termination suit.
Thanks for the compliment on my post. A little positive feedback is good for the soul.
Ida
Well here's some more. Thanks!
Also, it saddens me, but I think HV is a phenomena that is taking over every walk of life. I see it almost everywhere I look. I guess it seems like a natural reaction to all that is going on in the world today...
Really interesting, where I work HV has been a hot topic lately, our department had a talk from NZNO (our union) about it recently which covered what comprised HV and different strategies to deal with it. I have worked with bullies before, and I have found standing up to them usually sorts it out, but I've never had to deal with what Unhappy went through.
I just hope you find another job where you can do your job and be appreciated and what's more enjoy nursing again, these places do exist I work in one! Generally everyone is really helpful and encouraging to each other, we all have our off days when we can be sour and grumpy and I've found that's often when my colleagues are the most kind and helpful.
I've been a nurse since 1977 and your experience was the most blatant act of bullying that I have heard about. I've seen covert acts and nurses just not helping new nurses, gossiping, etc.
Did you stay on that unit? How do you respond to new nurses now that you are an experienced nurse? Just wondering how that experience changed you. Sounds like you've got it together now. Good luck.
Ida
Thanks Ida~
This is only the tip of the iceberg that I have found. Once, I even found an entire page of my nurses notes in the trash....
But that's neither here nor there anymore.
Yes, through it all, I have remained on this same unit. I have 5 children at home who need to eat! LOL! And nursing jobs aren't that easy to come by here in my little ol' town!
I try to teach new nurses who come and always give them my home phone and cell number in case something happens when I am not there (Lord knows, the DON doesn't answer her phone!) and I have had a nurse call me in the middle of the night once to ask about a patient. But that's ok with me.
My God-given ministry is to be a nurse, and I am discovering daily what that entails more and more. If I can help a new nurse feel more welcome in this profession, then I will do what I can.
I love being a nurse and cannot ever imagine doing anything else!
I am afraid I may have to go elsewhere now because I am returning to school next month, and the nurse who is doing the scheduling is the very same one who has done most of the sabotaging to me.....
But that's ok. I know I'll be a good nurse wherever I go, and wherever I work.
Also, it saddens me, but I think HV is a phenomena that is taking over every walk of life. I see it almost everywhere I look. I guess it seems like a natural reaction to all that is going on in the world today...
You're welcome !
Bullying has been around forever. We're more aware of it because of the media. We're part of an international community now rather than just a small part of the world.
Besides all the domestic violence that goes on, children are exposed to so much violence in the media. We see actual killing in the news. Reporters are embedded with the troops so we sit at home and watch the war. Kids watch the new and more violent wrestling. A boy is in jail in Florida because he was imitating something he saw on wrestling and killed another child.People are becoming de-sensitized to real life violence and chances ae they will be less likely to take action on behalf of the victim. Viewing violence also decreases inhibitions towards aggression.
Some thoughts re: violence in society and violence against women
A. Bandura-social psychologist -social learning theory-research on obervational learning and modeling is very interesting stuff.
We idolize sports heroes-->positive rewards for violent behavior=
high salaries and adoration of the fans.
Kids idolize and imitate the clothing styles and language the "gangsta" rappers.
Feminist family therapists Carter & McGoldrick--children learn to value people/ relationships at home. Increase in domestic violence colors the way a child may relate to others later in life.
A. Burgess's book: Violence Through A Forensic Lens - a great book with case studies and profiles of criminal behavior. She's an expert in forensic nursing and talks about early attachmment disturbances and failed social bonding and crimes against women
and children.
Workplace violence includes all of the above and when you decrease services for the mentally ill and substance abusers decrease staffing levels,tolerate bad behavior, turn people away for lack of insurance, tolerate and sometimes encourage horizontal violence you have an explosive environment.
What's the answer? I wish I knew. Zero tolerance for violence at home and at work is a start. Forgive me for rambling on.
This is only the tip of the iceberg that I have found. Once, I even found an entire page of my nurses notes in the trash....
But that's neither here nor there anymore.
Yes, through it all, I have remained on this same unit. I have 5 children at home who need to eat! LOL! And nursing jobs aren't that easy to come by here in my little ol' town!
I try to teach new nurses who come and always give them my home phone and cell number in case something happens when I am not there (Lord knows, the DON doesn't answer her phone!) and I have had a nurse call me in the middle of the night once to ask about a patient. But that's ok with me.
My God-given ministry is to be a nurse, and I am discovering daily what that entails more and more. If I can help a new nurse feel more welcome in this profession, then I will do what I can.
I love being a nurse and cannot ever imagine doing anything else!
I am afraid I may have to go elsewhere now because I am returning to school next month, and the nurse who is doing the scheduling is the very same one who has done most of the sabotaging to me.....
But that's ok. I know I'll be a good nurse wherever I go, and wherever I work.
Thanks for your support! :)
Merry Christmas to you!
Hugs~
Julie:kiss
Hi Julie,
You are doing what we all should be doing. You are a wonderful role model for new nurses. It seems like the experience has made you stronger. Good luck with school. It must rough with the job and taking care of 5 kids. I hope something better comes along. Have you thought about working weekends so you could get the same days off for school? I did it for years but my sons were grown and not at home. Also keep documenting any time someone does anything to sabotage you. Keep looking for that good job. You have a lot to offer.
Specializes in Specializes in L/D, newborn, GYN, LTC, Dialysis.
Originally posted by 3rdShiftGuy
Consider it a blessing in disguise.
.
BEST advice I see here. It's not like that everywhere. GET out of that toxic mindset and move on. For your sake and that of salvaging your career. Some places ARE toxic. Your being terminated is prolly the BEST thing that could have happened, however unfair. Just move on.
VickyRN, MSN, DNP, RN
49 Articles; 5,349 Posts
WOW!!! Excellent post, ikelly. I am a nursing instructor and I want to develop a lecture on HV. I believe the students need to be forewarned and forearmed. Cannot find much information on this phenomenon in any of our nursing texts:confused:
Had a terrible experience with HV almost a year ago. Had a group of students on a general medical floor for clinical. The atmosphere on this floor was "knives in the back" from the start. I have never experienced such coldness, hatred, and pettiness in all my life! Talk about a hostile work environment! I was mobbed by the nurses (being a new instructor) and the students were treated so horribly that not one student from that class plans on going to that hospital after graduation
. I refused to go back. All of my other clinical experiences were positive.