What is the worst case of bullying you've seen in your nursing career?

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I'm going to start working as soon as I pass the NCLEX. I have heard a lot about bullying in the nursing field. I was wondering what is the most severe form of bullying you've seen in your career? I want to prepare myself psychologically for the worst.

For me, I have heard a clinical director speak of one clinical practicum taking place at a hospital where they were ignored by all the staff. They were not even allowed to take a seat because every time someone sat down, a staff would come and take their seat away from them.

Specializes in ICU.
I was with you right up to here.

A couple weeks old, I know, but I feel compelled to comment here.

I know there is a stereotype about "I'm just too pretty!" being ridiculous; but women really do hate on each other for some really stupid, superficial reasons sometimes. In a previous, non-nursing career, I worked with a very beautiful, heavier woman. Her clothes were perfectly tailored and looked fabulous on her, and her hair was beautiful. She sang opera on the side and had a gorgeous voice. Absolutely nothing wrong with her, if you asked me, but I got a ton of flack from her for being "the skinny *****."

Every conversation we had revolved around something I was eating. If it was something healthy, she told me I needed to eat some cake, if I got a nice latte with whole milk from next door, she was always telling me I was going to get fat doing it and would make snide comments about how it must be nice to eat whatever I wanted without getting fat. I eventually just started avoiding her because I got tired of constantly being accosted by the food police. I firmly believe some people are so insecure in their appearances that they do take it out on other people.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.
A couple weeks old, I know, but I feel compelled to comment here.

I know there is a stereotype about "I'm just too pretty!" being ridiculous; but women really do hate on each other for some really stupid, superficial reasons sometimes. In a previous, non-nursing career, I worked with a very beautiful, heavier woman. Her clothes were perfectly tailored and looked fabulous on her, and her hair was beautiful. She sang opera on the side and had a gorgeous voice. Absolutely nothing wrong with her, if you asked me, but I got a ton of flack from her for being "the skinny *****."

Every conversation we had revolved around something I was eating. If it was something healthy, she told me I needed to eat some cake, if I got a nice latte with whole milk from next door, she was always telling me I was going to get fat doing it and would make snide comments about how it must be nice to eat whatever I wanted without getting fat. I eventually just started avoiding her because I got tired of constantly being accosted by the food police. I firmly believe some people are so insecure in their appearances that they do take it out on other people.

So sure, in this example maybe she was jealous. I never said it doesn't happen. Your co-worker clearly has a self-esteem issue with her weight. However the post that I quoted gave a long list of why she "knows" the other person doesn't like her and did it in such a way that smacked of her feeling superior ("she doesn't respect me" and I'm bilingual [assumption here is the other can only speak one language] and have a BSN [pointing out that the other has an ADN] and live an active healthy lifestyle[pointing out that the other is overweight]) Maybe that sense of superiority leaked out a little and made the other person defensive. Seriously call someone a "healthy hipster" hardly rises to the level of bullying.

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One CNA I know if notorious for doing her makeup on the last few minutes of shift so that she's dolled up when she is heading out. She usually went with the racoon eye look because she is coming off of night shift and doesn't want the tired look to show during the day. As a result, the other CNA's on shift have to finish her work or answer bells in the last half hour. One of the CNA's got wise to this and asked her to stop. Despite being asked to stop, she continued to doll herself up in the final minutes of the shift. The one CNA that called her out on it eventually got fed up and punched her in the face on both sides. Now she doesn't need to do her makeup during at work because she is sporting a pair of black eyes, the finished product of her work anyways.

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Specializes in Med nurse in med-surg., float, HH, and PDN.
One CNA I know if notorious for doing her makeup on the last few minutes of shift so that she's dolled up when she is heading out. She usually went with the racoon eye look because she is coming off of night shift and doesn't want the tired look to show during the day. As a result, the other CNA's on shift have to finish her work or answer bells in the last half hour. One of the CNA's got wise to this and asked her to stop. Despite being asked to stop, she continued to doll herself up in the final minutes of the shift. The one CNA that called her out on it eventually got fed up and punched her in the face on both sides. Now she doesn't need to do her makeup during at work because she is sporting a pair of black eyes, the finished product of her work anyways.

YIKES! :wideyed:

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Specializes in Oncology, ICU, CVICU, IR, Cath Lab,.

I have a coworker who seems to have pretty wild mood swings. On Monday, you can come in and say "Hi Joe. How are you?" and all is well. He's friendly and cordial. On Tuesday, you might come in and say "Hi Joe. How are you?" and he'll fly off the handle about how you are accusing him of playing like he's sick or in general not doing something correctly. It's been bad enough that he just goes to our boss and says he's sick and going home on some occasions. We all walk on eggshells not knowing how "Joe" is going to be today at any given moment. We never know what we might do to set him off. It's like reverse bullying.

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We have to address issues head on as they come up. So that the behavior does not continue.

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Joe might be on something. Stay away from him and do your work. He's got issues, not you.

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FlyingScot - You read too much into this. She was a nurse who didn't respect that there are other pathways and career changes that eventually lead to the same job. I can't detail every instance of her sabotaging me, but another example was purposely withholding information with me to cause me to make a clerical error on the job and then conniving to report it to our superiors, but that's pretty much all she did. Looking for any way to make me look bad and report it. That's bullying.

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Specializes in Peds/Neo CCT,Flight, ER, Hem/Onc.
FlyingScot - You read too much into this. She was a nurse who didn't respect that there are other pathways and career changes that eventually lead to the same job. I can't detail every instance of her sabotaging me, but another example was purposely withholding information with me to cause me to make a clerical error on the job and then conniving to report it to our superiors, but that's pretty much all she did. Looking for any way to make me look bad and report it. That's bullying.

No I'm not reading anything into it. Those are ENTIRELY different circumstances then what you first posted. Being unpleasant about your life circumstances and calling you a "healthy hipster" wasn't even close to bullying. Sabotaging you at work is a very different story and I would have backed you on that without you having to detail every instance. Listen, I've been in this game for a very long time. I've dealt with some of the most unpleasant co-workers one could ever imagine. I have also been heinously bullied. There IS a difference and it seems only the people who have endured true bullying can see this. I deal with hundreds of people every day. On a pretty regular basis somebody patient, visitor or peer is going to say or do something that I find distasteful to downright hurtful. Humans are jerks. It's what we are. Some people are mean intentionally. Some people have no idea what they are saying/doing is having a negative affect on someone else. But just because you don't like what they said or it made you feel bad does not always constitute bullying. This thread was made by someone who isn't even working yet asking for different types of bullying and gave a really lame example of it from her instructor of all people. If one goes looking for something one is sure to find it. Whether it exists or not. I just don't think we should be scaring the bejeebers out of our new nurses with tales of how horrible their co-workers MIGHT be to them. Or describing events as bullying when they really weren't.

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I'm sorry to hear you have been a victim of bullying yourself. It's awful to think there are such miserable people in this world who focus on bringing others down. I was probably too emotional when I wrote my original post - because it was traumatizing to be fired due to sabotage - and left out more pertinent examples because I focused too much on how our differences made me a target. I've never been fired before from any job either so it was just a lot to handle. You are right about how it's not worth it to scare any new grads out of the profession - but they need to be informed and know how to go into scenarios when these types of people exist. I'm certain they don't just exist in our profession either. Knowledge is power. I think there can also be many misconceptions before one is a seasoned nurse about the hospital side of nursing and having the time to give your patients the emotional support they need. I think we'd all be nicer to each other if we weren't so stressed all the time and had California's 4:1 ratios instituted nationwide. But who knows if the hospitals will ever go for that elsewhere, knowing their biggest expense comes from staffing nurses. Best of luck to you all - this profession isn't for the meek.

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Specializes in Forensic Psychiatry.

I've found what people consider "bullying" in the professional world to be rather subjective. That's not to say that it doesn't exist - I've worked at toxic facilities before - but there are also individuals out there who even find the most constructive forms of criticism or even blunt teaching to be "bullying". My advice: when you take a job (any job, not just in nursing) use your orientation period not only to evaluate yourself in the position (Do I like this area of nursing? How am I progressing? What are my long term goals with this facility? Do I want to continue in this specialty? Will the skills I learn here help me reach my long term goals? How can I use my skills and experience to better patient care here?), but to evaluate yourself within the culture of the unit.

Yes, bullying exists... not just in nursing but in all professions. I could talk about my experience with bullies in the medical field (I mean, I've worked on units where the staff would brag openly about getting people to quit or getting them fired... management would changed multiple times without warning, someone would be crying in the locker room every time I was in there ect) or I could talk about my experiences precepting individuals that found even the most constructive criticism "bullying" (like, "Your shirt keeps riding up, revealing your midsection and due to the nature of this environment I would recommend wearing layers because many of these patient's are sex offenders and I wouldn't want you to get sexually assaulted. I've seen that happen here."). However, stories like these won't help your transition from student to professional.

What will help? I've learned that orientation is as much about them training you to a new position and evaluating your fit on a unit just as much as it is about you evaluating them. Really use the orientation period to reflect... not just on your practice as a nurse but also on how happy you are in the specialty, at this hospital, on this unit, this shift ect. Always start a new job with an open mind, come well prepared and willing to learn... that goes a long way. I'd like to think that most nurses want to help new nurses learn... mainly because it's in our interest to work with coworkers that are competent so giving them a good foundation and place to grow as a newbie is a good way to help facilitate this learning.

Don't start your professional transition being afraid of your coworkers or facing animosity. Use the transition period to grow, learn, reflect on your practice and take a personal inventory so you can figure out if "this is the right place for me" and "what do I need to work on to be successful here".

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