Why is there so much drama in a field where we help people?

Nurses Relations

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Title is enough said. Forget "eating their young". Why so mean to each other??

Actually, had you bothered to read, you would see that I had commented on your post.

And being an aide, while giving you insight to healthcare, does not show you nursing. How many threads are there on here of aides who talk about those lazy nurses who sit at the nurse's station for hours (charting and doing chart reviews) or on the phone (getting orders for that patient who is circling the drain fast)?

Actually, this post isn't about lazy nurses at all. B

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

Actually, this post isn't about lazy nurses at all. B

Lol, I know it wasn't. I was trying to make a point that aides often don't get what we do and what we go through, even if they are on the same floor and same shift as us. Are you deliberately trying to misunderstand?

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Lol I know it wasn't. I was trying to make a point that aides often don't get what we do and what we go through, even if they are on the same floor and same shift as us. Are you deliberately trying to misunderstand?[/quote']

I think you're deliberately trying to derail this thread. Geez. Some ppl can never stick to the topic.

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Specializes in Med-Surg.

I really wasn't. I was just trying to explain the stress we are under, and given the fact that we are human, that stress will affect us and we will have moments where we might be a bit more abrupt with others.

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.

Hospital workers of any kind are like a dysfunctional family. Often, they see their coworkers more than they see their own families due to 12 hour shifts, mandatory overtime, etc. They also have no choice as to who they will be working with and personalities don't always mesh well.

Add to that, the stress of caring for people who are really sick, who complain about everything, or the sheer number of patients and you have a powder keg of tightly strung nerves ready to explode.

Even worse, patients like to complain. When patients complain, management likes to point blame. So, who is going under the axe? The aides? Nurses? Providers? Who to choose, who to choose. That feeling of "Not Me!!" leads even more into the finger pointing, backbiting, sneaky, eat-the-young environment.

On top of that, just about everyone is in it to help people recover. If one team member has a certain plan in mind for a patient to recover, and there is any argument about the treatments, it will also create that hostile environment you are concerned about.

So let's sum it up. The reasons that nurses/aides/providers might seem to have a cutthroat attitude:

1. personalities

2. stress

3. fear (of management)

4. caring

But here's the Most Important thing to remember of all:

When the $#!+ hits the fan... when one of ours is down... when half the floor calls in...

it doesn't matter if someone doesn't like you or is mad at you, the teamwork comes out, and the family pulls together.

Truly, it's an amazing thing to see/be a part of. It's a lot like being in the military that way (I've never been, I'm an army brat). When the bullets start flying, they've got each others' backs regardless of whatever argument happened the day before. And no one messes with their siblings but THEM!

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Specializes in Critical Care, Education.

The nature of comments on this thread kinda reflect some of the difficulties that characterize nursing - amiright?

There is a phenomena called "emotional labor" that has only recently been recognized by social psychologists... it is when a job requires you to adhere to certain types of 'rules' for interpersonal interactions with customers &/or co-workers. e.g., it is a requirement of the job to be cheerful, authoritative, always smiling, etc... no matter how you actually feel. This has been found to be a huge stressor & can accelerate job burnout. So - my point is - nursing is one of those jobs. We're "on stage" all of the time having to mask our own feelings so that we meet the patient/family needs. It's even worse now with the increasing emphasis on customer service.

In addition, we deal with health/illness & that is just about as PERSONAL as you can get. So we're all up in everyone's business all the time with no room to escape and decompress when we're at work. It can be a real mine field.

I came across some 'emotional labor' research a couple of years ago that revealed that found bedside nursing as stressful as collection agents... whose jobs require them to be mean and nasty to total strangers. Sheesh. At least we have the reassurance that our efforts are directed toward the comfort/healing of our 'customers', right?

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I think you're deliberately trying to derail this thread. Geez. Some ppl can never stick to the topic.

Thank you!!

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The nature of comments on this thread kinda reflect some of the difficulties that characterize nursing - amiright?

Amen.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
I think you're deliberately trying to derail this thread. Geez. Some ppl can never stick to the topic.

What's a "ppl"?

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Specializes in Med-Surg, Emergency, CEN.

Ppl is People.

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Specializes in CCU, SICU, CVSICU, Precepting & Teaching.
Ppl is People.

Oh. Why not just write "people" then?

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Oh. Why not just write "people" then?

I'm thinkin' it be text speak.

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