Why are nurses disrespected so much?

acap2017 · Sep 15, 2017

Absolutely agree. From how I interpreted OP, it sounds as if she's just starting her nursing school adventure. It amazes me that a lot of the people with negative comments on here fail to realize that they were once in OP's position. I am honestly impressed that OP was able to notice the professional issues that healthcare can have, at an early stage.

NurseJenRN1975 · Sep 15, 2017

I have been an ER NURSE FOR 20 + years and have learned not to let patients, other nurses or doctors mistreat me. There are rude people everywhere, the medical field is no exception. You will find your niche, just give it time. As far as nurse's being treated like slaves or servants, yep! In fact, I have a T-shirt that says, "RN does not stand for refreshments and narcotics!" Some patients seem to think the hospital should be the Hilton and that we are glorified waitresses. Not the case. Anyway, don't give up, you're still new. I will say though, nursing is hard. Sometimes it downright sucks. Be very careful what you say or post on social media too, it can easily cost you your job. For me, I've decided I'm tired of bedside nursing, about to graduate from NP school. Good luck to you!

Career Columnist / Author · Sep 15, 2017

Hang in there. Give us an update once you've graduated and worked a year. You are going to meet many wonderful people.

labordude, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2017

pixierose said:
Out of curiosity, what research? Links?

There are definitely many articles out there. These are just a few of the top results from Ebsco looking for peer-reviewed journals 2012-2017 for topic "nurse bullying." There is an abundance of evidence that supports the OPs observations. Obviously workplaces are different and my experience has been that if people aren't the direct recipient of something they consider to be bullying, then there is no bullying in their workplace. In work as in life, people just don't want to speak up because their fear of the consequences is higher than their perception of the reward for standing up/speaking out.

Castronovo, M. A., Pullizzi, A., & Evans, S. (2016). Article: Nurse Bullying: A Review And A Proposed Solution. Nursing Outlook, 64208-214. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2015.11.008

Granstra, K. (2015). Nurse Against Nurse: Horizontal Bullying in the Nursing Profession. Journal Of Healthcare Management, 60(4), 249-257.

S., Fernet, C., Austin, S., & Boudrias, V. (2016). Review: Work environment antecedents of bullying: A review and integrative model applied to registered nurses. International Journal Of Nursing Studies, 5585-97. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.10.001

Edmonson, C., Bolick, B., & Lee, J. (2017). A Moral Imperative for Nurse Leaders: Addressing Incivility and Bullying in Health Care. Nurse Leader, 1540-44. doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2016.07.012

Vogelpohl, D. A., Rice, S. K., Edwards, M. E., & Bork, C. E. (2013). Original Article: New Graduate Nurses' Perception of the Workplace: Have They Experienced Bullying?. Journal Of Professional Nursing, 29414-422. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2012.10.008

ItsThatJenGirl, CNA · Sep 15, 2017

Literally no one said that bullying doesn't exist in nursing. It exists in every profession.

What people are saying is that it's a bit premature to have such a negative opinion of nurses in general based on one week in clinicals, in presumably one unit and in one hospital. If you look for the bad, that's exactly what you'll find. Confirmation bias.

mslove717 · Sep 15, 2017

I don't know. History of nurses is probably part of it. Along with it just being a high stress field. People are sick and injured; scared, anxious, and want things done yesterday. Everyone is stressed out so it brings out the worst in patients and other staff.

My experience:

Hospital Med surg and rehab - treated poorly by patients and family. Always demanding things and expect to be the only patient assign to the nurse. Other staff okay. Management wasn't nasty and they wanted to be kind to the staff. But poorly managed... creating lots of stress and ridiculous job demands, and of course very short staffed.

School nurse - it is an education environment, totally different from a healthcare enviro. Some teachers and admins have 0 clue what nurses do. Try to do their own assessments, tell you how to treat, question why you didn't do xyz. I notice more disrespect among them. Parents are usually pretty good, with the occasional wackado. The other health care pros (district NP, other nurses both in an out of district i work with, social work, psychs, etc) are mostly AWESOME (there's always 1 lol). No nastiness like you see among hospital nurses

pixierose, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2017

nicuguy said:
There are definitely many articles out there. These are just a few of the top results from Ebsco looking for peer-reviewed journals 2012-2017 for topic "nurse bullying." There is an abundance of evidence that supports the OPs observations. Obviously workplaces are different and my experience has been that if people aren't the direct recipient of something they consider to be bullying, then there is no bullying in their workplace. In work as in life, people just don't want to speak up because their fear of the consequences is higher than their perception of the reward for standing up/speaking out.
Castronovo, M. A., Pullizzi, A., & Evans, S. (2016). Article: Nurse Bullying: A Review And A Proposed Solution. Nursing Outlook, 64208-214. doi:10.1016/j.outlook.2015.11.008
Granstra, K. (2015). Nurse Against Nurse: Horizontal Bullying in the Nursing Profession. Journal Of Healthcare Management, 60(4), 249-257.
TrÃ©panier, S., Fernet, C., Austin, S., & Boudrias, V. (2016). Review: Work environment antecedents of bullying: A review and integrative model applied to registered nurses. International Journal Of Nursing Studies, 5585-97. doi:10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2015.10.001
Edmonson, C., Bolick, B., & Lee, J. (2017). A Moral Imperative for Nurse Leaders: Addressing Incivility and Bullying in Health Care. Nurse Leader, 1540-44. doi:10.1016/j.mnl.2016.07.012
Vogelpohl, D. A., Rice, S. K., Edwards, M. E., & Bork, C. E. (2013). Original Article: New Graduate Nurses' Perception of the Workplace: Have They Experienced Bullying?. Journal Of Professional Nursing, 29414-422. doi:10.1016/j.profnurs.2012.10.008

Thank you for the articles.

I did a look at several of them. While I do agree that bullying can, and does, take place in nursing, I don't agree with the OP or her intent -- it happens everywhere, sadly. Nursing isn't unique in this regard; it happens in teaching and education, engineering, sales, etc.

Where you have people, you'll have bullying.

I have to say, I see more "bullying" behavior with the OP and others in regard to the "lol's!" etc. OP asked a question; she received responses that she disliked (although most where not, in fact, rude or dismissive themselves; more matter of fact), then is dismissive with "lol!" and an emphasized (continued) negative opinion of nursing. Apparently, anyone who disagrees is a bully, which brings me to my former conclusion: OP will find a "bully" anywhere.

guest52816 · Sep 15, 2017

pixierose said:
Thank you for the articles.
I did a look at several of them. While I do agree that bullying can, and does, take place in nursing, I don't agree with the OP or her intent -- it happens everywhere, sadly. Nursing isn't unique in this regard; it happens in teaching and education, engineering, sales, etc.
Where you have people, you'll have bullying.
I have to say, I see more "bullying" behavior with the OP and others in regard to the "lol's!" etc. OP asked a question; she received responses that she disliked (although most where not, in fact, rude or dismissive themselves; more matter of fact), then is dismissive with "lol!" and an emphasized (continued) negative opinion of nursing. Apparently, anyone who disagrees is a bully, which brings me to my former conclusion: OP will find a "bully" anywhere.

I think you may be confusing a defensive position, with bullying.

The OP stated HER impression. She was nearly immediately met with negative comments, many of which I felt were personal attacks.

Most people, when attacked on a personal level, not just in a generalized way, will respond defensively. I feel that is how the OP responded, and I don't blame her.

The comments accusing OP of "disrespecting" all nurses is laughable. Anyone can read what she wrote and see she is talking about her personal experience at this one facility. Talk about "thin skin."

As I have stated before, I never felt disrespected by her comment. Never.

On the other hand, I have felt the callous and nasty comments made regarding her future as a nurse and calling her a "snowflake" are indeed bullying.

On this Web Site, when fellow new nurses, or students seek out advice, I try my best to be supportive. But many on this site do the opposite. Sorry, but it is true.

I have NEVER referred to a poster as a "snowflake" and I never will. It isn't useful or helpful. But of course, that isn't the intent of such comments, is it?

Being a nursing student or new nurse is a precarious position to be in. As a student, you are looking for potential employers and perhaps mentors. As a new nurse, you are trying to find how you fit into the unit culture. It just isn't easy.

Let's try to be helpful.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Sep 15, 2017

TrashPanda said:
"I guess I have "thin skin" but yikes this is not the kind of work environment I want to be in!"
Then before you waste any more time or money on a profession that is obviously not optimal for you, I would suggest you change your career choice. I guarantee you will not find a unit that is devoid of individuals that do not appeal to your need for continuing compassion and endless warm fuzzies. I would suggest Zen garden sand tray raking.

pixierose said:
Thank you for the articles.
I did a look at several of them. While I do agree that bullying can, and does, take place in nursing, I don't agree with the OP or her intent -- it happens everywhere, sadly. Nursing isn't unique in this regard; it happens in teaching and education, engineering, sales, etc.
Where you have people, you'll have bullying.
I have to say, I see more "bullying" behavior with the OP and others in regard to the "lol's!" etc. OP asked a question; she received responses that she disliked (although most where not, in fact, rude or dismissive themselves; more matter of fact), then is dismissive with "lol!" and an emphasized (continued) negative opinion of nursing. Apparently, anyone who disagrees is a bully, which brings me to my former conclusion: OP will find a "bully" anywhere.

LOL! You've hit this particular nail right on the head. OP isn't the ONLY one who will find a bully "anywhere." This post would also be spot on in another current thread -- where it is proposed that the reason the majority of new grads seek advanced degrees in order to get away from the bedside with the least possible patient contact is that new grads are treated poorly by other nurses.

pixierose, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2017

Lil Nel said:
I think you may be confusing a defensive position, with bullying.
The OP stated HER impression. She was nearly immediately met with negative comments, many of which I felt were personal attacks.
Most people, when attacked on a personal level, not just in a generalized way, will respond defensively. I feel that is how the OP responded, and I don't blame her.
The comments accusing OP of "disrespecting" all nurses is laughable. Anyone can read what she wrote and see she is talking about her personal experience at this one facility. Talk about "thin skin."
As I have stated before, I never felt disrespected by her comment. Never.
On the other hand, I have felt the callous and nasty comments made regarding her future as a nurse and calling her a "snowflake" are indeed bullying.
On this Web Site, when fellow new nurses, or students seek out advice, I try my best to be supportive. But many on this site do the opposite. Sorry, but it is true.
I have NEVER referred to a poster as a "snowflake" and I never will. It isn't useful or helpful. But of course, that isn't the intent of such comments, is it?
Being a nursing student or new nurse is a precarious position to be in. As a student, you are looking for potential employers and perhaps mentors. As a new nurse, you are trying to find how you fit into the unit culture. It just isn't easy.
Let's try to be helpful.

In one of your pp, you stated that posters were "screaming" at the OP. No one did. That it was laughable. I see nothing remotely funny about this thread.

In fact, I see nothing remotely "helpful" about your post.

As a brand new nurse, only 6 months in, I absolutely get how not "easy" it all is. How tough being a student is, since I only graduated last December. But nursing is not a field of mean girls, and to go into the field looking over your shoulder expecting to find them isn't going to do anyone any favors.

We will agree to disagree on this one.

guest52816 · Sep 15, 2017

Yes, we will agree to disagree on this one, pixierose.

Do you think the posts that called the OP a snowflake were helpful?

pixierose, BSN, RN · Sep 15, 2017

Lil Nel said:
Yes, we will agree to disagree on this one, pixierose.
Do you think the posts that called the OP a snowflake were helpful?

I saw one post ... out of 73. Granted, I skimmed. Maybe another post with a zen garden. So, 71/73?

The majority of the posts are actually quite polite. They disagree. But very respectfully disagree.

"Lol" tends to go hand in hand with "snowflake." You can pretty much call it even if you're going tit for tat.