Why are nurses so hard on each other?

oramar · Apr 25, 2010

It is called "lateral vilonce". Some social scientist have noticed that this particular behavior is an outgrowth of powerlessness. There is some truth to that but I also think that some of the people that engage in these behaviors would be abusive anywhere they worked.

JustMeLPNStudent · Apr 25, 2010

Oramar, I think you're right!

Jules A, MSN · Apr 25, 2010

I've been fortunate in that the places I have worked are not too catty and I often think that different people have different thresholds for conflict. Personally if someone rolls their eyes at me I'm not ready to pull out Joint Commission guidelines and demand an intervention. I will however be the first to admit that in the rare instances where someone isn't competent it really makes it difficult not to become resentful. I am in no way talking about not helping each other or not assisting a new member but in team nursing someone who can't hold up their end becomes a liability to my patients, my staff and my license. Sorry if that isn't all hearts and flowers. :)

JB2007, ASN, RN · Apr 25, 2010

I would have to agree with Jules A in some cases other members of the team can not/ will not do their fair share or are incompetent and it makes others in the team resentful. You can only help out these types of people out so many times and then you start to realize that you are being taken advantage of.

On the other hand there are just some people who are happiest when they are making everyone around them miserable. They just like to get others in trouble and like constant drama. Sad but true.

Katie5 · Apr 25, 2010

Don't sweat the small stuff. Life is full of things that can cause stress, you've got to draw the line somewhere on what's going to make you upset or not.

de300850 · Apr 25, 2010

It is sad how vindictive nurses are, I am a new nurse and have been on the wrong side of that nurse.The only thing one can do, is feel sorry for people like that, life must be really bad for them to treat others so horrible.

Ruby Vee, BSN · Apr 25, 2010

i am not a nurse but do read the forums..just curious why so many nurses are hard on each other. i understand the need to be surrounded by competent people but wouldn't helping your coworker out be better than treating em crappy/blacklisting them?
anyway, my 2 cents..
john

first off, you're making an assumption that "so many" nurses are hard on each other from what you're reading on the internet. people are much quicker to jump on the internet and vent about some percieved injustice than they are to hop on and praise their co-workers. that's human nature.

second, you don't really know, from reading this site or any other, what people have actually done or not done to help each other. again, people are more apt to complain that their co-workers aren't helping them (even if, perhaps they are getting plenty of help but are too incompetent to get their work done anyway) than they are to say that they're getting all the help they need but they're still behind. some folks would still complain if you did their entire job for them while they sat at the desk shopping on ebay. some of my colleagues do!

third, you're assuming that the people who complain about being treated poorly are as pure and innocent as they claim they are, and everyone around them is a big fat bully. i'm sure you realize that isn't always the case. in fact, most of the people who complain about being treated poorly will say that it happens over and over again in more than one setting. that gives me the idea that they are part of the problem, whether they will admit it or not.

fourth, if all nurses treated each other shabbily, you might have some folks on this site admitting that they are capable of mistreating, bullying, shoving their work off on others, etc. but that never happens. in fact, almost everyone who posts on this site seems to be an excellent nurse with good intentions who never contributes to the problems they're having. see what i mean?

cherrybreeze, ADN, RN · Apr 25, 2010

It is sad how vindictive nurses are, I am a new nurse and have been on the wrong side of that nurse.The only thing one can do, is feel sorry for people like that, life must be really bad for them to treat others so horrible.

That's a pretty generalized statement.

de300850 · Apr 25, 2010

Sorry, we have many nurses that are great, you can tell they love their job, they could care less about what this one did or that one did, they just care about what has been done for the patient, but we have some that can't wait to talk about what the opposite shift has done or not done. These nurses will go out of their way to make other nurses look bad.

Sendana · Apr 25, 2010

first off, you're making an assumption that "so many" nurses are hard on each other from what you're reading on the internet. people are much quicker to jump on the internet and vent about some percieved injustice than they are to hop on and praise their co-workers. that's human nature.
second, you don't really know, from reading this site or any other, what people have actually done or not done to help each other. again, people are more apt to complain that their co-workers aren't helping them (even if, perhaps they are getting plenty of help but are too incompetent to get their work done anyway) than they are to say that they're getting all the help they need but they're still behind. some folks would still complain if you did their entire job for them while they sat at the desk shopping on ebay. some of my colleagues do!
third, you're assuming that the people who complain about being treated poorly are as pure and innocent as they claim they are, and everyone around them is a big fat bully. i'm sure you realize that isn't always the case. in fact, most of the people who complain about being treated poorly will say that it happens over and over again in more than one setting. that gives me the idea that they are part of the problem, whether they will admit it or not.
fourth, if all nurses treated each other shabbily, you might have some folks on this site admitting that they are capable of mistreating, bullying, shoving their work off on others, etc. but that never happens. in fact, almost everyone who posts on this site seems to be an excellent nurse with good intentions who never contributes to the problems they're having. see what i mean?

look, i can make an itemized list, too!

1) what a hysterical response. the lady protests entirely too much.

2) you don't know anything special about anybody on the internet, either, but i'm glad you're willing to assume that most anybody with a problem at work is probably contributing to it in some way.

3) ah, blame the victim. because you totally know the whole story. or, because you don't know the whole story, it's safe to assume that the part of the story you don't know reflects poorly on the person relating the story. this is a version of the logical fallacy argumentum ad ignorantiam.

4) no, most everyone who posts on this site seem to be newbies who get chased away by the shrill, vitriolic responses of you and your admirers, who are good at putting people on the defensive. you're pretty good at talking down to people, too. fortunately, i don't care how many years experience you have in nursing, nor do i think your "i totally graduated in '77" claim lends your comments any veracity, unless they deal particularly with your area of expertise, which is clearly not relating to people. :yeah:

**RosesrReder, BSN, MSN, RN** · Apr 25, 2010

http://www.nursingworld.org/mods/mod440/lateralfull.htm

Introduction

Confucius said, "Before we can change things, we must call them by their real name." Violence is a pervasive part of our lives -on television, in songs, books, on the streets, in our workplaces, etc. Our workplaces? Some 60% of workplace assaults are concentrated in health services, social assistance, and personal care occupations (NCCI, 2006). Disruptive behavior/lateral violence is "defined as any inappropriate behavior, confrontation, or conflict - ranging from verbal abuse to physical and sexual harassment. The International Council of Nurses (ICN) defines abuse as "behavior that humiliates, degrades, or otherwise indicates a lack of respect for the dignity and worth of an individual" (ICN, 2004). Often the underlying cause of lateral violence revolves around communication mishaps" (Ratner, 10) or intentional abusive behaviors.

Violence is and continues to be of greater concern in the international community than in the United States. Internationally, one out of three nurses is affected by workplace violence. (McMillan, 1995). As can be seen, there is a significant level of violence in health care workplaces - even among nurses.

High stress jobs such as nursing tend to generate pressures that are often vented when additional stressors are added. The venting of the intolerable stress can result in lateral violence. Regardless of the initiating stress, no one deserves to be abused. When lateral violence erupts, everyone is affected.

A common example of lateral violence might occur when an experienced nurse new to the hospital and unit comes on the unit. If the new RN is very competent and knowledgeable and brings new skills to the job, the other staff RNs may feel uncomfortable. In their discomfort, the other RNs may start to make comments about the new RN such as, "She is a know-it-all", "She is not as good as she might think she is considering how much she talks", "I know she doesn't do for the patient all she says she does", etc. Some of the RNs might tell the manager unsubstantiated stories that the new RN is not doing all she says she does for patients. This casting of aspersions undermines the new RN, making her a victim of lateral violence.

There are several theories about lateral violence.