Nurse Bullying: We Shall Overcome

On May 20th, 2013 on RN.FM Radio, we discussed nurse to nurse bullying with Renee Thompson, a national expert on the subject. In the course of that discussion, we heard that bullying among nurses continues to be a problem nationwide--and most likely worldwide, as well. What will it take to turn the tide on what appears to be a widely acknowledged form of aberrant workplace behavior within the healthcare industry?According to many reports, articles and anecdotal stories, many nurses experience bullying and harassment on the job at the hands of other nurses. While new nurses may bear the brunt of such behavior, seasoned nurses can also be the targets of bullies.Passing It On Many reasons have been given for why nurses bully one another, and one of the first is that nurses tend to "dish out" what they themselves were given in the past. Like in other social groups, oppression can be passed down from "generation" to "generation", and it appears that some nurses feel that they have the "right" to treat other nurses--especially novice nurses--the way that they were treated, no matter how wrong that may seem to others. Harassment of new nurses can be cruel, and while it would seem that new nurses deserve to be treated with respect for entering our profession in the first place, many can be driven out of the profession quite quickly when they are faced with harassment, threats, bullying and other behaviors that can transform an exciting new career into a living nightmare.Of course, th...
Source: Digital Doorway - Category: Nurses Tags: nurse wellness RN.FM Radio nurses health nurse bullying new nurses nurse-nurse relationships nurse careers burnout prevention Source Type: blogs