“Nurses eat their young” is a phrase that is referenced to how nurses bully other nurses. Unfortunately, it is a well-known topic in the medical field. Bullying among nurses happens way too often.
This is such a great video that explains why nurses “eat their young” very well. It is a bit lengthy, but it is very informative and inspirational! Every person has a story to tell, we just have to be willing to listen to it and learn from it.
Even though bullying among nurses is well known in the medical profession, not much has been done to fix it. Things won’t get fixed overnight, but steps in the right direction need to be made in order for things to get better.
The American Nurses Association (ANA) has made some progress toward this issue. In 2015 they had a panel to develop a position with this issue. To get a little outline of what was decided click here. One main point I like is that, “The nursing profession will not tolerate violence of any kind from any source”. Most hospitals are starting to follow the “Zero Tolerance” policy. This is where there are consequences to bullying. Every hospital will have their own specific policy on what they want their consequences to be, but at least they are on the right track to treating this bullying.
One aspect, I believe every unit manager should have is an open door policy. This way nurses will not be afraid to come forward and tell their manager about what is going on. Most incidences don’t even get reported because the nurse was afraid of what may happen if someone where to find out they told the manager about what is going on. This open door policy lets nurses know it is okay to come forward and talk about what is going on.
There is a high turn over rate in the nursing world. There is always a new nurse coming onto the floor. Just remember what it was like for you to be a new nurse, all timid, shy, and scared. If every nurse can remember that when a new nurse shows up then there will be less room for judgement.
Steps are being made to fix this problem but it will not fix everything. It is important to let nurses know what kind of resources they have if they should feel threatened in any way. It is important to let them know they have at least one friend they can trust. Just remember to treat new nurses with respect and kindness, and maybe one day we can break this evil cycle of bullying.
Nurses who are bullied can effect the nurse in many different ways physically, psychologically, and emotionally.
Some physical consequences nurses can have from being bullied are headaches, stress ulcers, gastrointestinal upset, insomnia, fatigue, and loss of concentration. Normally, it is not just one of these symptoms, a nurse can have at least two of these problems.
Some psychological issues that can manifest from being bullied is depression, anxiety, helplessness, post traumatic stress disorder, and impaired social skills. Coming to work everyday to be bullied can take a toll on a person. These nurses will not want to come to work, because they know what is waiting for them, which causes them to be more anxious and depressed. If nurses feel like they are constantly being attacked, they will eventually shut down and just not talk or interact with anyone, even their patients.
Bullying can take such an effect on these nurses that they start to call into work or they may even up and quit their job. At this point, bullying is not only effecting the one who is being harassed, but the quality of patient care comes into question.
The more a nurse is being bullied, the more stressed out, anxious, and depressed the nurse is that he or she is not giving their patients all their attention. If a nurse is not, mentally, 100% there when taking care of patients, that leaves a lot of room for error. Which patient safety is then a major factor in all of this.
If a nurse decides to call into work because the person or persons who is bullying him or her is working that day, then that leaves the floor short one nurse. To most floors that is a major problem, because that can determine if other nurses have to take care of 6 or more patients, compared to the original 4 or 5 patients. This is a huge safety concern for patients and for staff. This increases risk for medication errors, patient falls, or physical harm to staff. When there is not many people around to help transfer a patient (for example), then the nurse or tech will take it upon themselves to try to transfer the patient alone which can result in injury not only for the patient but for the nurse taking care of them.
Click here to read more about the effects of bullying has on nurses and the patients.
Nurses come to work to take care of others. The last thing any nurse should worry about is what their fellow co-workers are saying about them. As a kid you are taught to stand up for yourself, especially when others do you harm. Those same rules apply as an adult, or they should. I think, as an adult, you are more worried about what people will say or think about you so most people don’t say or do anything when something happens.
The picture above shows what should be done by a nurse who is being bullied or if bullying is witnessed by another nurse. First and foremost, you should stand up for yourself. If you feel you are being wronged by another co-worker then tell them. Now, don’t go looking for a fight, but be strong and confident. Most of the times, bullies back down when they are confronted, so the best thing to do is make it known to them what they are doing. Some of times, these nurse bullies do not even realize how they are coming off to other nurses. All nurses have this Type A personality, so they may seem like they are bullying someone but when it could just be their personality, and they need to be told so they can adjust.
If you do not feel comfortable confronting the bully then you should report it to your nurse manager or to someone in HR. Really, this should be done anyway, especially to your nurse manager. This way they are made aware of what is going on, so in case this happens again they know that it is a recurring issue.
From another prospective, you may witness another nurse being bullied. If that should happen, you should offer support to the nurse, and hopefully encourage him/her to stand up to the bully or to go talk with their nurse manager. Especially with those new graduate nurses, they may not know what to do and are too afraid to come forward. Nurses take care of sick patients, but they should also take care of each other as well.
Lastly, 0% turn a blind eye! Meaning, no one should just ignore that there is an issue. No nurse should ignore that they are being harassed, and no nurse should turn away if they see another nurse being bullied. If everyone turned a blind eye, then nothing would ever get done and this issue would not be brought to light.
If you want to read more into how to react to bullies then Click here.
When you hear about bullying, it is normally associated with school children and teenagers. Bullying doesn’t always happen with kids and teens though, it can happen to adults as well, especially in their place of work.
One area bullying is very common in is in Nursing. Nursing is a profession dedicated to helping others. Nurses work hard every day to make sure their patients are alive and healthy. Nurses are the ones who have to talk with their patients, their patient’s family, the doctors, the therapists, and many others. Typically nurses work for 12 hours and it can be so physically and emotionally exhausting. Just imagine having to do all that and also being bullied and harassed by your co-workers, the people that should be there to support and help you, not bring you down.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “nurses eat their young”? This expression is known to nurses and it refers to the bullying and harassment of new nurses. Now, these “new nurses” are either brand new graduate nurses or they are referred to a nurse who has moved to a new unit or specialty. It is known that nurses will quit their job if they are being bullied, because who would want to come to work every day and get harassed by their co-workers? The last thing anyone wants to do is dread going to work because they don’t want to be bullied or harassed anymore.
This topic needs to be made aware, especially to all nurses, new and old. Nurses should know what to do if this should happen to them and how to handle it.
Learn more about this issue here.
Life of a Nurse 