Nurses behaving badly is a common theme in healthcare organizations. Don’t believe me? Every day, nurses from all over the world reach out to me asking for help.
Trust me. Sad to say but bullying is alive and well in the nursing profession.
But what’s the big deal? So what. So people at work are mean either to your face or behind your back. Toughen up like they say right?
Wrong!
You shouldn’t have to “toughen up” nor should have to tip toe on eggshells around your co-workers. Nursing is tough WITHOUT dealing with the bad behavior of others. When you add nasty people in the mix, feeling good about the work you do as a nurse is next to impossible.
But who suffers the most?
Bad behavior in the healthcare environment has a negative impact on individuals, organizations, the nursing profession and ultimately – on the patients we serve.
Individuals – nurses who find themselves targets suffer emotional, psychological and even physical effects. I once talked with a new nurse who said she was having a good day. When I asked why, she said it was the first day she didn’t throw up on her way into work. It’s not a coincidence that it was also the first day she broke free from her preceptor who was her bully!
Organizations – organizations with a high rate of bad behavior have worse patient outcomes, higher turnover rates, worse morale among employees, more disengagement and ultimately – higher cost. Bullying costs organizations over 6 billion dollars worldwide! Hmmm…I know many nurses who’d like that money to go into their paycheck instead!
Nursing Profession – we are losing good nurses to this problem. Many potential nurses make the decision NOT to enter into the nursing profession because of how we “eat our young.” So sad.
Patients – nurses have an ethical responsibility to our public to make decisions on what’s best for them. We need to work together as a team, support each other, feel comfortable challenging each other and have the confidence that our co-workers “have our backs” and will not “stab us in the back.” Bullying infects our ability to serve our public. Think about it. If you were concerned about your patient or needed help but you were working with a bully – would you feel comfortable going to that person? Nope. In the end, patients suffer.
Bullying is badness…and it doesn’t belong in a profession dedicated to caring and compassion.
What can we do to minimize bullying’s negative impact?
Action Steps: I write about these in great detail in my book and during my seminars. But here are the highlights:
1. Recognize bad behavior as bad – we get so used to bad behavior that it becomes the norm. How do you know? Anytime you hear someone say, “Just ignore her. That’s just the way she is.” You know you’ve succumbed to this.
2. Speak up– you have an ethical responsibility to your public to speak up if you are experiencing or witnessing bad behavior. It impacts patient outcomes – speak up!
3. Confront – we need to stop ignoring bad behavior and start addressing it. Easy ways to do this are just to name it. “You are screaming and yelling at me in front of others.” Or…”I just saw you roll your eyes at me when I made that suggestion.” etc. Remember, what we ignore, we condone.
We have to stop accepting bad behavior as the norm. It’s not okay…it IS a bigh deal and it needs to stop.
Would love to read your comments about this topic.
Thanks so much for reading. Take care and stay connected!
To learn more about how you can stop nurse bullying, you can order my book titled “Do No Harm” Applies to Nurses Too! at Amazon by clicking here.
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