The following is a Guest Post via Erica MacDonald
After reading The Gypsy Nurse’s Post Nurses ‘Eat Their Young?’, I wondered if anyone had a different opinion than me on the cause of this phenomenon.
A nurse “eating their young” is an almost accepted form of bullying by many nurses (the ones that participate). Most don’t admit (even to themselves) that they are eating their young but cleverly try to disguise their bullying actions by positioning their attitude/behavior toward the new nurse as “helping” or “providing an educational opportunity.” People who have worked in other careers agree that they have encountered this phenomenon in other jobs. However, they are shocked at the prevalence that it occurs in nursing.
Personal experience
Indeed, I have personally experienced it and seen it done to others. So the question is, “Why would educated and professional nurses engage in such poor behavior?” I believe there are two main reasons this attitude prevails in nursing. The first reason is… High school never ends! Refer to the subject of Social Psychology. Social Psychology attempts to explain behavior such as cliques and groupthink.
Cliques and Group Think are the underpinnings of the complicated social culture of high school and most workplaces.
So when nurses form a clique that accepts it is the “cultural norm” to eat their young, even those who don’t agree to keep quiet, not to upset the status quo. The irony of it all is that we are consistently voted America’s most trusted profession. Yet, we can not even be trusted to treat each other with kindness and respect. It is really quite sad that this shallow Group Think occurs among such talented and educated people!
What spurs this to become the social norm
So the question remains, “What spurs nurses to allow this to become the social norm in their group?” This brings me to my second reason for such an attitude to prevail in nursing. The profession of nursing in our society is synonymous with sacrifice. This sacrifice starts in nursing school and continues into the workplace.
Think back to nursing school. First, nursing program acceptance can be similar to the rush of winning the lottery because it is such a competitive process. Then you realize that your nursing professors are on a mission to “weed” people out and make sure only the strongest students pass their classes. They want to eliminate the “weak links” because nursing is a high-stress, academic, and moral science (and the school’s pass rates are public for the entire world to see). As a nursing student, you begin to study with intensity, stop socializing, working out, and attending family functions. But it is all good! You rationalize that nursing school doesn’t last forever, and it is worth the ….SACRIFICE!
You pass NCLEX and breathe a sigh of relief.
and say to yourself, “I can live again!” Then you begin the long struggle to find a job. But wait! You finally find a job and discover it is in the specialty you are not interested in, and you will have to work nights. Again, you encounter SACRIFICE! But hey, I have a job to pay bills (often large student loan bills).
Some nurses discover that adjusting to the night shift is impossible. The longer they stay on nights, the more dysfunctional their life and sleep become. If you have young children, they make comments such as “All you do is sleep.” You and your children are on opposite schedules, so to them, it seems like you are sleeping their lives away. Also, you work weekends, odd hours, mandatory overtime, on-call, and miss holidays/special events with your family.
Furthermore, some patients and their families can be complicated and unappreciative even when you do the best you can with poor staffing ratios. Not to mention you’re often dealing with burnout if you are working in a high-stress critical care area. By the way, you have not eaten, drank water, or went to the restroom during most of the shifts you work. Don’t forget the nurse bullies! The years pass, and you lose track of the numerous sacrifices you have made in the name of nursing.
Erosion of empathy and self-confidence
So, the continuing atmosphere of sacrifice can contribute to the erosion of your empathy and self-confidence. Then enters a new nurse when stars in their eyes about the wonderful profession of nursing. You are unhappy with your situation and treat the new kid on the block just like you were treated; badly in the name of “education.” Or maybe you are a competitive type of person and want to maintain your status in the workplace you have earned. Or, unconsciously, you perceive a new nurse as a potential future threat. So you decide to test the new nurses and see what they are made of. Let’s mold a new nurse into a super nurse of steel!!
I think this is a general scenario of how nurses come to engage in nurse bullying.
Admittedly, some work environments are more accepting of new nurses than others. I realize that my example borders on the dramatic. Or does it? I have informally interviewed a large number of nurses during friendly conversations; the recurring theme is usually sacrificed. Sacrifice is the fertile ground that bullying behaviors come to seed in.
The nursing profession has decided to combat nurse bullying is similar to the approach we take in preventive care, awareness, and education. Nurse bully experts are focusing on the workplace. All over the country, hospitals are waking up and requiring education for their staff to prevent nurse bullying in the workplace.
However, since you can not control others’ actions, only your own nursing education specialty needs to step up to the plate. Nursing schools have just as much responsibility as the workplace. They have a moral obligation to help students pass the NCLEX and prepare them for workplace success.
Nursing schools should address, in their curriculum, this phenomenon and the tactics that new nurses should employ to fend off the “wolves.” Self-confident new nurses armed with the knowledge and concrete actions to defend themselves could be a deterrent for bullies. At least they won’t be blindsided when entering the workforce. We need happy nurses who want to stay in the nursing profession to care for patients and deal with the changes in healthcare.
What do you think? Is there another explanation for this phenomenon? What is your solution to the problem?
About The Author:
Author: Erica MacDonald is an MSN-prepared nurse whose mission is to empower nurses through self-employment by providing them with education and motivation. Erica blogs at http://www.selfemployednurse.com, and you can connect with her via Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/SelfEmployedNurse
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