By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN
It seems counterintuitive that nurses would bully each other in a time of critical staffing shortages, but it is a huge problem today. During a recent program, charge nurses talked with us about the nurse-on-nurse bullying that has now become commonplace. The reasons some nurses bully others include the following:
- Intense anger about their personal and professional experiences in this time of staff shortages and an inability to stabilize these emotions.
- Strong disagreements about personal values and political issues.
- Frustration about wage compression versus what is paid to travel and agency nurses.
- Fatigue and failure to deal with issues of burnout.
- Negativity about serving as a preceptor for a revolving door of new nurses.
- A perception is that given the shortages – frontline leaders will not confront bullying behaviors.
The last reason is probably valid. Nurse leaders are themselves burned out and exhausted. They may feel that they don’t have the emotional bandwidth to deal with nurse bullies who become defensive and angry. The decision not to deal with bullying is itself a decision. What you walk by – you accept. Yet we know that unit cultures suffer, and there is a very high price paid when a bullying culture is tolerated. The outcomes of bullying include but certainly are not limited to the following:
- Nurse disengagement in units where bullying occurs.
- Higher rates of burnout and exhaustion among staff.
- Staff turnover and decisions about intent to stay.
- Lower participation in shared governance activities.
- Higher risks of staff developing chronic illnesses.
- Staff choosing to isolate and disconnect from the team socially.
- An increased incidence of substance abuse.
- A decline in the critical thinking skills of nurses.
To rebuild nursing teams and create healthier work environments as we move into 202r, confronting bullying is a logical and cost-effective first step. If you are facing this on your team, I recommend that you buy a copy of Dr. Renee Thompson’s book Enough. When bullying has been normalized into a unit culture, it takes leadership skills, tactics, and strategies to turn it around. Many of our current frontline leaders are new and will need help to do this. It seems simple, but it is not easy to change the culture.
References
Meier, A., Evans, R. & Erickson, J.I. (2021) Strengthening a Culture to Address Bullying and Incivility in the Care Environment. JONA 51(10). 475-477.
Thompson, R. (2019). Enough! Eradicate bullying and incivility in healthcare: strategies for frontline leaders. Incredible Messages Press
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