Many of us have heard the saying, “Nurses eat their young”. This is true. Nurses are mean spirited towards one another, bully one another and like alcohol, there are no boundaries: nurse educator to nurse educator, nurse educator to student, staff nurse to nursing student, staff nurse to staff nurse, management to staff nurse, and the list goes on and on. We must stop tearing one another down and start building one another up. A good place to start is nursing school. We need to provide education and prepare the students and provide the tools to eradicate this type of behavior. Seasoned nurses must role model positive behavior for the novice nurse. One person can make a difference and that person is YOU!
Negative behavior by the nurse will affect the patient, the patient outcomes will not be positive. Nursing management must learn to be kind to the nurses who work for them. This is a no brainer, happy employees are harder workers. Nurse management can send all the cards they want that say, “thanks for working the extra shift”, “thanks for all your hard work,” or “we are glad you are on our team”. It is their actions that speak louder than words. What are your thoughts? Do you have questions about handling a difficult situation?
I try to practice what I call "Nurse Karma". When I am having a good and calm shift I try to help out the aids and other nurses when I can. I find this helps improve everyone's attitude and when you need help, others are more likely to step in and help you out on a bad shift. I am lucky to work on a unit where cooperation in the norm and not the exception. Our patients are normally very satisfied with their care and I think a big part of this is that the staff is treated respectfully and work well together.
ReplyDeleteHi HessMara,
DeleteThis is a wonderful comment and more need to follow your lead. You are a positive role model for nursing as are those you work with. KUDOS! Does your team welcome nursing students with open arms? Even though we are assigned a team of patients to care for, the entire floor is our team! Great job!