In a gender-loaded assessment that might be labeled sexist if stated by a man, a female nursing leader says the field’s “bullying” culture may have its roots in the ancient competition among women for male mates.
“Theories suggest that age-old female ‘competition’ has shifted from competing over a man to competing over status, respect, and position in the nursing environment,” says Renee Thompson, DNP, RN, CMSRN. “The same behaviors once witnessed between two women fighting over a man are the ones witnessed today in the behavior of bullies.”
After some 20 years in nursing, Thompson is a public speaker and nursing consultant as CEO and president of RTConnections, LLC. Her candid assessments of nursing culture were made in a recent blog post.1
In Thompson’s view, the lack of gender diversity in the profession creates more conflict, as nurses commonly express they would rather work with men. Some 90% of the more than 3 million nurses in the U.S. are female.
“And let’s face it ladies, we are not always that nice to each other,” she notes. “Women can be catty and cruel, yet we allow this bad behavior to continue because, ‘That’s just the way women are.’ Women need to celebrate the accomplishments of other women. Every day, find one reason to compliment a co-worker who is female. Be the role model for female-female admiration — not aggression.”
Compared to physicians, nurses are a silent majority that suffers in silence, lacking the power to make change and becoming more likely to take their frustrations out on each other. “Becoming a bully helps certain nurses to gain some of the perceived power they are missing in their profession,” she says. “Nurses need to learn how to articulate their value. This can be accomplished through advancing their degrees, obtaining certification, and inviting themselves to the decision-making table. Getting involved provides nurses the voice they need to overcome feelings of oppression and powerlessness.”
The irony is that nurses are among the most empathetic, caring, and compassionate human beings in this world. The healthcare industry has become so accustomed to “nurses behaving badly” that scale of the problem has been somewhat lost, Thompson notes in citing these alarming statistics:
- Sixty percent of all new nurses quit their first job within the first six months due to the bad behavior of their co-workers.
- Forty-eight percent of new graduating nurses are afraid of becoming the target of workplace bullying.
“Every day of my life, a nurse reaches out to me asking for help,” Thompson wrote. “We are hemorrhaging really good nurses because of workplace bullying.”
REFERENCE
- Thompson, R. Why is Bullying So Prevalent in the Nursing Profession? The Sentinel Watch: Nursing, Nov. 5, 2015. http://bit.ly/1mZOFzG.
