A publicist at Harper Collins sent me several books for consideration within inContext. One is Theresa Brown’s Critical Care (HarperOne, 2010). The book is a memoir of the author’s first year as an oncology nurse. She sought nursing as a second career, after years as a professor of English. The story itself is a great read, yet the thing that stands out for me is Brown’s description of bullying within nursing, which is in chapter nine.
Brown says that, “Bullying thrives only because people collude with it” (p. 138). She goes on to call the lack of reaction from a co-worker who witnesses the bullying of the author by a superior a “gross ugliness” (p. 138). When she discussed the situation with her superiors and human resources, she was advised that nothing would be done about the offending nurse’s behavior, and a senior nurse told Brown she could possibly avoid conflict by being “more submissive” (p. 139). In the discussion questions section at the end of the text, that are specifically addressed to nursing students and faculty, the book describes nurse-on-nurse bullying as “a recurring and serious problem.”
Elsewhere in the book, the author talks about the statement often tossed around nursing schools, that being that “nurses eat their young.” I have a friend whose sister just finished nursing school. She faced this kind of maltreatment throughout her training. I have several friends who are midwives who suffer bullying within the midwifery community, as well. We talk about the irony of the word “midwife” meaning “with woman” and how midwives seem to exemplify the opposite, or a total lack of support for one another.
Michael Thompson, a psychologist best known for his work with adolescent boys, claims that bullying with boys takes on a more physical nature while bullying between girls is passive-aggressive, and thus far more difficult to talk about and thereby eradicate. We’ve all likely experienced a phone call or interaction in a retail store possibly when the person who is supposed to be helping us solve our problem is actually resistant. His or her voice takes on a certain false quality, yet his or her words could never be construed as anything but the epitome of customer service friendly. In these situations, even if you asked for a more senior supervisor, it wouldn’t matter since the employee or customer service representative never said anything out of line. Rather, he or she said “everything right” yet definitely not with what you’d be able to say was a “right” or kind attitude.
The insidious thing about bullying within healthcare professions is that it seems the exact opposite of the qualities one needs to work in medicine. Compassion, understanding and supportiveness are characteristics we might think of when we think of nurses or midwives. I know that woman-on-woman bullying takes place in any employment situation and often occurs in volunteer organizations, as well. What amazed me about the senior nurse and human resources representatives is that they felt that backing down and not standing up to the bully was the answer. As fellow women, they advised another woman to be “more submissive.”
I agree with Brown that we need to not sit silently by while others are mistreated, whether it is at work or in our communities. Bullying and bystanders allowing it is the gross ugliness she describes. As women, rather than be divided, we must unite to support one another with understanding and compassion. Have readers encountered bullying, whether at work or within other groups? Have you found solutions or just moved on when faced with this negative behavior? Let us know if you have experience with bullying, especially if you have insights into how it can be solved.
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That is terrible, L. George. The last place you want to be bullied is in the hospital — and by those who are supposed to be treating you. The powerful bully the weak. In every hierachy, we have those with power and those without it. It’s terrible, but seems to be part of our nature — gender-blind.
Kate, awesome article. Very revealing. I’ve been bullied as a child, and I could even say some of my students try it out on me — to see how I’ll react. Staying professional and creating a safe environment for all is necessary so that people don’t step out of line. Those who do, should be reprimanded seriously.
I just got out of the hospital after lung cancer and surgery. Bullying behavior of some nurses is real and after I told one nurse that I will not stand for her bullying me she shut my meds off. I was advised to try and understand the system. She was transferred to another ward until I left. Another nurse said she was having back problems. That was the most I could expect. This is a real problem there. I did not see it among the doctors. To be honest,I was afraid that something worse than shutting my meds off would happen. I was trying to change pain meds because of problems and that was taking all of my attention.
I think it is in the culture of women to jockey for power or at least this is my experience. Nurses are mostly women and are run by the same rules groups of women in school are run. When the nurses are men they back up and just try and stay out of it. There is something else going on and echoes of this is in other areas that are populated by women.