3 Reasons Why Nurse-Bullying Must Stop

Most nurses have either been bullied or watched it happen, usually to a new nurse. You get called out in front of the whole unit for a mistake, or labeled "stupid" by someone who is supposed to be teaching you. The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health defines workplace violence as physically or psychologically damaging actions that occur on the job, and nurse bullying fits squarely inside that. It has gotten serious enough that nursing organizations and boards are moving toward regulation. Here is why it has to stop.

1. It puts patient safety at risk

Bullying does not just hurt staff, it endangers patients. New nurses who are afraid to ask questions, because asking gets them mocked, make decisions they are not ready to make. Picture a new graduate who does not know what metoprolol is, gives it rather than question the preceptor, and the patient's pressure was already 84/42. That harm was avoidable. A trainee who feels safe asking would have caught it. Encourage questions. You would rather field one than clean up after a silent guess.

2. It drives nurses out

Nobody wants to work next to someone who degrades them. New nurses often quit within their first year, and other nurses are frequently the reason. The work is hard enough without that. Take new staff under your wing, defend them, and help them. You keep more nurses on the floor that way, and the floor runs better.

3. It is a cycle that feeds itself

One nurse discourages another, who turns around and discourages the next. Short staffing is already a problem, and bullying makes it worse by pushing people out. Every nurse affects another, so be the one who supports rather than the one who corrodes. Stop eating our young. The profession needs more of us, not fewer.