Professional Bullying In Nursing

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Professional bullying is being recognized as a serious issue in the workplace. Unfortunately, professional bullying is a real problem that happens in healthcare settings as well as any workplace setting. Professional bullying can be instigated by coworkers, supervisors, or anyone in the workplace. It can cause physical or emotional harm and be costly for employees as well as employers (Thompson, 2013). Employers have a responsibility to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their employees at all times. All employees should have an understanding and awareness of personal bullying and what needs to be done about it. Effective leadership styles can have an impact on bringing awareness to bullying and how to prevent it.
Scenario
Melissa started
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Every new nurse starts out with basic knowledge from nursing school. A good preceptor will help provide guidance and help build on knowledge obtained in clinicals and nursing school. Melissa, unfortunately, was put with a preceptor that should not be precepting new nurses. Just because a nurse is an excellent clinician, and has a lot of experience, doesn’t mean she can be an effective teacher for new nurses. The nurse manager has a responsibility to make sure that nurses are safe and free from being bullied at any time. Organizations are obligated to provide documented staff education, develop policies and procedures on workplace bullying, and provide the consequences for not following the policy and procedure (Maclean, Coombs, & Breda, …show more content…
I still remember how scared and intimidated I felt just coming out of nursing school and passing my boards. I was precepted by different nurses. I had nurses that were very patient and kind. I also had nurses that would make snide remarks and made me feel very self-conscious about myself. As I look back now, I too was bullied by an older nurse “Wanda”. It was not to the extent of the scenario I am writing about, but it was bullying nonetheless. Wanda was best friends with the administrator and had a very dominate personality. She was the charge nurse and really did run the show. I was young and timid and put up with the bullying for years. New nurses are vulnerable and can be bullied. No one comes out of nursing school ready to be the perfect nurse and knowing everything. As I matured as a nurse and became a preceptor myself, I vowed to never make anyone feel the way I did when I started my first job. In the scenario, Melissa was the victim of bullying by a more experienced seasoned nurse. The preceptor should have been reprimanded. She should not be allowed to be in the preceptor role again until further training is done and the nurse can be more professional in her