Cheryl Dellasega, GNP, PhD, author of Girl Wars and Mean Girls Grown Up, Professor of Humanities at Penn

State University College of Medicine and Professor of Women's Studies at Penn State University, doesn't mince words when speaking about bullying in nursing. "Nurses are really vicious to each other," explains Dellasega, noting that the problem is profession-wide: "It's not one hospital. It's not one type of nurse. It's the new nurse, it's the nurse who transferred from another floor, it's the ICU nurses feeling superior to the med-surg nurses -- it's endless." What motivates bullies? Like the grade school bully, the adult bully seeks to dominate in interactions with others, frequently demonstrating controlling and manipulative behavior. Some bullies seek to control the work environment by controlling the nurses in it.
Murray JS. Workplace bullying in nursing: a problem that can't be ignored. Medsurg Nurs. 2009;18:273-276.

Nurses Eat Their Young...and Their Old

2011 Guiomar Goransson, RN, CLC, CNC, CHPN Workplace Bullying in Health Care, Particularly Among Nurses Exposure to incivility, including workplace bullying, is one of the primary factors influencing RN dissatisfaction and turnover rates, (Simmons, 2008, p. Report of the task force on the prevention of workplace bullying: Dignity at work-the

challenge of workplace bullying.) It is oft said, "Nurses eat their young," but should be expanded to include, "and their old, too." There are several terms used to describe this phenomenon found in nursing and medical literature including lateral violence, horizontal violence, relational aggression, and bullying. The "hidden" problems of workplace bullying in health care, particularly among nurses, particularly RNs, their nurse managers and the Johnnycome-lately human resources personnel who do not have a nursing education (or any education at all of any kind) or experience, tend to manage their nursing personnel in a manner that would make Isabella I of Spain proud. There is even intimidation in our nursing schools with the archaic notion of "separating the chaff from the wheat". Although some are not much older (and sometimes younger) than their students, this is how the instructors were treated and are passing on their shameful legacy. Also, it is often suggested that bullying behavior has it's origin in childhood.

Bullying behavior The toxic relationships and bullying behavior causes nurse burnout and threatens patient safety. Mandatory inservice programs may educate nurses about bullying and attempt to eliminate bullying behavior through discussions, counseling, and reinforcement of socially appropriate behavior. However, these just tend to educate about what behaviors constitute bullying. History has shown, however, that the only action that will stop the bully is termination or other severe reprimand with the threat of termination. Any other response to a bully in the workplace may inflame the bullying behavior further. Sadly, some of the biggest and ugliest bullies are the "inmates running the asylum". Verbal bullying Males use more direct behaviors (physical and verbal bullying) than females do. Verbal bullying includes taunting, name-calling, making threats, and belittling the target. Verbal Bullying: This is when the bully directly

communicates and invokes a negative response to the way the victim feels. Bullying occurs A quick search reveals that bullying occurs not only among other health professionals but in nearly every imaginable workplace environment. And this is not the only area in which bullying occurs in hospitals. It is time for all nursing leaders to get serious about workplace bullying, and put some muscle behind rhetoric, such as zero tolerance.