Nurses Should Care, Not Jeer

Bullying in nursing is rife. We need to stop it in its tracks

Photo by William Warby on Unsplash

The day I met my first bully, I was minding my own business and doing what I was supposed to be doing — preparing to administer a plethora of medications to one of my assigned patients.

He walked in and flipped into an instant rage.

He — a nurse assigned to the evening shift — was pissed that I, a lowly student nurse, was in his space. He voiced this menacingly as his forearm swept across the countertop and unceremoniously dumped my papers and the few medications that I had prepared onto the grimy floor.

I was gobsmacked.

At least two other nurses witnessed it. They didn’t challenge him. Nor did they come to my defence.

I quietly picked up my things, retreated to another area — away from his taunting looks — and proceeded with the shift.

I didn’t even say anything to my teacher, who didn’t witness the event. It was too unbelievable to have even happened.

A week later, I was attending to a patient behind closed curtains. It was a two-bedded room and the other woman had a caregiver assigned by the family.

An altercation ensued between the caregiver and a nurse. All she asked was what the…