Bullying: A Pebble in the Pond

While I am not suggesting that bullying behaviors are the sole cause of attrition in emergency nursing, it has been clearly shown to be a factor in recruitment and retention of the nursing workforce.3 There is an unfortunate saying that “nurses eat their young.” 3 This theory proposes that nurses act as bullies toward other nurses because they are an “oppressed group” due to their predominantly female gender and hierarchical physician domination. Since their anger and frustration cannot be altered, the theory suggests it results in bullying behavior directed toward colleagues on the same hierarchical level. Nurses cannot and must not tolerate bullying behavior by anyone, anywhere. 1 PL Blair, Lateral violence in nursing, J Emerg Nurs, Vol. 39, Iss. 5, 2013, e75-77 2 SL Johnson, RE Rea, Workplace bullying: concerns for nurse leaders, J Nurs Adm, Vol. 39, Iss. 2, 2009, 84-90 3 M Hutchinson, M Vickers, D Jackson, L Wilkes, Workplace bullying in nursing: towards a more critical organisational perspective, Nurs Inq, Vol. 13, Iss. 2, 2006, 118-126 4 P Sauer, J Emerg Nurs, Vol. 38, Iss. 1, 2012, 43-45