Healthy Workforce
Can a Bully Be “Too Good” to Lose?
Don’t let clinical skill become a free pass for bad behavior
Tanya was an experienced nurse known for her exceptional clinical skills, and equally notorious for her toxic behavior. She often used a sharp, condescending tone with coworkers, openly criticizing them in front of others, and even sabotaged colleagues’ work by withholding critical information. Tanya’s coworkers were too afraid to confront her, and while some expressed their concerns to the unit director, Tanya was never held accountable because leadership felt she was “too good to fire.” Her unit became notorious for high turnover, low morale, and poor outcomes.
Good nurses are hard to find, and during nursing shortages, healthcare organizations need every nurse they can get. So, we may turn a blind eye to poor behavior if the perpetrator is good at her job. How many times have we heard something like, “Yes, so-and-so is toxic, but she’s such a great nurse”?
When I bring this up, people often insist that there’s no such thing as a great nurse who’s toxic or a bully. Unfortunately, turning a blind eye to nurses like that remains an all-too-common problem.
If you’re a manager with highly competent but unpleasant staff members who just won’t fix their behavior, you might tell yourself that you can’t afford to lose them. So, the bad behavior continues, year after year. Here’s what you can do about it.
