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Dealing With Mean Nurses
To confront or to avoid? Making the case for going along to get along
Regardless of the career you choose, you are likely to face mean people in the workplace. However, in healthcare, the stakes are much higher. In some occupations, if you have a disagreement with someone, you can walk away and take 10. As a nurse, you don’t usually have this option because a patient’s life or well-being may be on the line.
Mean nurses typically have an exaggerated sense of self-importance and want to be in control of all aspects of the work environment, including other nurses: how they take care of patients, their satisfaction at work and what others think of them.
It can be tempting to hold your ground, point out the issue/unfairness or even run to HR. However, in my experience, the best way to deal with a mean nurse is to acknowledge that life isn’t fair, keep your cool and face their nonsense with as much grace and dignity as you can possibly muster.
