Nursing Jobs and Gossip in the Workplace
May 3rd, 2009 | The Blog
I’ve received a letter from one of my readers this week. I’m sure that every nurse can relate to her problem. This is what she said:
I’m a new graduate nurse working in a busy medical surgical unit in a large city in the Midwest. I really love my job except for one thing. I hate the gossip. I’m just plain sick and tired of the workplace gossip that I hear on an almost nightly basis. Not only is it just plain ignorant, but it can also be very hurtful. I have seen people who appear to be good friends, talk about each other behind their backs. It’s so cruel and unprofessional. What bugs me is if they are saying those things about their friends, I wonder what they are saying about me. It’s making me really upset. Do you have any advise?
Sincerely, Newbie Nurse.
I’ve worked in a community hospital as well as in a major trauma center in a large metropolitan city, and gossip is a common denominator in every health care setting. Since we can’t suture people’s mouths shut, nurses must forge ahead and do everything that we can do to curtail the demeaning effects that gossip creates in the workplace.
Gossip not only eats up time that should be devoted to patients, it’s a form of workplace violence. According to relationship coach Peter G. Vajda, Ph.D, gossip is any language that would cause another harm, pain, or confusion that is used outside of presence of another for whom it is intended. I’ve seen so many excellent nurses driven out of clinical settings because of gossip. Nurses generally feel powerless in their workplace environment, so they frequently engage in passive aggressive activities with each other. Hence, the rumor mill thrives at the nurses station.
Gossip is poison. It’s not harmless and in certain circumstances, it can lead to serious legal litigation for the employee and for the employer. If one employee is defaming another, in most states there is a potential claim if the employer does not try to change the false story that is circulating around the nurses station. Some companies are now creating gossip free work zones. That means you will be fired for gossiping about your coworkers.
Do you want to stop gossiping in its tracks? Here are a few tips that can help you break the cycle of gossiping in the workplace:
When someone comes up to you and says, “Did you hear about Dr. X and Nurse Y?” Respond with, “No, I didn’t. Let’s go ask him or her about that and find out if that is true.” You can also say, “I’m not comfortable talking about that,” or say, “I don’t like talking about other people because I don’t like them talking about me.”
When someone tries to gossip with you, walk away or change the subject.
Go to others when they are gossiping about you. Tell them what you heard, and ask them to come to you in the future about their questions or concerns. (Trust me on this one. I use this one a lot and it works.)
Don’t gossip yourself. What goes around comes around. Don’t set yourself up for trouble by backstabbing others.
Do you have any advise about how to break the gossip cycle at work? Come to Nursing Voices and tell us about it. We’re waiting to hear from you.
Terri Polick has been a nurse for thirty years, and is a published author living in Maryland, just outside of Washington, D.C. She is currently working as a freelance writer, and is a frequent contributor to Nursing Spectrum Magazine. Terri works at a local community hospital as a psychiatric nurse.
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I have heard the same stupid kind of junk at work. Nurses have little enough time to get the work done, let alone tear each other down. I have confronted others after hearing gossip or rumors about myself, or a co-worker. It does work, if approached in a firm yet friendly manner. Also, I have tried this approach. Once recently, I heard a rumor about myself. I didn’t know the person that was spreading it, so I laughed, heartily. I said it was one of the funniest things I had ever heard. That squelched it for good. I try to spread positive things around about the people I work with, like “She’s a superstar”, or “She’s the best aide I’ve ever had”, or “I’ve sure learned a lot from her”.
When I was in school, I was at one of the hospitals for clinicals. The night nurses tore the day nurses up, and vice-versa, in front of the patients! I decided right away that I wouldn’t even consider working on that floor, or even in that hospital. Morale was terrible.
Hello, I love the information on your site. We are looking for someone to add professional insight and industry specific information on our blog. Would you be willing to submit posts to our site’s blog from time to time and link back to your site?
I like the direct approach that you recommended. This reminded me of an article from http://tinyurl.com/r798n2 I just finished about more Do’s and one big Don’t. This would have been another great Don’t to include. The article is right at the top of the homepage.
Gossip in any work environment is tough to deal with, but in a nursing situation it is exacerbated simply because of the stress of the job. And there comes a point when it becomes personal, which makes it hard to maintain that balanced lifestyle between work and personal life.
Excellent site you have here. I also have a nursing blog and was wondering if you would like to exchange links with me. My blog url is http://NurseReview.Org. If you are interested please add my link and them leave me a comment so that I can add also a link back to your site. It will improve our google pagerank since we have the same niche.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks,
Myk
get out of nursing now you will be sorry in 13 years that you did not listen to me. find another profession it does not get any better just wait till you ask a question and an older nurse eats you alive. gossip is the smallest thing just wait nursing gets worse.
Bottom line: Gossip is inevitable; how you let it affect you is the only thing you can control. Thank you for addressing this topic.
Another online resource you can visit for even more nursing advice is the Cirrus Medical LinkedIn Group (name: The Traveling Nurse). The Traveling Nurse provides members with information on the most recent trends in the nursing field and posts a variety of job opportunities in tons of U.S. cities. Join today at http://bit.ly/8Hf2o
The workplace gossip is the worst I have ever seen. These nurses have worked with each other for years.The agency director who has been there almost twenty years does nothing to curtail it. These are nurses who are in their fifties with an exception of 3 or 4 and they are just as bad
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Gossip is very damaging, look at the story of Grey’s Anatomy!!! Wish it was like that in real life lol. Gossip damages team relations and one’s patients see it and they therefore think less of the staff that are caring for them.Stopping it in its tracks facilitates good relationships and strong team work thus better health care. It is cool to see someone who can think outside a social box the size of gossip alone. And nurses are not stupid empty vessels that make a lot of noise.
If it makes you feel any better, gossip is found in any workplace dominated by women. I used to be a fashion designer and that was even worst. Keep your head up. One way I have found to combat gossip in the workplace is by saying something positive about the person. This always throws people off, or just look blankly at them. Just because gossip occurs in the workplace doesn’t mean you have to participate. It is Registered Nurse like you that make the industry a safe place to be for patients, AND employees!
As a former law enforcement officer working in a male dominated field I found that gossip and passive aggressive behavior among coworkers is a common occurrence. My advise is to do your job, do not put your personal business out, and “do not say anything if you cannot say anything nice”. Remember, out of sight & out of mind.
I am a casual male RN in an acute hospital and I work in all wards where I hear most (not all) female nurses commenting negatively about collegues, management & other wards. It is destructive and very tiring to listen to. Other male collegues have stated they have observed the same. WHY? I have had gossip told about me and if you don’t listen and believe it yourself, it means very little in the end.(only you can let others bring you down)
ow, that’s interesting. thanks for sharing your information and i hope you will post another article regarding this topic. thanks.
It seeems that if 1 nurse does anything wrong, every nurse at every facility in the area knows about it the very next day. At least that’s how it is in the Waco area.
It really is true: Nurses Eat Their Young! You have to have tough skin to be in this business. It is a real shame that it has to be like this. It is kind of ingrained in the nursing culture. I dont think it will ever change either.
nice