When Nurses Hurt Nurses

Abstract

Sigma Theta Tau International 2011, 224 pages, softcover This book focuses on relationships between nurses and relational aggression, a form of female bullying. Relational aggression is defined as "gossip, exclusion, teasing, tormenting, undermining, cyberslamming, and a lot of other verbal and social behaviors designed to wound another person." The book explains the behavior and the saying every nurse has heard: "Nurses eat their young."The author is a professor of humanities and women's studies. She has worked clinically as a nurse practitioner and is an expert on relationships between women and within families. As a nurse, she has experienced relational aggression firsthand from other nurses and is able to describe unfortunate situations of the type that every nurse has witnessed or been a part of as the bully, bystander, or victim.This book flows smoothly, answering the kinds of questions nurses are likely to ask about relational aggression. It is organized into two parts: the first is about nurses and relational aggression, and the second is about healing from relational aggression situations. The author discusses how nurses, members of a profession known for caring, can be so brutal to each other. Factors include that nurses are competitive, are driven by a sense of threat or fear, and are motivated internally.Chapters address the different types of relational aggression, the roles of individuals within relational aggression situations, the consequences of such situations, how to avoid the situations, and how to heal from them. The author also addresses how relational aggression among nurses negatively affects patient care and team performance. At the end of each chapter is an exercise to help readers analyze their own participation in relational aggression situations. The book concludes with numerous resources that nurses can use to get more information about relational aggression and bullying within the nursing profession. At the end of the book are several appendixes that include more exercises and give additional information about relational aggression.