How Mentoring Can Influence the Nursing Profession

If you are an entry level nurse, it might be wise to find someone who can help guide your career: a mentor.  Who knows, by learning from a more experienced nurse, one day you could become a mentor and impact another person entering the field.

There is a saying in the nursing profession that “nurses eat their young” – referring to a certain way veteran nurses are said to treat colleagues (and sometimes, new nursing graduates). Often called horizontal bullying, it can take many forms: verbal insults, a condescending attitude, unwarranted criticism, gossiping or spreading rumors or withholding information in a way that sets someone up to fail.

This kind of bullying occurs in all professions and industries, but it’s especially troubling when it occurs among nurses.

A nurse is someone who has devoted his or her life to caring for other people’s physical, mental, social, spiritual and emotional health. Nurses not only take care of their patients, but also take care of their co-workers.

“Nursing is like a club and all nurses want to be recognized as being an accepted member,” says Joy Green-Hadden, DNP, APRN, assistant dean for graduate studies at American Sentinel University. “When a nurse is bullied, one may wonder why they spent all those years studying and question whether it is time to get out of nursing, even at a time when we are facing a nursing shortage. Continue Reading