Corrections_Today_Spring_2025_Vol.87_No.1

COMMITTEES

Protecting nurses

the victim is a good idea, along with the victim reviewing his/her own behavior and making changes where needed. Some other tactics that may help to reduce bullying include appearing strong and confident, documenting the bullying behaviors and notifying the supervisor. Those that are bullying have to be held accountable and informed that the behavior is to stop im mediately. The victim needs to be supported and separated from the bullies. If there is merit to the complaints of errors or mistakes, the victim may need to have more training, education, or review of the procedures. The victim needs to feel empowered and to have some control of her/his own situation. When the victim feels emotion ally unsafe, the person may start to miss work or ultimately resign. Many workplaces have a policy and procedure in place that also needs to be followed.

and inmates as illegal. Even if the inmate initiates the contact, the staff person will be held respon sible. Inmates are under the control of the staff members, so the inmate can not legally give consent in such cases. There is a nursing shortage in the United States and corrections is feeling the pinch. Until we change our culture and step up to protect the nurses that we have on staff, physically as well as emotionally, we will continue to lose nurses. Bullying and ostracizing are never okay. CT REFERENCES: American Nurses Association. Position statement: Incivility, bullying, and workplace violence. July 22, 2015. nursingworld.org/prac tice-policy/nursing-excellence/official-position statements/id/incivility-bullying-and-workplace violence Campbell, S. (2016). The 6 Toxic Traits of Workplace Gossips. Entrepreneur. https://www. entrepreneur.com/leadership/the-6-toxic-traits of-workplace-gossips/279445 Dowd, M. (2020). How to Deal With Colleagues Who Are Ignoring you. https://work.chron.com/ deal-colleagues-ignoring-19181.html Edmonson, C. & Zelonka, C. (2019) Our Own Worst Enemies: The Nurse Bullying Epidemic. Nursing Administration Quarterly 43(3):p 274-279, | DOI: 10.1097/ NAQ.0000000000000353 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-021-00578-3 Nurse Bullying — Why It Happens and How to Prevent it | Dropstat. https://dropstat.com/blog/ bullying-in-nursing/Dropstat 6 Signs Of A Nurse Bully In Your Team — NurseBuff. https://www.nursebuff.com/ nurse-bully/ Oct 7, 2016 Teresa I. Royer MSN, RN, CCN/M retired in 2023 from the Nebraska Department of Correctional Services after 36 years of service. Her last position was as the RTC DON. She currently works as a nurse consultant. Teresa is also a member of the ACA Nursing Committee.

Nursing, whether in correc tions or in the community, requires nurses who are able to physically and mentally perform patient care. When a nurse feels unsafe, either emotionally or physically, the work performance will start to suffer and mistakes are more likely to occur. The victim’s confidence may begin to erode. As this occurs in the correctional setting, the nurse may be more sus ceptible to the advances or offers from the inmate/offender/patient. Inmates tend to observe and notice when staff are at odds with each other. They may use the opportuni ty to engage/align themselves with the nurse/victim and to increase the wedge between the staff mem bers. While the boundaries between the nurse and the inmate/patients are strict in the correctional setting, those lines may blur for the nurse who has been os

tracized/bullied by her/his coworkers. This may cause se curity/legal issues for the nurse and facility. The nurse may become too friendly with in mates, give favors or bring in items, or even evolve into a romantic type relationship. Laws exist in nearly all of the states in the United States that outline romantic/ sexual relation ships between staff

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Corrections Today | Spring 2025

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