I spoke to an old friend the other night who is going through a tough time in her new post.
Unfortunately it’s all too common an experience – hospital politics.
I don’t know what it is about healthcare that becomes so elitist. Thankfully not everyone in the NHS has been hit with a superiority complex, but more than we would all care for. It seems care is the operative word, or the distinct lack of it in some people. When working in this type of profession you would expect a certain level of humanity – but for some it’s just a power trip.
What’s super annoying is that there are some absolute diamonds I’ve worked with over the years, but there is this weird undercurrent of control and hierarchy which taints it all. My friend and I have had a similar experience throughout childhood which has left us both with a a bit of a problem with authority. Personally I think there are ways of leading, unfortunately many didn’t get the memo that being a dick isn’t one of them. The problem we both face is that we aren’t afraid to rock the boat, and in doing so we sometimes get thrown overboard and are left treading water alone.
So why do some people feel the need to be unkind?
Is it insecurity?
Are they threatened?
Do they just enjoy making others feel small?
We both said we would love to do a study on it, try to figure out what causes these behaviours. What these Type A’s don’t realise or seem to care about, is the affect they have on team dynamics and stress. These people become a bad cloud that stain your work life, sometimes making it unbearable, and rather than the behaviour being challenged, it is mismanaged. There is an acceptance that this is how some senior staff operate, an old school hardiness that comes with years of service.
What is really upsetting is that we are fully aware of how stressful this job is, are they fully aware of the amount they contribute to that?
Do they realise that it pushes people over the edge?
Was that their aim?
And we wonder why there is a nursing shortage?
I am obviously so pleased that services for staff mental health and wellbeing is being taken seriously, but have the causes of stress been truly investigated?
Does the job actually need to be this stressful?
Why can’t we fix the root cause?
I’m not saying that this is the one and only thing causing low mood in NHS workers, but this culture is definitely a factor which needs more serious investigation.
When you don’t Trust your managers, work becomes a very unsettling place.
Now I am incredibly lucky in my new role, it has been so refreshing to be so well supported and encouraged to speak out about certain issues. However this isn’t the case for many others, including my mate I spoke to last night, and countless others who have regaled their tales of mistreatment over the years. This was part of the reason I shelved my Advanced Clinical Practice masters, it wasn’t worth the politics that came with it.
For those that don’t really know what Advanced Practice is – it basically trains you to be a Noctor – a nurse/doctor hybrid. This is explaining it very simply and all the ACP’s out there will be vying for my blood, but that’s the easiest way to explain it. With one foot in both worlds it became even more apparent how distant they were from each other, both legs uncoordinated and the worlds orbiting further apart. The resulting image is me doing the splits, and those who know me will understand how much of a struggle that would be.
The ACP role has been forced to forge its own place in the Healthcare system, overcoming various hurdles which continue to be thrown in their path. It wasn’t really until the Doctors shortage that the role began to be utilised more widely, a case of need more than want. The sporadic nature of its development left major disparities between Job Description, the lack of specific regulation means training and implementation of the role varies from Trust to Trust. It can sometimes even vary within one department.
The role confusion is hard to manage, there is evidence of ACP’s feeling something called “Imposter Syndrome” where you don’t feel fit for the job almost. The battle to gain the time and clinical supervision needed to fulfil the requirements of the course was ridiculous, it was like they just wanted something for nothing. There seemed no investment or respect for my training, asking for the support that my peers at other Trusts were receiving seemed to build walls rather than break them down. I got the vibe some senior staff felt I was acting above my station to question the situation. Who was I to challenge them.
Why were they so defensive?
I’m not alone, this is similar to my mate’s recent experience. The injustice almost feels like bullying which is so difficult to deal with emotionally. Your perceptions of colleagues turned on their head.
I’ve just been reading a twitter thread about the experience of Junior Doctors being mistreated, talked down to, belittled, forced to work ridiculous rota’s.
I’ve heard of Docs struggling to get time off for their own wedding, being grilled for taking time of for bereavements, it’s shocking the lack of compassion.
Nurses “caring” for countless patients stacked in corridors for 12 hour night shifts and no break, to be told by managers arriving in the morning that they need to learn to manage their time better and try to slap a smile on when the Big Cheese walks the floor.
When a patient thanked a nurse for the care they‘d received from her, the manager interrupted and said “it‘s just her job you know”.
I could go on.
But as I say, it’s a culture, which seems much more prevalent in the NHS than in other workplaces. If we want to tackle retention, then this is an issue we need to do some serious work on.