Toxic Nursing: the stories, the solutions

The Supernurse Syndrome

When one nurse believes he or she is automatically a better nurse and more skilled than everyone else, chaos ensues. Are there Supernurses in your hospital? On your unit? By any chance, could you be a Supernurse? Answer the following questions to explore further.

Using a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being “agree as much as possible” and 1 being “disagree as much as possible,” respond to the following:

• I believe that I’m a very skilled nurse.
• My supervisors and other administrators consider me a good nurse.
• I’m the best nurse in my organization.
• The feedback I get from my coworkers about my nursing abilities makes me feel as confident as possible.
• I’m more skilled than most of my coworkers.

These questions are meant to prompt reflection on how you view your own competencies in comparison with those of your colleagues. You could also use them in a meeting of colleagues or staff and start a dialogue on the Supernurse Syndrome.

Tell us about your own toxic experiences, get advice from fellow nurses and read their stories here. 

Cheryl Dellasega is a professor in the Department of Humanities at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa. She is the award-winning author of Surviving Ophelia, Girl Wars and When Nurses Hurt Nurses.

Rebecca L. Volpe is an assistant professor in the Department of Humanities at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, Pa., as well as director of the Clinical Ethics Consultation Service for the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. 

Adapted with permission from Toxic Nursing by Cheryl Dellasega, PhD, RN, CRNP, and Rebecca L. Volpe, PhD. Published 2013 by The Honor Society of Nursing: Sigma Theta Tau International.

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