How to survive in a toxic work environment as a healthcare professional?

It is no surprise that workplace toxicity is nothing new. In fact, with more and more people placing balance, personal values, satisfaction, and mental health above their monthly income, it should come as no surprise that the prevalence of this type of environment is also decreasing.

How do I know if my work environment is toxic?

Our work environment is not so easily classified. There are specific signs in our daily work routine (always taking into account an important time frame) that determine whether what we experienced today was simply a bad day or whether we are working in a place that is mentally, physically, and emotionally harmful to us.

Some of the most common “symptoms” of workplace toxicity (Appelbaum & Roy-Girard, 2007):

Ineffective internal communication

Absence of support from responsible managers or the HR department

Internal work relationships based on selfish motives and manipulation

Difficulty (or even absence) in achieving goals and commitments

Solving problems in ways that feed fear

Widespread anger and frustration

Denial of responsibility and creation of scapegoats

Lack of trust

Restrictive procedures and company policies

The influence of a toxic workplace environment

How does a toxic workplace environment affect me?

If your daily work life resembles even a little bit of the above description, it is not surprising if your whole being - internally and externally - feels uncomfortable, difficult, intense stress, avoidance, frustration and often despair.

When, in fact, toxic behaviors concern either the upper management levels (directors, HR departments or Managers), or the entire culture of the company, we feel overwhelmed by feelings of immobility and helplessness, with the central thought being that we have no choices and that we are powerless to change the situation, resulting in increased negativity, significantly reducing our motivation and productivity, and creating a cycle of unproductive thoughts and actions, which affects us not only in our working hours, but also in our personal lives.

Surviving a Toxic Environment

How can I survive a toxic work environment?

Think before you act

Having become absorbed by the problem, it is very easy to become one body with the toxicity. To give in, to feel helpless and as you think, so you react – reflexively, loaded with all the negative load that you carry every day when you enter your workplace. A load that you do not leave by closing the office door and instead carry into your home, family, relationships, and life.

Instead, take a breath and reflect: Who are you? What makes you different from the rest? What would you like to gain in knowledge, experience and expertise while you are in this environment? Clear your mind, set your boundaries and carefully choose the people you want to associate with – people who support you, care about helping you grow and help you learn. Make sure to be professional every day, after all, the last thing you want at the end of the day is to feel proud of your own behavior.

Be a role model

Make sure you don’t waste your time on inaction-inducing tactics like gossip or constant complaining and be a role model.

Be the employee who brings positivity to the conversation, who seeks out trusted colleagues for brainstorming, who boosts the confidence of his collaborators with constructive criticism and who encourages everyone to participate in a project even if their ideas are not so innovative.

Ask yourself for a moment what are the things that you are missing in your work? Now, as you have them in mind, think: what would it be like if you did everything you could on your part to bring them into your daily life? You may not be able to completely change the situation in the place where you work, but you can change your attitude and bring into your own work reality everything that you would like to have.

With the tactic of inaction and silent acceptance of a culture that does not help you grow, you will not change anything. Leading by example ultimately shows that you are brave enough to leave fear at the door and show all that you can do regardless of what is happening around you.

Work on your self-confidence and take responsibility for your choices

Toxicity in the hospital work environment is nothing more than a symptom of insecurity.

The fear of loss: of image, money, recognition, clients, glory, admiration, profit, monopoly, security, lifestyle, luxury with “patients” from the lowest executive of an organization to the CEO.

The antidote to this symptom: belief in oneself and taking responsibility.

When we believe in ourselves, in our resilience, our abilities, our resourcefulness and our ability to hope even when we feel we have run out of options, then the fear of loss is not as great as before because we know at our core that whatever difficulty we face we will be okay – we will cope.

Instead of being driven by fear, we are driven by self-confidence to make better decisions, make more appropriate choices, adopt better behavioral habits, and benefit everyone around us in an exchange of productive energy.

Self-confidence and responsibility in practice

So how could you survive in your toxic work environment if you strengthened your self-confidence and took responsibility?

You would abandon procrastination - which you would replace with organization and mobilization because now you would be able to recognize your own areas for improvement. You would leave behind inertia, passivity, constant complaints in the hallways along with the negative comments that recycle toxicity over and over again and replace them with actions - like the ones you lack, like the ones you need to feel more motivated.

You would communicate more productively everything you think and want to do and you would recognize that you are not responsible for the bad behavior you receive from colleagues or superiors. When your work is judged, your overall value as a person is not judged. Because, now, you know who you are and you use it as a shield, until the time comes to take your next step. Whatever that may be…