Schools are teaching it across the country: Character Counts. And traits like trustworthiness, caring, responsibility, and respect continue to count—and have far-reaching implications—when you become a professional.

Yet, we hear repeatedly from nurses on this site that nurses are bereft of respect.

Guess what? You need to stop pointing fingers. Creating a respectful working environment starts with you.

If I don’t act respectful towards other people, or if I’m not respectful of their roles, I cannot expect them to be respectful towards me. I have to go out of my way to be responsible and kind toward my colleagues, especially the irksome characters on my unit.

That means I talk to people in a professional way; I politely make requests; I listen when someone is speaking to me; I ask questions; I pick up after myself.

Let’s say you want to be respected, but you’re not taking care of your patients’ rooms, or you’re not documenting clearly or thoroughly, or you’re rushing through a report. If you’re not doing all of those things, and then you say, “Why don’t people respect me?” it’s because you’re not doing your job to the extent that demands respect.

If you spend every three minutes talking about other people, guess what? People aren’t going to respect you, because you’re demonstrating behavior that will make people not trust you. You’re more interested in talking about your weekend and your plans than you are about your patients. Ask yourself, Am I demonstrating a seriousness toward my work?

Want respect? Do your work thoroughly. Treat people kindly. Stop gossiping. Listen. Strive to be the kind of person you respect—and treat others the way you want to be treated.

It counts.

Related: Attitude, Gossip, Nurse Relationships, Professionalism, Respect