I've worked at this job for over eight months now, and it has been one thing after another with about two or three of my coworkers who were determined to show the world that they were the boss everyone else. When I first started there, I made the mistake of trying to stand up for myself when I was blamed for things I did not do, and that ended so badly. Everyone would turn on me (or whoever the victim was that day) and literally pounce on them like a pack of wolves. Eventually, to keep the piece, I would accept blame for just about anything, and just apologize and say I wouldnt do it again. It actually worked, and I was left alone until a few days ago. The second I walked in the door, I got comments about my personal life, such as "You know, if you're having money problems you really shouldn't have gone to Vegas" (a birthday trip I had taken a few years ago). And later, when I wouldn't stop giving meds to go help a particular coworker do the dinner dishes, I got totally chewed out for hours "How would you like if I just never came into the kitchen and helped you with dishes, huh? How would you like that?" (We are NOT allowed to stop in the middle of med pass). And the kicker, when my husband came in to bring me some coffee (I was working a double shift) a coworker made comments to him about me being overweight. When he said "What??" Her response was "Well she's not exactly tall and skinny, is she?" This was all on monday, and when I came into work last night, after attempting to talk to these girls about what was going on, the only thing said to me was "You know, if you don't want people to talk about things, you shouldn't bring them up." (I believe I had mentioned taking the Vegas trip when we were talking about birthdays at one point). I said she was absolutely right, and I'll keep things to myself more. But she had not let it go after four days, and I hadn't even done anything wrong. I asked my boss for a supervision this morning, and I was absolutely terrified. We just got a new team leader, and the past one was very hard and unbending (like...as soon as one of these girls would complain about something, she considered THAT the truth and would not consider the other person's side). I really wanted to take a chance on our new boss that she might be a little bit more enlightened. She did tell me I needed to be a little tougher, because not everyone is as nice as I was, and I need to protect myself by never mentioning anything about my personal life, ever. When I told her I had tried to be more assertive in the past, it came back on me as "communication problems with coworkers" and the only way I don't get in trouble is to literally act stupid and be everyone else's puppet. She said she understood, and would try to nip this problem in the butt. She did tell me, however, that soon after last monday, these two girls came to her (Without talking to me first, per our company policy), and were bitching about me (her words, not mine). I told her that I found that fustrating as I had tried to do the right thing, however difficult it was, and when talking to them about the issue did not work, then I went to the boss. She said that I had taken the high road, and in her eyes, looked a lot better than the other girls who made no efforts to resolve the issue before going to her. I am not the only one who has been having problems with these people, and they really are making everyone's lives heck.

I'm sorry this is so long winded - I literally have not complained about my job before (apart from venting to my husband), and I can't express enough how absolutely exhausting it is working in a place where you have to walk around on egg shells and bend over backwards, or the consequence is being brought to tears.

We work with mentally ill adults, and my focus is normally on the clients 100% - we are there to take care of them, not partake in petty drama or arguments with our supposed team. But when the place I spend the majority of time is turning into my own version of a living hell, there really is something wrong, and I really need some advice on what to do. How can I deal with these women (both older, both been there two years...that's the longest anyone's been there. There is a high turnover rate), so that we have a professional working team, so we can better do our jobs?

I have thought about quitting so many times - but I went to school for psychology, and working with people in this field has been amazing. And once you work with the same people every day, and they let you into their lives in some of the most personal ways - it is so hard to leave. They become your family almost. Not to mention, the experience is valuable for when I plan to go back to school, they pay/hours rock, and there aren't really jobs like this elsewhere besides the hospital