Dr. JoNeil Conley
You are not weak.
You are not difficult.
You are not the problem.
Your nervous system is injured and there is a name for what is happening to you.
Dr. JoNeil Conley, BSN, MBA, DM
Bullyologist™ | Author of The Biology of Bullying: Why Nurses Eat Each Other and How to Take Them Off the Menu
My Approach
Workplace bullying in nursing is not a personality conflict. It is not a toughness problem. It is a nervous system injury.
For decades, we handed traumatized nurses a worksheet on resilience and told them to try harder.
My work is grounded in the biology behind what is happening to you: the amygdala hijack, the Hostage Brain response, the COBUMS™ spiral- Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, Moral Injury, and Stress stacking on top of each other, shift after shift.
I help nurses understand what is happening in their body, what is broken in the system, and how to heal- without blaming themselves, toughing it out, or being told to fix their personality.
I have the credentials. I did the research. My doctoral dissertation studied bullying in preoperative nursing and found a direct link to surgical Never Events- patients harmed on the table because bullying was so normalized nobody saw it as a safety issue.
Knowing about bullying does not protect you from it. Understanding what it does to your nervous system does.
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GROUNDED IN THE BIOLOGY
This work is built on doctoral research linking nursing bullying directly to patient harm. When nurses are not safe, patients are not safe. The neuroscience is not a tagline. It is the foundation.
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NEARLY 50 YEARS AT THE BEDSIDE
From the OR to trauma centers to Senior Director of Nursing Leadership at the Advisory Board, working with 300+ hospitals nationwide- I have seen what this does to nurses everywhere. And what it takes to heal.
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YOU ARE NOT ALONE
The break room that goes silent when you walk in. Eating in your car. The manager who said, 'I can't get rid of the whole team.' I have heard your story because I lived mine. And I came back to tell you: this is not you. This is your biology responding to harm.
FAQ
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My heart is with nurses- that is who this work was built for. If you work in healthcare and you are living the COBUMS spiral, you are in the right place.
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The Bully-itis Exam™ is a structured 60-minute evaluation of your situation, your nervous system response, your documentation gaps, and your next steps. You leave with a written treatment plan. From there, the 6-week Recovery Protocol helps you stabilize, document, and decide: Stay. Transfer. Escalate. Exit.
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That is exactly why the Exam exists. You do not have to walk in with a plan. You walk in with your story. We figure out the rest together.
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No. This is nurse-to-nurse coaching- practical, private, and built around your specific workplace situation. If acute crisis care is what you need, I will help you find it.
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Yes- on bullying, nursing culture, and the neuroscience behind why toxic workplaces do not just hurt nurses. They hurt patients. Contact me to discuss your event.
What Clients are Saying
“I didn’t even know what I needed when I booked with Dr. JoNeil—I just knew I was at my breaking point. That one session felt like exhaling for the first time in months. She didn’t fix me. She reminded me I wasn’t broken.”
-Melissa G., Coaching Client
“Dr. JoNeil speaks with the kind of honesty that cuts through the noise and lands straight in your gut. She’s warm, wise, and says the hard things in a way that makes you feel safe enough to let go. Her work cracked something open in me that I didn’t even know I was holding.”
-Jasmine T., Workshop Participant
Get in Touch!
Whether you're curious about working together, interested in booking me for your next event, or just need a safe place to ask "is this normal?"- I’d love to hear from you.
