HOW I admire the courage of bullying victim nurse Sylvia Johnstone (LET, June 3), but although she won £32,000 compensation it was not enough.

Money does not replace the heartache and stress, nor does it replace how it makes you feel being bullied and harassed. No one can ever know how that feels unless they have suffered.

No one understands why you go to such lengths to attend an employment tribunal hearing. Comments like "There's no smoke without fire," "She's out for a quick claim" or "It's easy money," made by ex-colleagues whom you once classed as friends make you realise that you are on your own.

Prior to attending an employment tribunal hearing, you suffer a great loss in earnings; you are blacklisted which prevents you from gaining further employment. Furthermore, you may also be affected by the threat of losing your home; being unable to provide for your family; the possibility of your family splitting up due to the amount of pressure you are under. Worse than this is the feeling of humiliation coupled with the loss of self esteem and even illness.

The NHS is recruiting staff from Spain and other European countries while nurses here are being treated shoddily, working in fear of speaking out in order to keep their jobs.

Like Nurse Johnstone, I was a good nurse within the NHS for quite some years until I suffered harassment and bullying. Trying to implement their policies and procedures guidelines was a nightmare. Even with the help and support of a union official, it was a joke. The term 'clash of personalities' is the end result.

You are either forced to put up with this, or like myself, pursue the matter at an employment tribunals hearing. Once you take this route, the issue is the one of incompetence and before you can defend yourself, your career is over.

Nurses are bound by a professional code of conduct which clearly states that we must "work in an open and co-operative manner with health care professionals and others involved in providing care, and recognise and respect their particular contributions within the care team."

It would appear that the harasser has forgotten about our code of conduct! I would like to wish Nurse Johnstone good luck for the future and if there are any nurses who have suffered harassment, bullying or humiliation at the hands of their colleagues, speak out now and we may get rid of these people who are obviously in the wrong job.

Name and address received.