<p>Workplace bullying is a major concern in the nursing profession, characterised by intentional harm to others, including colleagues, subordinates and superiors within the workplace. Historically, bullying in nursing has been perpetrated by persons in power over lower categories, and nurse managers are often seen as authority figures. However, limited resources lead to upward bullying by subordinates toward managers in South Africa. To explore the experiences of assistant nurse managers being bullied by subordinates in a psychiatric setting in South Africa. A qualitative, exploratory, descriptive, contextual design with a phenomenological approach was used. In-depth phenomenological interviews were conducted to collect data. Twelve assistant nurse managers were interviewed, and three main themes and categories emerged from the data: First, Participants experienced bullying as being openly or covertly harassed by subordinates, paralysing them personally and professionally as managers. Second, Participants experienced the emotional and professional impact of bullying. Third, Participants experienced organisational and contextual factors influencing bullying. Fourth, Participants experienced that supportive teamwork, training and self-management in bullying were crucial to the effective management of the phenomenon. This population requires support, and there should be greater awareness that assistant nurse managers encounter workplace challenges similar to those of other employment categories. This study could ignite awareness of the term ‘upward bullying’ and highlight assistant nurse managers’ challenges with this phenomenon.</p>