Bullying in the Workplace Old Nurse to New Nurse

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Literature Review on Bullying
Conclusion
References

Introduction

A considerable amount of scholarly work has been done on bullying in learning institutions and places of work. Bullying at work place takes place when a worker experiences unrelenting forms of maltreatment from his or her colleagues. Bullying can cause physical and psychological pain to the victims. Workplace bullying encompasses, but is not limited to physical, verbal, and emotional abuse (Huston, 2013). This unvoiced scourge in nursing is characteristically encouraged by the need of bullies to have a total control of a person (American Psychiatric Association, 2009). This literature review discusses bullying of new nurses by their senior colleagues as a significant challenge in the nursing career and proposes some strategies for dealing with bullying.

Literature Review on Bullying

Causes of Bullying

Although the word nursing denotes caring and compassion, nurses are not immune to harassment from doctors, workmates and physicians. There is a classic saying that “nurses devour their young,” and various survey results have confirmed this statement.

According to a research conducted by Farrell, nursing is one of the most demanding careers because a nurse has to endure many challenges such as dealing with emotional problems, long working hours and working in precarious environment (Farrell, 2009, pp. 534-536).

A study by Steven points out that bullying is a multifaceted occurrence that is facilitated by many factors at the workplace (Steven, 2009, pp. 189-190). Junior nurses are particularly vulnerable to various forms of harassment. Nurses promoted to other divisions are also common targets for tormentors because they are envied by others. Although many factors may make a nurse harass others, most bullies are encouraged by a sense of dominance, anger and jealousy.

According to Smith, some of the factors that can create unfriendly work environment include poor working environment, insufficient recruitment, and unproductive administrative approaches to problem solving (Smith & Singer, 2010, p. 175).

Incidences of harassment are hardly reported by junior nurses since they admit that unfriendly work environment is widespread in all places of work. In an investigation by Anderson, approximately 50% of the participants observed workplace harassment and did nothing to impede it; thus, allowing the aggressive worker to further bully others unchecked (Farrell, 2009, pp. 538-539).

Another study that was carried out by Rosenstein revealed that approximately 70% of bullied nurses also observed or were victims of a form of child mistreatment or intimate spouse violent behavior. Moreover, “survivors of abuse reported more workplace violence than non survivors of abuse, especially at an earlier stage in their nursing career” (Rosenstein, 2011, pp. 26-28).

Consequences

Huston contends that bullying has serious ramifications at individual and organization levels. To an individual, physical harassment may result in serious wounds. Junior nurses subjected to verbal abuse and emotional harassment may experience serious psychological suffering, which can lead to depression (Huston, 2013).

According to McKenna, depressed nurses often develop medical complications such as anxiety, hypertension and cardiovascular diseases (McKenna & Smith, 2013, pp. 90-92). Nurses who are physically and emotionally bullied become less productive at work and this can hinder the achievement of organizational goals. Moreover, work place bullying can compel nurses to quit their jobs. Resignation of nurses due to bullying can lead to shortage of nurses in hospitals (McKenna & Smith, 2013, pp. 93-95).

Recommendations for Bullying

Based on my experiences in nursing, I would like to recommend the following measures to deal with bullies. Although bullying of nurses is a complicated problem, it can be solved through multifaceted approaches. Newly recruited nurses should develop skills to help them deal with bullies. Nurses should help each other overcome bullying by assisting victims of harassment.

The best way to deal with a bullying incident is to seek help from friends, siblings, and trustworthy workmates. This research also revealed that the least effective approach was remaining silent about a bullying incident. Further, it showed that assistance from friendly workmates mitigated effects of bullying. However, friends may fail to offer professional guidance to the victim of bullying.

Hospitals should develop policies that address harassment, discrimination and bullying of workers. Victims of bullying should consider seeking professional assistance from psychologists and physicians to help them overcome their challenges.

In addition to formulating policies, bullies should always be held accountable and penalized for their actions. Bullied nurses should formally report incidences of harassment to the administration. Moreover, awareness should be created on causes and outcomes of bullying in places of work. For example, a nurse should be conscious of the consequences of bullying on individual well-being and stay put to signs and symptoms, such as lack of sleep, nervousness, and eating challenges.

Conclusion

From this discussion, it is evident that bullying is one of the serious challenges in the nursing profession and mainly affects junior nurses. Bullying of junior nurses by their senior colleagues is a major source of work-related anxiety that results in depressing, life-changing consequences. Nurses should be cushioned against the unfriendly work atmosphere created by tormentors by formulating and implementing lasting measures to curb bullying.

References

American Psychiatric Association. (2009). Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Washington, D.C.: American Psychiatric Association.

Anderson, C. (2008). Workplace violence: Are some nurses more vulnerable?. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 23 (1), 351-366.

Farrell, L. (2009). Aggression in clinical settings: Nurses’ views-A follow-up study. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 29(3), 532-541.

Huston, C. (2013). Professional Issues in nursing: Challanges and opportunities. Philadelphia: Lippincott.

McKenna, B., & Smith, N. (2013). Horizontal violence: Experiences of registered nurses in their first year of practice. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 42(1), 90-96.

Rosenstein, A. (2011). Nurse-physician relationships: Impact on nurse satisfaction and retention. American Journal of Nursing, 102(6), 26-34.

Smith, P., & Singer, M. (2010). Victimization in the school and the workplace: Are there any links? British Journal of Psychology, 94(2), 175-188.

Steven, S. (2009). Nursing workforce retention: Challenging a bullying culture. Health Affairs, 21(5), 189-193.

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