Bullying of Nurses During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Table of Contents

Introduction
Problem Background
Individual Learning Outcomes
Critical Reflection Models
Conclusion
References

Introduction

At my current workplace, the frequency of conflicts between nurses and their coworkers/supervisors seems to have increased with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, making some of the least experienced nurses consider trying a different career. When managed poorly, workplace conflicts can give rise to the issue of workplace bullying. According to Safe Work Australia (2016), workplace bullying is defined as “repeated and unreasonable behavior directed towards a worker/a group of workers that creates a risk to health and safety” (p. 5). The planned capstone experience will involve project- and research-based efforts aimed at studying Australian nurses’ (women’s and newborn health services) experiences with mistreatment in the workplace during and before the COVID-19 pandemic.

Problem Background

The risks of bullying against new and inexperienced nurses have increased at the organization where I work with the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on my personal conversations with new nurses, they often feel upset because of the introduction of new responsibilities (rules regarding disinfection and the use of protective equipment) and conflicts with colleagues and managers that can take place during every shift. The potential causes of these emotionally challenging situations may include an increased workload on staff members, employees’ fear of making costly mistakes when implementing safety measures, and individuals’ emotional stress stemming from the threat of getting an infection or transmitting it to their children and elderly relatives. Additionally, it cannot be denied that prejudice based on the incompatibility of philosophical or cultural values still exists in nursing settings. From what I have witnessed recently, new safety requirements can give another opportunity to express personal enmity towards some of the care staff; for instance, supervisors and more experienced nurses can ridicule young nurses’ approaches to disinfecting their personal belongings or blame the latter if their patients refuse to wear masks.

Nurses caring for expecting/new mothers and their newborns are still supposed to complete the same amount of work as before. Additionally, they are to implement all safety measures to prevent the transmission of the infection to the most vulnerable populations, such as neonates and women with high-risk pregnancies and chronic health conditions. Using an anonymous questionnaire, I am planning to study my coworkers’ experiences of being treated poorly or having conflicts when working in women’s and newborns’ health nursing. The results will shed light on nurses’ knowledge gaps related to anti-bullying laws in Australia, misconceptions about the actual meaning of bullying, and poor knowledge of conflict management techniques. Then, the principles of adult learning will be used to develop and implement an information product to improve the nursing workforce’s bullying awareness and the knowledge of healthy conflict resolution in the workplace.

The problem of workplace bullying in nursing has gained international recognition in recent years and provided the basis for a series of national strategies to protect employees’ mental health. Despite profound and large-scale efforts to address the problem of persistent mistreatment in the workplace, it is too early to say that the issue has been solved. This is the case at least because incidents involving workplace bullying can be caused by industry-specific contributing factors, which makes the development of an effective one-size-fits-all anti-bullying strategy a doubtful idea.

Being a care provider working with women and newborns, I am concerned about all patients’ safety and interested in exploring new or indirect ways of protecting it, such as making sure that all nurses feel safe and welcome at work. Also, having optimal nurse staffing ratios is a prerequisite to patient safety, and effective measures to prevent any instances of workplace bullying and promote healthy conflict resolution add to staff retention (Bambi et al., 2019; Hartin et al., 2018). In the nursing profession, being a victim of workplace bullying is strongly associated with the risks of adverse events in caring for patients, which also explains why so many (almost 80%) victims of bullying eventually decide to leave the profession (Hartin et al., 2020). During high-stress periods, such as the pandemic, the risks of negative experiences with colleagues and other people are increased, which impacts the decision to choose this topic for the project.

Research in the Australian public sector strongly suggests that the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic strengthens the majority of individual and organizational drivers of workplace bullying. Among other things, these drivers include role conflict and ambiguity, increased work demands, and extra pressure on employees to protect their and their client’s safety (Public Service Commission, 2020). There is no doubt that increasing work demands are specifically relevant to those working in health services, such as professionals caring for patients at hospital labor wards.

Employers all over the world are expected to protect their employees from discrimination and unfair treatment in the workplace. In Australia, the recommended strategies for employers to implement are listed and discussed in the updated guide on how to respond to workplace bullying published by SWA (2016). Setting high ethical standards to regulate employees’ workplace behaviors and implementing appropriate and effective bullying reporting procedures is a strategy of great importance in different types of organizations, including the providers of healthcare services. Apart from that, Australian employers are recommended to approach the bullying prevention work by offering proper employee training and timely access to updated information about the management of bullying incidents and resources for further assistance (SWA, 2016). Employee training programs focused on bullying and how to build and maintain positive relationships in a team are needed when the need to manage the risks of conflict escalation arises.

Agencies aimed at promoting employees’ safety and health make specific recommendations concerning the appropriate data collection practices to learn more about the situation with unfair treatment and the best formats of employee training materials. Regarding the collection of data for review, SWA (2016) recommends the use of confidential or anonymous employee surveys to identify “the potential for workplace bullying” (p. 16). Considering many employees’ fear of standing out from the crowd and receiving no support from colleagues, measures to ensure respondents’ anonymity can lead to more accurate evaluations of the psychological climate in an organization and employees’ feelings about the risks of unpleasant incidents. Also, knowing that employees’ knowledge gaps and misconceptions about workplace bullying reduce the chances of promoting a healthy work environment, SWA (2016) encourages organizations to provide training to specialists at different levels of organizational hierarchies in the form of podcasts, face-to-face discussions, printed materials, and online training courses. Such programs are expected to cover different aspects of the problem, including individuals’ opportunities to respond to bullying, bullying prevention measures that anyone can use, and the impact of specific behaviors on employee morale (SWA, 2016).

The outcomes can be impacted by challenges dealing with respondents’ misinterpretation of their own experiences or the willingness to withhold some information due to the fear of being identified. For instance, according to stereotypical views, bullying only refers to direct personal attacks in the workplace that lead to victims’ severe emotional suffering (Wilson, 2016). However, less obvious forms of bullying, including ignoring one’s views, challenging and criticizing one’s decisions too much, or failing to provide someone with all necessary information, also exist in nursing and pose threats to organizational health (Wilson, 2016). Theoretically, some respondents that have only experienced or participated in these forms of bullying might fail to recognize the severity of these actions and take them seriously.

Individual Learning Outcomes

Bloom’s taxonomy classifies learning objectives and can be used to formulate measurable and specific goals referring to different domains of knowledge. In the taxonomy, six different categories of thinking skills are organized in a hierarchical order ranging from low- (knowing and understanding) to high-level cognitive skills (applying, analyzing, evaluating, and creating) (Stanny, 2016). Taking into account the taxonomy and the essential attributes of SMART objectives, I am going to achieve three individual learning outcomes specified below.

1. I will design an effective questionnaire with at least 15 questions to identify nurses’ perceptions of the issue of workplace bullying and any experiences that they have in this regard by December.

Specific – design a questionnaire to study nurses’ perceptions of workplace bullying and experiences;
Measurable – the tool is to include at least 15 well-developed questions;
Achievable – I will study relevant research and approaches to measuring workplace bullying prior to creating the tool;
Relevant – the objective will support the development of my research skills;
Time-based – finish the stage by December 2020.

The need to achieve this goal will encourage me to improve my data search, evaluation, synthesis, and critical thinking skills. It is because the creation of the tool will be preceded by searching for and evaluating scientific literature on the unique features of workplace bullying in healthcare organizations and misconceptions about the issue supported by healthcare staff.

Using the tool, I will sample at least 15 colleagues and analyze bullying-related trends and learning needs by March 2021.

Specific – apply the tool and conduct data analysis;
Measurable – survey at least 15 colleagues;
Achievable – my organization has enough employees to provide the required sample size;
Relevant – the goal supports further development of my leadership skills (emotional intelligence and understanding others);
Time-based – finish by March 2021.

I will encourage enough participants to complete the survey and then use their responses to examine my colleagues’ awareness of workplace bullying and the degree to which their understandings are influenced by misconceptions. This knowledge will enable me to identify the key knowledge gaps and educational needs to be addressed. Therefore, the results will allow outlining the future educational program and the aspects of the issue that it will have to emphasize.

Using the principles of adult learning and the identified learning needs, I will design a ten-page handout on workplace bullying for nurses and an accompanying ten-slide presentation by July or August 2021.

Specific – design two particular products for employees;
Measurable – ten pages/ten slides;
Achievable – I have some experience in creating digital products;
Relevant – the objective is aligned with my goal of promoting a mentally healthy workplace;
Time-based – finish by July/August 2021.

The third goal deals with the sixth domain of knowledge (creating). The goal will be to apply the results of the conducted survey and the principles of adult learning, for instance, the need for respect and goal-oriented education that is easily translated into practice, to design a final product. The product will include a handout on workplace bullying developed with special attention to some work-related challenges of nurses and an educational presentation for the nursing staff to promote healthy attitudes to conflicts and prevent incidents affecting nurse staffing ratios and, eventually, patient safety.

Critical Reflection Models

Participation in reflective practice is what allows learners to take a critical look at the steps they take to reach their educational and professional goals, thus promoting healthy self-doubt. When working on the project discussed above, I am planning to engage in self-reflection activities on a regular basis by creating and keeping a reflective journal to document and discuss the outcomes of every single week of working on the project. The model proposed by Rolfe et al. in 2010 can be used to structure all journal entries and make sure that each entry places new knowledge and insights in the context of nursing practice instead of simply listing some takeaways (Squirrell & Hunt, 2018). This simplified but effective model involves three interconnected stages that allow reflecting on the global applications of specific facts. In the “what” of each entry, I will focus on stating the achievements and insights of the week. The “so what” and “now what” portions of journal entries will refer to more detailed discussions of these achievements and reflect on how to use this knowledge during future practice and in different situations.

Conclusion

Finally, the planned capstone experience will involve studying maternity nurses’ perceptions of and experiences with workplace bullying and applying the results to create an educational product addressing this professional group’s knowledge gaps and misconceptions. The product is expected to improve these specialists’ literacy when it comes to workplace bullying, how it affects nurses, and what individual specialists can do to avoid engaging in bullying behaviors or becoming the victims during the COVID-19 pandemic. Keeping a reflective journal will support me in documenting and analyzing my educational journey and progress.

References

Bambi, S., Guazzini, A., Piredda, M., Lucchini, A., De Marinis, M. G., & Rasero, L. (2019). Negative interactions among nurses: An explorative study on lateral violence and bullying in nursing work settings. Journal of Nursing Management, 27(4), 749-757.

Hartin, P., Birks, M., & Lindsay, D. (2018). Bullying and the nursing profession in Australia: An integrative review of the literature. Collegian, 25(6), 613-619.

Hartin, P., Birks, M., & Lindsay, D. (2020). Bullying in nursing: How has it changed over 4 decades? Journal of Nursing Management, 1-23.

Public Service Commission. (2020). Guidelines: Understanding and preventing bullying during COVID-2019. Author.

Safe Work Australia. (2016). Guide for preventing and responding to workplace bullying. Author.

Squirrell, B., & Hunt, J. (2018). A nursing student’s reflective account of decision-making in a school nursing setting. Nursing Children and Young People, 30(3), 26-29.

Stanny, C. J. (2016). Reevaluating Bloom’s taxonomy: What measurable verbs can and cannot say about student learning. Education Sciences, 6(4), 1-12.

Wilson, J. L. (2016). An exploration of bullying behaviours in nursing: A review of the literature. British Journal of Nursing, 25(6), 303–306.

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