Horizontal Aggression In Nursing Essay

Bullying can produce and maintain a poisonous work environment. Nurses who bully can wear down the job satisfaction of their co workers which can result in a loss of productivity and increased absences in the workplace (Stokowski, 2010). Victims of bullying often have a feeling of impending doom and dread when they think about their upcoming work days. Each time the bullying reoccurs, the victims usually

In 2009 unspecified electronic survey was conducted with factors such as type, frequency, perpetrators, and professional/personal concerns on bullying identified (Quine, 2001). The results revealed that out of 330 RN respondents, 72% reported positive to bullying at various occasions in line of their career. Of this segment, clear hostility seemed most frequent in surgical/medical, operational rooms, emergency, obstetrical areas of care and adolescent residential behavioral/ mental health units. The main culprits to these act are non-other than; charge nurses, senior nurses, physicians and nurse managers. This is impartial research among others that have been

In a health and social care setting bullying can be lead to a nurse or socialwoker e.g. who is verbal bullying an elderly patient with sexual orientation. calling them names because of their orientation sex such as stupid, smelly, you look like a girl . Or boy. This will effect the patient physical, emotionally and

Research indicates that bullying is alarmingly prevalent within the nursing profession. According to a study by Berry et al. (2012), nearly 85% of nurses reported experiencing some form of workplace bullying during their careers. These acts of bullying often come from peers, supervisors, or even patients and their families, creating a hostile work environment that undermines the well-being of nurses and

Nursing is a career that offers many benefits, but with it comes numerous controversies. A major controversy that is evident today is lateral violence in the workplace. Norris (2010) describes lateral violence as, “the act of threatening, humiliating, or actually inflicting physical, mental or emotional harm on a peer or group” (p. 1). This topic has become critical in the nursing field because it impacts a very large demographic. Lateral violence affects nurses, patients, and the healthcare system as a whole and there are many techniques being put in place to try and prevent its existence.

Lateral violence is a devastating phenomenon in the nursing workplace. It is also known as ‘horizontal violence’ or ‘workplace bullying (Coursey, Rodriguez, Dieckmann, & Austin, 2013). In this evidenced-based paper there will be information provided to figure out why there is lateral violence in the workplace and how to incorporate civility.

Nursing is a predominately caring and compassionate field. Nurses care for their patients and the patients family day in and day out. Yet nursing is not immune to hostile behavior towards their fellow nurses. Lateral violence is the politically correct term for addressing “bullying” in the workplace (Hippeli, 2009). In nursing, the phrase: “Nurses eat their young”, can be commonly heard to describe bully-type behavior. Beacher & Visovsly (2012) describe horizontal or lateral violence done by nurses to nurses as hostile, aggressive, and harmful behavior by a nurse or group of nurses towards a coworker or group of nurses via attitudes, actions, words, and/or behaviors

Long-term exposure to bullying affects the performance of nurses which ultimately puts the patients at risk (Granstra, 2015). Without civility in the workplace, the quality and quantity of hard work will diminish (Granstra, 2015). Civility is important in the nursing practice because it enables teamwork, communication, and respect. Without teamwork, communication, and respect, employees work in an environment hampered by ineffective coordination of care (Granstra, 2015). For example, nurses should be communicating about changes in the patient’s condition.

Sustained exposure to violence in the workplace including aggression, abuse, and bullying can have serious physical and psychological consequences, causing some nurses to consider leaving the profession. Workplace violence, including disruptive physician behaviour, also results in decreased patient safety. Clearly, violence against nurses is an important issue among nurses, their patients and the nursing profession at large ( RNAO, iaBPGR, 2009 p.30). Likewise, the ICN report revealed that 75 per cent of nurses do not feel safe from assault in their workplace and up to 95 per cent reported having been bullied at work ( ICN,2001.p. 3).

The problem of interest that I chose to discuss is lateral violence (LV) in nursing. LV is a deliberate and harmful behavior demonstrated in the workplace by one employee to another, it is a significant problem in the nursing profession (Christie, 2014). LV is the same thing as bullying someone. Studies estimate that 44% to 85% of nurses are victims of LV; up to 93% of nurses report witnessing LV in the workplace (Christie, 2014). LV can affect the victim’s physical and mental health, it can affect patient care and safety, and can be detrimental to the work environment. LV is often perpetrated by nurse managers and some nurses are afraid to report the LV for fear of retaliation or losing their jobs (Christie, 2014).

Several models and concepts arose in preventative measures to workplace violence in nursing. One conceptual model, according to Covert Crime at Work, is “a conceptual model derived from 370 surveys show working conditions conducive to bullying, thus helping to identify risks early and to prevent unhealthy environments from developing.” After recognition of these research and studies, organizations such as Occupations Safety and Hazard Association, American Nurses Associations, and etc, have implemented guidelines to prevent workplace violence in nursing.

Unfortunately, bullying amongst nurses has been a dark undertone in the profession throughout it’s history. An all to common phrase of “nurses eat their young” is often expressed in current and past nursing environments. Nurses care tirelessly for their patients with compassion and grace yet don’t seem to want to take care of their own. Many have come to believe this is simply the way it is, similar to an initiation or right of passage. Bullying, incivility and horizontal violence have no place in the nursing profession. Bullying can be defined as “situations where an employee is persistently picked on or humiliated by leaders or fellow co-workers” (Longo and Hain, 2014). Horizontal or lateral violence occurs when the behavior is between colleagues, or between two nurses with the same power. Bullying can show its ugly

The nursing profession is not suited for everyone as nurses work within a multidimensional profession reliant on the skills of critical thinking, clinical skills, effective communication, and collaboration with others (Sullivan, 2013). A common occurrence in nursing is workplace bullying (WPB) which effects the targeted person, but can also have adverse effects on patients, bystanders and other staff members. According to Blackstock, Harlos, and Hardy (2015) “Workplace bullying refers to repeated behaviors by organizational members that are offensive, often escalating in intensity with a perceived intent to harm” (p.1107). The purpose of this paper is to highlight the issues behind WPB in the nursing profession. I will explain how I decided on my attended message of WPB, who and how I will convey my message, and a detailed summary of my personal learning about how I can become more influential in the nursing profession.

Of all professions, nursing has been consistently ranked as the most honest and ethical of all professions polled. In fact, this year our profession was ranked the most honest and ethical for the thirteenth year in a row (Sachs & Jones, 2014). But for our consistent rankings, there is a quiet festering problem that has been growing among us; a problem that has largely been disregarded as too infrequent to worry about or just paying your dues. The problem is “not new to nursing, but has been long ignored as an issue critical to the profession. As a result, the behaviors have been allowed to contaminate the work environment” (Longo, 2013, p. 951). Only in the last decade has substantial research been conducted across many cultures that shows this problem to be a widespread and serious problem (Ekici & Beder, 2014, p. 24). This problem is workplace bullying, also referred to as lateral/horizontal violence or vertical violence. This bullying, while seemingly trivial at times, can have broad and devastating consequences. Most notable of these effects of the consequences are employee productivity, mental and physical health, retention of staff, facility costs, and most importantly, patient safety (Ekici & Beder, 2014, pp. 25,31; Gaffney, DeMarco, Hofmeyer, Vessey, & Budin, 2012, p. 2). Bullying can be experienced by anyone at any level of the work place: graduate nurses, experienced nurses, charge

The mention of the subject of bullying arouses various scenarios of young middle school or high school children hitting and taking advantage of one another. Due to this mentality, we have believed that the act of bullying is one the ends in childhood. However, it is sad that this act has progressed into adulthood and penetrated into the nursing profession. I am in the Blue team, thus the problem this paper is going to address is,“Horizontal Violence among new graduate nurses.” Horizontal violence is simply the act of bullying and abuse among nurses that occurs in every level of clinical practice, research and education (Egues & Leaning, 2013).