Workplace Issues - Bullying Introduction

The effect bullying has on nurses at work has been well documented. Various research articles have suggested a number of strategies that could be implemented so as to rein in this destructive behavior. This text concerned itself with the impact of workplace bullying in a nursing environment and the approaches that have been highlighted to end the same. In so doing, the text will assess and evaluate two articles on the same topic, i.e. Psychological Distress and Workplace Bullying among Registered Nurses by Berry, Gillespie, Fisher, Gormley, and Haynes; and Countering Unprofessional Behaviors among Nurses in the Workplace by Filipova.

Discussion

The cost of bullying at the organizational level is immense. This is more so the case on the financial, personnel, patient care, and reputational fronts. As Berry, Gillespie, Fisher, Gormley, and Haynes (2016) point out, registered nurses often find themselves working in difficult environments as a consequence of workplace bullying. In their study seeking to assess workplace bullying as well as psychological distress among registered nurses, Berry et al. (2016) find that workplace bullying has a wide range of consequences. The personnel implications of workplace bullying are especially serious as they impact the professional...

It is important to note that nurses who find themselves in a setting where bullying is prevalent are likely to have lower morale as well as job satisfaction in comparison to their counterparts working in a bullying-free workplace.
Low levels of morale and job satisfaction are likely to negatively impact productivity – effectively meaning that those affected can no longer guarantee high-quality care (Huntington, Gilmour, Tuckett, Neville, Wilson, and Turner, 2011). In such a case, the reputation of the hospital ends up suffering, with the financial implications being decreased revenues. It should also be noted that psychological distress as a consequence of workplace bullying increases the risk for medical errors and hence compromises patient safety – effectively increasing the likelihood for legal action against the hospital. On the basis of these implications, the relevance of implementing the most appropriate interventions to rein in the consequences identified by the authors cannot be overstated.

According to Berry et al. (2016), nursing leaders have a significant role to play on this front. This is more so the case when it…