Critique of Research Studies: Quantitative Title: The Effect of Bullying on Burnout in Nurses: The Moderating Role of Psychological Detachment

Abstract

Horizontal violence, or workplace bullying of nurses, remains a serious problem for the nursing profession. But while bullying remains a serious issue for all nurses in all workplaces, all nurses are individuals and experience the phenomenon in psychologically complex and distinct ways. This study attempted to discern the extent to which psychological detachment from the situation could act as a buffer for the nurse in protecting her against the stressors of negative judgements and pressures.

Introduction

Bullying is a serious issue within all professions, but the nursing profession in particular has been notorious for the phenomenon of nurses “eating their young,” or subjecting new and younger members of the profession to psychological stress and bullying. In this study by Allen, Holland, & Reynolds (2015), the researchers attempted to discern the extent to which a specific psychological phenomenon, that of psychological detachment, acted as a moderating influence upon the negative impact of bullying in the workplace. Psychological detachment is defined as the ability to detach one’s self from the work situation, if not physically, then through psychological strategies.

Statement of the Problem

While workplace bullying remains a problem from an ethical standpoint, determining if some nurses are more psychologically vulnerable to it might help better understand the problem and provide cognitively useful strategies for nurses to cope with the phenomenon.

Hypotheses or Research Questions

The hypothesis, which was ultimately disproved, was that...

Due to the stresses incumbent upon many nurses in the workplace, nurses may lash out at other nurses, particularly if they feel as if the administration is not responsive to their concerns about overly long shifts and irregular hours. Bullying can be the result of older and more experienced nurses experiencing burnout. It can also, of course, provoke burnout in the victims of bullying, exacerbate workplace attrition and therefore further contribute to workplace stress, thus exacerbating the cycle rather than healing it. As a potentially disruptive force, the authors of the study suggest that psychological detachment may have a healing factor. Resiliency, or the observation that some individuals are more resilient to certain types of stressors than others, is an underlying assumption to this psychological construct. Resiliency would suggest that psychological detachment has a protective quality.
Conceptual/Theoretical Framework

Two conceptual frameworks provided the underpinnings of this study. The first was that of horizontal violence or bullying, which has been deemed to have certain unique causes and features within the nursing profession. The second was that of psychological detachment, which suggested would provide a buffer to the effects of bullying and at least reveal psychological distinctions between nurses. However, in the quantitative questionnaire submitted to the 762 registered nurse participants, even nurses with a high degree of psychological detachment in the workplace were still to have found to suffer considerably…