Employee Bullying in Healthcare

Article Critique of ‘Workplace Bullying in the OR’
Problem & Purpose
In this article, the statement of the problem concerns issues of workplace bullying and has looked at two medical centers. Hence, the purpose of this article is to describe workplace bullying by looking at the people it affects who are perioperative RNs, surgical technologists, and unlicensed perioperative personnel. Therefore, the purpose of the article was to determine whether demographic variables such as years of experience, age, and gender among others were things that predicted workplace bullying. From this, that the problem statement and purpose of the article are well defined, clear and precise for the reader to identify. The researchers have defined the project appropriately regarding both scope and depth, which culminates in a well-researched work. Workplace bullying is a current issue that continues to affect healthcare providers and organizations (Robson, 2011). Therefore, research conducted by other scholars has shown how detrimental bullying consequences are to individuals and organizations.
Significance
The article brings out the important significance of the issue at hand by demonstrating that workplace bullying involves perceived power imbalance in the work environment, which creates hostility. Moreover, workplace bullying is an action that has been well documented by general populations. Therefore, healthcare providers and organizations should understand its consequences. Therefore, for the clinical practice, gaining an understanding of workplace bullying issues is a remedy to providing patients with better medical care. Furthermore, the work environment will be friendly for the healthcare providers resulting in enhanced productivity and improved medical care services for the general population.
The aspect of research theory has also been captured in the significance of the arguments raised in the article and has looked at describing and giving guidance to the translation process of the research into good practice, which looks at process models. Secondly, the theoretical approaches of this research have managed to create an understanding and explanation of the items that influence implementation outcomes like using the determinant frameworks and implementation theories. Lastly, research theory is significant in the arguments raised because it helps in evaluating implementation methods and strategies.
Regarding knowledge and policy development, the argument is good because of the importance ascribed to having a solution that will see the elimination of workplace bullying in healthcare organizations. Moreover, since workplace bullying affects many people, knowledge should then be relayed to all people in an attempt to reduce the consequences and reoccurrence of such events in other organizations, companies, and institutions among other entities.
Literature Review
The article has been able to use current research work even though some articles dating back to the year 1996. Nonetheless, using very old article is somehow important when the authors are looking at giving their readers a clear background and history of the problem. However, for workplace bullying, the authors should use recent articles to emphasize the relevance of their study in the modern world. This section also acknowledges that knowledge gaps are present and need to be researched further because they will bring out a clearer view of the problem and solutions can be attained promptly. For the authors, giving a clear definition to bullying was important because of the numerous definitions presented by different scholars. Evidence present show that key literature was cited accurately in the article, for example, the use of Hutchinson et al. new model of bullying helped in guiding the study. The model looked at having ‘organizational antecedents’ because they facilitated the existence of bullying in the work environment (Saunders & Rojon, 2011).
Human Subjects
For any study to succeed, researchers need to consider the human rights of their subjects. For this study, this was well taken care of and implemented. They attached a cover letter at the beginning of each survey that described the risks, aims, and benefits of participating in the study. However, before giving the two medical centers the survey materials, which were intended for data collection purposes, the authors needed to seek approval from the two hospitals. Therefore, they went ahead, explained their purpose of wanting to collect data in the hospitals, and received approval from the institution's review board (IRB). Later on, they decided to meet with the nurse managers under perioperative departments to introduce the study to the rest of the team. Moreover, they had to attend their staff meetings in an attempt to familiarize themselves with the whole team. The subjects were at liberty to either take part in the study or opt out by simply failing to return the survey. For those who returned the survey, they were in consent and fully understood the study (Chipps et al., 2013).
Method
The article has managed to use the descriptive research design because the study is looking at finding out what is the whole issue of workplace bullying by looking at several people affected in the OR. Through the descriptive design, the researchers have managed to categorize their information in ways such as gender, ethnicity, and age patterns, which was later organized, tabulated, depicted, and analyzed using different instruments such as the SPSS software (Chipps et al., 2013).
For this study, survey research was the type of measurement applied, and summary reports of data given included measures of central tendency such as standard deviation, means, and the correlation between their continuous variables. For their categorical variables, the study was able to calculate frequencies and percentages.
The uniqueness of descriptive research has enabled the researchers to employ some variables in their study to analyze correlations between their multiple variables. For example, the study used tests such as the multiple regression analysis to predict the intensity of bullying activities. Moreover, the study used inferential statistics that included correlational analysis, logistic regression analyses and multiple regressions (Chipps et al., 2013).
Overall, the research design has managed to match the problem under study because it described the events in greater and less depth. Moreover, the design managed to engage quantitative statistics when organizing information in ways that are meaningful. Furthermore, the subject under study is observed under an environment that is completely natural, which implies that the environment is unchanged. The limit of this design is that the results obtained cannot be used in discovering definitive answer or even disproving the hypothesis. Replication of results is not possible because the design uses observation methods. The research function of the design heavily depends on instrumentation for purposes of measurement and observation (Saunders & Rojon, 2012).
Sample
The sample design used in the article is a simple random sample. The method is used majorly adopted in statistical methods and computations. Aspects of eligibility or exclusion criteria are clear because the technique used a homogenous population thus, making the sampling procedures to become clear for readers and the researchers. For the study, the sample size is appropriate because having large numbers will mean increased biases in the research (Saunders & Rojon, 2012).
In this study, the instrument used by the researcher was the observation forms while the subject-completed instrument was in the form of questionnaires. The reliability and validity of the questionnaire were cited in the study using the Cronbach alpha scores. The rationale for using the instrument selected in this study is clear and convincing because they give accurate results of tabulated data (Ali & Bhaskar, 2016).
Data Collection
The article uses clear survey method in data collection and the application of focused-group discussions. The research team contacted the subjects personally resulting in the high accuracy and relevance of data. The questionnaires and surveys could be self-administered (Ali & Bhaskar, 2016).
Various statistical techniques have been used to determine validity and reliability. Moreover, the flexibility of surveys gives the study an advantage because a wide range of information is collected and standardization has made it relatively free from several error types. The questions asked are ones that interest the researcher, and this means recording, codifying, and analyzing of data is enhanced through having standardized questions. The researcher had no negative influences, and this meant that no control was necessary (Ali & Bhaskar, 2016).
Data Analysis
Descriptive statistics have managed to use measures of central tendency for their statistical tests and have measured the mean, which was influenced by the extreme variables. Moreover, they also used the normal distribution or Gaussian distribution and showed symmetrical positive and negative deviations. The statistical tests match well with the data used because they provide a summary of data presented by respondents in the form of mean, mode, and median (Ali & Bhaskar, 2016).
Results
The total sample of the study was 167, but not all participants responded to the questions and this attributed to providing percentages. Based on the NAQ-R question responses, the frequency of bullying acts was presented and showed top ten acts identified by respondents as occurring on a monthly or weekly basis. At hospital A, the perioperative staff who worked there were almost three times more likely to be bullying targets compared to hospital B. Bullying intensity showed high significance difference by ethnicity after controlling the other variables (Chipps et al., 2013).
Bullying does not have adverse effects on the safety of patients since it is mostly associated with emotional exhaustion, which in turn affects tenure intentions of their workforce and job satisfaction measures. From this information, it is evident that the results are clear, complete and well identified by the authors. The aim of the study looked at describing workplace bullying among different people in the OR, which was achieved. Secondly, it looked at the demographic variables and the possibility of predicting their actions. Thirdly, it sought to determine whether there existed a relationship between workplace bullying and emotional exhaustion for the people in question. Lastly, it determined whether the issue is associated with perceptions of safety for patients in the OR. All this were identified and answered in full by the study (Chipps et al., 2013).
Conclusions/Implications
The conclusion of the article gives a good summary of the study findings, which gives readers a clear picture of the whole issue because it has reflected on the data collected by the researcher. The proximity experienced by perioperative staff members has made them not self-identify with aspects of being bullied but do acknowledge that they have witnesses others bullied in the workplace. In most instances, individuals perpetrating the bullying might have been bullied previously thereby causing their role and interpersonal conflict. Such factors lead one to think of patient outcomes, but several factors can facilitate the elimination of bullying in the workplace. Measures need to be incorporated into the management strategy of organizations, but they need to work together in attaining lasting solutions. Accountability needs to be promoted in the organization to minimize the financial strain healthcare institutions face (Chipps et al., 2013).


References
Ali, Z., & Bhaskar, S. B. (2016). Basic statistical tools in research and data analysis. Indian Journal of Anaesthesia, 60(9), 662.
Chipps, E., Stelmaschuk, S., Albert, N. M., Bernhard, L., & Holloman, C. (2013). Workplace bullying in the OR: Results of a descriptive study. AORN Journal, 98(5), 479-493.
Robson, C. (2011). Real world research (3rd Ed.). Oxford, England: Blackwell.
Saunders, M. K., & Rojon, C. (2011). On the attributes of a critical literature review. Coaching: An International Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice, 4(2), 156-162.
Saunders, M. N., & Lewis, P. (2012). Doing your research project. Harlow, England: FT Prentice Hall.