Workplace violence: causes, prevention, and organizational responses

Workplace violence in the nursing field makes it difficult if not impossible for a nurse to do their job. Whether the bullying is lateral or vertical, the results are consistently the same: decreased self-confidence, fear, and work-related stress. Although highly discouraged by hospitals, incidents still happen regularly. This paper will focus on the reasons why bullying happens, how bullying can be avoided, and the actions hospitals should take to protect their employees from bullying.

There are many reasons for bullying, and often more than one in each instance. The primary reason for bullying is simply unsocial behavior on the part of the bully. Many times, bullies are unfamiliar with the proper way to act in a professional setting and so they become either too friendly or too ridged with their coworkers (Murray, 2009). Additionally, bullying can happen when there is a culture or age gap between two nurses (Stanley, 2010). This gap especially exists when the bullying nurse sets high expectations for her piers. Bullying can also happen as the result of the two nurses being of different genders. In these cases, the male worker is often too forward with his female coworker resulting in conflict (Stanley, 2010).

Workplace bullying does not have to happen in the nursing field. The best way to stop the bullying is for coworkers to refuse to participate. Often a bully feeds off of the approval of their coworkers. If the coworkers either ignore the behavior or stand up for the victim, the behavior has been proven to cease (Murray, 2009). Should coworkers refuse to aid in stopping the bullying, the next step is to report the bullying up the chain of command at the hospital. While not every hospital implements anti-bullying measures, there is no harm in attempting to complain about the action. The complaint also puts the hospital on notice that the action is happening, which may prompt the hospital to take action. On this same note, all actions should be documented in the event that evidence is later required. The final, and often unfortunate step that many nurses take to maintain health and sanity when the hospital does not act is to simply leave their current position and begin work at a new hospital.