Workplace Violence in Healthcare: Findings and Action Plan

Introduction

This paper examines workplace violence, predominantly within the healthcare industry. Workplace violence has accelerated immensely across various industries in recent years, and healthcare is particularly prominent among them. The violent actions and behaviors performed in a workplace environment that can cause emotional and physical damage to a person are typically referred to as workplace violence.

The paper presents an incident of workplace violence among nurses in the healthcare industry. The situation, the current culture of the organization, and other factors attributable to workplace violence are discussed extensively. The key people directly or indirectly affected by the incident have also been identified.

Based on these adverse consequences, preliminary corrective actions and a recommendation plan have been proposed from the perspective of a nurse manager. These corrective actions are intended to mitigate future incidents. The paper also includes measures for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the plan.

Background

Workplace violence is generally defined as acts involving physical violence, verbal abuse, threatening behavior, harassment, intimidation, bullying, and even homicide that may occur in any work setting. These actions harm the physical and psychological well-being of workers. In the healthcare industry specifically, workplace violence affects employees such as nurses, doctors, and paramedic staff, as well as patients and visitors. Moreover, the perpetrators of workplace violence are often stakeholders within the same industry (Linsley, 2006).

Statistical records from the healthcare industry reveal that millions of employees are seriously affected by internal violence each year. It is troubling that not all such cases come to light, as many remain unrecorded. Workplace violence is spontaneous in nature, meaning it can occur in any workplace, and the risk to employees of being intimidated is escalating. Occupational health and safety organizations have identified several occupations at higher risk of workplace violence, including healthcare workers, social service employees, education staff, and public sector workers (Privitera, 2010).

Reports have clearly shown that a significant percentage of nurses are subjected to workplace violence by their nurse co-workers. The increasing incidence of workplace violence in the healthcare profession has become a grave concern for workers and management across the globe, as healthcare workers are particularly vulnerable to becoming victims (Privitera, 2010).

The situation analyzed in this paper involves an incident of nurse-to-nurse violence. Person A is a young, part-time nurse recently employed at a small-scale community healthcare centre that offers medical, critical care, and surgical services. Primary services include an emergency department, diagnostic and support services, and a laboratory serving pediatrics, obstetrics, psychiatry, and emergency care.

The overall culture of the organization is generally pleasant; however, incidents related to workplace violence had been observed but not reported. Employees involved in such incidents attempted to suppress these matters. Although management had developed workplace violence policies and guidelines, these were violated on multiple occasions. Intimidating nurses harassed many of their co-worker nurses, dividing the victims' responsibilities among others in an effort to marginalize them.

Because Person A was new to the environment, she was unfamiliar with the healthcare centre's detailed policies related to workplace violence. As a result, she experienced a series of violent behaviors from a nurse co-worker. These behaviors included disrespectful body language such as raised eyebrows, humiliation in front of co-workers or patients, mockery related to her physical appearance, negative criticism during shared professional discussions, and frequent exclusion from collegial exchanges.

The internal organizational culture of the healthcare centre significantly contributed to this harassment. Senior nurses had formed a group and were unreceptive to newly appointed nurses, fearing that new staff would usurp their roles. They cultivated a culture that normalized workplace violence—a practice that had persisted over a long period, with junior nurses remaining too fearful to report it.

Major Findings and Implications

These violent behaviors left a severe impact on Person A's emotional and physical well-being, resulting in poor self-esteem, diminished confidence, absenteeism, and loss of appetite. She did not report the incidents out of fear of losing her job and disbelief that anyone would take her side. The issue was ultimately brought to light by the nurse manager, who interviewed nurses with high absenteeism rates in order to understand the underlying causes.

Person A was the key individual directly affected by the ongoing workplace violence. The violent behaviors of her co-workers caused psychological stress and emotional instability. She lost confidence in her abilities and could not perform to her full potential. The emotional stress also disrupted her sleep and dietary patterns. This combined physical and emotional distress affected not only her overall health but also her professional and personal life. As an eventual consequence, patient care was compromised, as she was unable to concentrate on physicians' instructions.

Other junior or newly appointed nurses at the healthcare centre were indirectly affected by the intimidating behaviors of the senior nurse group. They experienced similar consequences. Those who attempted to adapt to the existing organizational culture sometimes resorted to flattering senior nurses, often at the cost of their own self-esteem.

Patients and their family members also suffered indirect harm as a result of the workplace violence experienced by the victim nurse. Due to the violence, patients did not consistently receive proper healthcare, attention, and medication from nursing staff.

Given that numerous people were directly and indirectly affected, doctors and specialists should incorporate safety considerations, since patient care is the primary responsibility of all healthcare workers. Management should develop and implement strategies and policies related to workplace violence as a safety measure. Designing these policies is insufficient on its own; management must also ensure that they are properly enforced.

One practical safety measure that doctors and surgeons can adopt is assigning more than one nurse per patient—preferably one senior and one junior nurse with equal responsibilities and rights. In this way, if one nurse is unable to attend to a patient, the other is available. This arrangement would also assist management in tracking nursing productivity.

Conclusion

Workplace violence in healthcare remains a serious and underreported problem that affects employees, patients, and organizational culture alike. The case of Person A illustrates how unchecked intimidation and exclusion among nursing staff can harm individual well-being, disrupt patient care, and erode organizational integrity. Addressing this problem requires a coordinated response that includes education, clear reporting mechanisms, zero-tolerance policies, and a systematic plan for evaluation and continuous improvement. When these elements are in place and consistently enforced, healthcare organizations can create safer, more equitable environments for all staff and the patients they serve.