Iranian Nurses’ Experiences with Sexual Harassment in Workplace: a Qualitative Study

Abstract

Background Sexual harassment has become a worldwide issue in recent years. Nursing, like other professions, is vulnerable to this type of harm. Sexual harassment impairs nurses’ ability to provide comprehensive care, resulting in psychological discomfort, diminished work commitment, absenteeism, and job termination. The current study was carried out to investigate Iranian nurses’ experiences with sexual harassment in the workplace. Materials and Methods This qualitative study used conventional content analysis with a descriptive exploratory approach to investigate the experiences of Iranian nurses. Between September 2020 and April 2021, we conducted semi-structured and in-depth interviews with 22 employed nurses, recruited via a purposeful method. Age, sex, work experience, degree of education, marital status, and hospital and ward type were observed to acquire rich information. Results The study’s data produced 354 codes, 1 main category, 5 s categories, and 23 sub categories. The main category of nurses’ sexual harassment in the workplace is divided into five categories: verbal, physical, visual, seduction, and cybersexual harassment. The most and least common types of harassment were verbal and cybersexual harassment, respectively. Nurse harassment was perpetrated by patients and their families, physicians, colleagues, and other hospital personnel. Conclusion According to the findings of this study, the majority of nurses have been subjected to sexual harassment in the workplace in various forms. Given the negative consequences of workplace harassment, managers and policymakers should develop guidelines in the areas of workplace ethics, legal accountability, and workplace safety. There is also a need to develop training programs for nurses to improve their coping skills. More quantitative and qualitative research in other healthcare groups is needed to confirm the findings of this study.

Psychological coherence, inclusive leadership and implicit absenteeism in obstetrics and gynecology nurses: a multi-site survey

“…Previous studies [21,22] have shown that nurses' implicit absenteeism is closely associated with patient falls, more medication errors and lower quality of care. In addition, persistent absenteeism may trigger the deterioration of nurses' own health, leading to more negative impacts such as impaired health productivity and economic loss [23,24]. Therefore, nurse managers should pay more attention to the needs and pressures of nurses to ensure the quality and safety of nursing through various interventions.…”

“…It has been reported that at work, nurses are perceived as merely serving staff who obeyed doctor's instructions [34]. Nurses, despite being numerically superior, face challenges in rights, respect, health and comfort in clinical setting [23,35]. In order to improve the professional status of nurses and create good working conditions for nurses and provide them with all-round support, it is necessary to start from the perspective of management [36,37].…”

Strategies to prevent workplace sexual harassment among Iranian nurses: A qualitative study

“…Sexual harassment in the nursing system is an acute condition that has been experienced by some nurses in various ways in the workplace ( Zeighami et al, 2022 ). Unwelcome sexual advances, behaviors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct violates an individual’s dignity and creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment ( NFA, 2016 ; Danielsen and Dfaapa, 2018 ).…”

“…Sexual harassment in the nursing system is divided into five categories: verbal, physical, visual, seductive, and cyberbullying. However, patients and their families, doctors, colleagues, and other hospital staff may harass a nurse ( Zeighami et al, 2022 ). According to a survey of Danish employees, the prevalence of sexual harassment was 3.1% across all occupations, but 16.4% among healthcare workers ( NFA, 2016 ).…”

“…Ten to 87% of nurses reported sexual harassment ( Berry et al, 2012 ; Spector et al, 2014 ; Kahsay et al, 2020 ). According to Zeighami et al (2021) , nurses were sexually harassed in the workplace in a variety of ways ( Zeighami et al, 2022 ), which had negative mental health consequences or short-term and long-term problems for nurses ( Friborg et al, 2017 ). Sexual harassment has increasingly affected the health and safety of nurses as well as the quality and efficiency of healthcare systems ( Adams et al, 2019 ).…”