Profiles of lateral violence in nursing personnel of the Spanish public health system

Abstract

Background Workplace violence in healthcare settings has long been studied in scientific literature, particularly in the nursing profession. Research has explored mostly user violence probably for its high prevalence and impact on health and job satisfaction. Yet this focus may overshadow another dangerous type of workplace violence: coworker violence. Exerted by co-workers with similar status, lateral violence differs from that yielded by a co-worker with a higher rank, known as vertical. This study aims to deepen the knowledge about lateral violence perceived by nurses and its interaction with other variables commonly associated with workplace violence in healthcare: burnout, job satisfaction, and self-perceived health. Method A random block sampling was performed, prompting a total sample of 925 nursing professionals from 13 public hospitals located in the southeast of Spain. The sample distribution (mean and standard deviation) and the response percentages according to the study variables of the ad-hoc questionnaire were analyzed and classified with cluster analysis. Results Through the cluster analysis, two subgroups were obtained: Cluster 1, composed of 779 participants, with low scores in the variables used for the classification, high levels of both extrinsic and intrinsic satisfaction, low levels of emotional exhaustion and cynicism, and low rates of somatization, anxiety, social dysfunction and depression; and Cluster 2, composed of 115 participants and characterized by moderate-high scores in the variables used for the classification, moderate extrinsic satisfaction, and low intrinsic satisfaction, high emotional exhaustion and cynicism and lower somatization, anxiety, social dysfunction, and depression scores. Excluded cases amounted to 31. Conclusion Nursing professionals who experience lateral violence reveal a lower intrinsic satisfaction, feeling less self-accomplished in their job, and less positive work experience. Emotional exhaustion rises as a concerning progressive and long-term outcome of experiencing this type of violence.

(Un)Broken: Lateral violence among hospital nurses, user violence, burnout, and general health: A structural equation modeling analysis

“…Social LV lies in the obstacles posed to the victim in reaching information and getting ostracized, humiliated, or ridiculed ( 40 , 71 ). Workplaces are often a place where nurses’ narratives go beyond the loss of idealism and reflect the realization of the pervasiveness of a culture of violence ( 25 ).…”

“…The sample used by Pina et al ( 40 ) and Vidal-Alves et al ( 27 ) was used for this study. It consisted of 950 nursing professionals from 13 public hospitals in southeastern Spain, randomly selected by blocking.…”

“…The adverse impact of LV on nurses has been explored in the literature with alarming conclusions ( 12 , 25 ), since it is highly correlated with emotional exhaustion, anxiety, somatic symptoms, and depression ( 27 ), in addition to poor health ( 38 ), lower job satisfaction and high levels of burnout ( 39 ). Emotional exhaustion stands out as a major adverse lifelong outcome of LV ( 40 ). Furthermore, it has a high positive correlation with intention to change nursing staff, only modulated by job satisfaction ( 41 ).…”