Workplace Bullying in the OR: Results of a Descriptive Study

Abstract

This study describes the incidence of workplace bullying among perioperative RNs, surgical technologists, and unlicensed perioperative personnel in two academic medical centers. The study sought to determine whether the demographic variables of gender, ethnicity, hospital, years of experience on the unit, years in the profession, and job title predict the experience of workplace bullying; whether a relationship exists between workplace bullying and emotional exhaustion; and whether bullying is associated with perceptions of patient safety in the OR. The cross-sectional design included perioperative nurses, surgical technologists, and unlicensed perioperative personnel (N = 167). Fifty-nine percent of the study participants reported witnessing coworker bullying weekly, and 34% reported at least two bullying acts weekly. Having one's opinion ignored is the most common bullying act, with 28% of respondents experiencing being ignored. Differences in the experience of bullying can be found between hospitals and among ethnicities. Emotional exhaustion also was correlated with bullying. The participants did not perceive bullying as affecting patient safety.

Conflict and Conflict Resolution among the Medical and Nursing Personnel of Selected Hospitals in Hail City

“…This uniqueness of situations resulting into conflict, in turn, is brought about by varying complexities existent in each of these hospitals. Health care institutions' complexity as a cause for the existence of different types of conflict is well supported by various literature [10,11,13,14]. Although the study did not delve on the complexity of the three hospitals surveyed and how the differences in their complexities have resulted into different types of conflict, the sheer number of medical and nursing personnel interacting in each of the three hospitals, let alone the diverse demographic profile of the medical and nursing personnel respondents in terms of gender, profession, age and years of experience in each of these hospitals contribute to unique complexities that result into them experiencing various types of conflicts in differing means that are statistically significant.…”

“…The sheer number of medical and nursing personnel currently working in each of these three hospitals indicates the complexity of these healthcare institutions and the potential for the occurrence of conflict in these complex workplaces [10,13]. Similar to other hospitals, the existence of intra-group conflict involving members of two professions that closely collaborate to deliver patient care is evident in these three hospitals [3,30,33,34,38].…”

“…More specifically, conflict-creating dysfunctional communication in extremely stressful hospital environments may occur in the form of harsh language, negative criticism, derogatory comments and even bullying [13].…”

Risk of psychiatric and neurological diseases in patients with workplace mobbing experience in Germany: a retrospective database analysis

“…The fact that higher prevalence is not confined to neurologic-psychiatric disorders is in contrast to the findings presented previously in the existing literature, which referred in particular to the higher prevalence of diseases of the neurologic-psychiatric spectrum (e.g. emotional exhaustion, psychological distress) in subsequent mobbing victims [9], [28], [29]. Moreover, it underlines that victimization does not necessarily require psychiatric, personality or coping problems as underlying factors, although Kreiner et al reported a tendency towards higher levels of stress and symptoms of depression, and a lower quality of life in mobbing victims with a pre-existing psychiatric disease [25], [28].…”

“…To fulfill all the criteria used by Leymann to identify mobbing, this behavior needs to take place on a frequent basis (at least once a week) and over a long period of time (at least 6 months) [1], [6]. It should be noted that bullying crosses all socio-demographic borders and can be observed in all categories of age, gender, ethnicity, academic achievement, and professional environment [7], although it seems to be especially common in the medical sector [8], [9], [10], [11], [12], [13], [14]. Its general prevalence is estimated at between 2% and 15% [15], but a recent study indicated that it is even higher in adolescents, of whom 20–35% reported involvement in mobbing as a victim, a perpetrator or both [16], [17].…”