Creating a No Bullying Work Environment Florida Atlantic University Lauren Goodman

Bullying What is it: An unwanted aggressive behavior that involves a real or perceived power imbalance amongst people Overly repeated over time Examples include: threats, rumors, attacking someone physically, verbally, or mentally, and exclusion from a group

Recognizing the problem American Nursing Association Recognizes that bullying is a huge problem in nursing A negative work environment forces nurses to leave within a short period of time Nurses are an oppressed group who may use aggression against eachother to diffuse their feeling of helplessness Goal is to protect these nurses through advocacy, policy, and resources

Recognizing the PRoblem About 45% of nurses have been verbally harassed and bullied by other nurses About 41% of nurses have been bullied by their nurse leaders/managers Around 38% of nurses are even bullied by physicians Up to 39% of nurses in their 1st year of professional practice witnessed bullying, and 26.4% to 31% were targets themselves (Skarbek, Johnson, & Dawson, 2015).

Recognizing the problem Inadequate staffing due to nurse turnover resulting in mandatory overtime, coupled with orienting new nursing staff, and further increased costs to the organization are outcomes associated with workplace bullying (Skarbek, Johnson, & Dawson, 2015). Can result in poor health outcomes, absenteeism, high employment turn over rates Incivility- form of bullying commonly brought upon young nurses by their more experienced counterparts. This form of bullying is very common in new nurse graduates

Incivilty Can wreck Havok on nurses Self-esteem and make them feel insecure Can affect the health and well being of their patients Nurses who face this bullying often do not report it If it is reported nurse managers do very little to control the situation (as no one will get fired, and a discussion will just take place) Nurses are more likely to leave their job within a short time of working at the facility

What Can you do? If being bullied start a documentation trail Write down date, time, place, witnesses, verbatim comments, behaviors It’s up to the Nurse manager to take control of the situation: Implement policies, set a positive work environment, take the lead in implementing the desired behavior. As a nurse leader L.I.S.T.E.N to your employees

What can you do? L- Lean into the situation I-Insight is the goal S-Solving the reason of the behavior is not your job. Your job is to focus and stop the behavior. T-Take notes E-Engage human resources early N-Never share an opinion This acronym is the protocol of the beginning to investigate the situation as soon as a complaint is issues

Making a difference It is very important to understand workplace bullying from a nurse managers perspective In understanding you have a pivotal decrease in consequences that may occur with this behavior (medical errors, patient outcomes, negative patient satisfaction) Nursing leaders can set the stage for addressing workplace bullying by examining and addressing their own behaviors and then by fostering an environment, that encourages open communication and collaboration (Johnson & Rea, 2009). With personal insight in hand, they can lead their nurses to examine their own bulling behavior and work together to create workplace environments in which bullying is not tolerated (Johnson & Rea, 2009).

Making a difference NMs and other nurse leaders further develop effective methods and interventions to address the undesirable behavior of workplace bullying in order to keep patients safe and enhance patient outcomes (Skarbek, Johnson, & Dawson, 2015). must be able to recognize the signs, manifestations, and outcomes associated with bullying. Managers, leaders, and administrators must support victims of bullying and find ways to prevent this behavior from occurring repeatedly. Organizations should develop systems to address and manage workplace bullying in order to create a healthy working environment that supports collaboration and teamwork (Skarbek, Johnson, & Dawson, 2015).

In Conclusion… Nurse bullying is seen all around the healthcare system Can be bullied by other nurses, managers, leaders, and even phyiscians New grads or young nurses are mainly seen as the targets Nurse Bullying can put the patient at risk for harm The continuation of bullying can make the staff leave within a short period of time and put the unit in a staffing crisis, which in return affects patient care It is up to the nurse manager to recognize the problem and take the problem into their own hands, working with a team to try and stop it

References American Nurses Association. Incivility, Bullying, and Workplace Violence. 2017. Retrieved from: http://www.nursingworld.org/Bullying-Workplace-Violence Becker’s Hospital Review. 2016. Use this acronym to guide investigations into the nurse bullying. Retrieved from: https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/human- capital-and-risk/use-this-acronym-to-guide-investigations-into-nurse-bullying.html Johnson, L.S., Rea,E.R. 2009. Workplace Bullying: Concerns for Nurse Leaders. Journal of Nursing Administration. 39(2). Pp. 84-90 Read, E., Laschinger, K. H. 2013. Correlates of New Graduate Nurses’ Experiences of Workplace Mistreatment. Journal of Nursing Administration. 43(4). Pp. 221-228 Skarbek, J.A., Johnson, S., Dawson, M.C. 2016. A Phenomonological Study Of Nurse Manager Interventions Related to Workplace Bullying. Journal of Nursing Administration. 45(10). Pp. 492-497.