Following doctors orders : understanding the phenomenon of gender-based harassment in acute care hospital's as experienced by female nurses

Sexual and Gender Harassment are top of mind in the current cultural landscape, with marked increase in conversations and testimonials coming forward by women of diverse backgrounds, ages, careers and workplaces, both in the US and globally. The topic has created a vast channel of myriad communications and multi shaded responses to those women who have been courageous enough to open-up and share these oftentimes, shame filled and buried experiences. In organizations where there are more males in power over their female subordinates, as in healthcare, we see an increase in these types of gender/sex harassment/ behaviors. In phase one of this mixed method study a survey was used to collect occurrence, type and frequency of gender/sex harassment/abuse behaviors. In phase two, an interview process took place with the goal to better understand the lived experiences of female nurses who experienced some type of this behavior, and the impact and effects these experiences had on them psychologically, physically, and on their jobs. The conclusion was that acute hospitals have an organized patriarchy in place, male physicians are held in higher esteem and have more clout than female nurses. Male physicians use gender harassment language and behaviors to control, thereby maintaining their power within the organziation, whilst the implied authority of the MD is supported, even in the case of sexual assault. This renders a sick culture of sex/gender harassment/abuse where these types of behaviors occur with alarming frequency, leaving the emotional and psychobiological effects up to the nurse to deal with alone.