Open AccessOur Own Worst Enemies
Author(s) -
Cole Edmonson,
Caroline Zelonka
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
nursing administration quarterly
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.574
H-Index - 38
eISSN - 1550-5103
pISSN - 0363-9568
DOI - 10.1097/naq.0000000000000353
Subject(s) - nursing shortage , nursing , economic shortage , workplace bullying , work (physics) , job satisfaction , occupational safety and health , health care , organizational culture , medline , human factors and ergonomics , medicine , psychology , poison control , nurse education , medical emergency , public relations , social psychology , political science , mechanical engineering , linguistics , philosophy , pathology , government (linguistics) , law , engineering
Nurse bullying is a systemic, pervasive problem that begins well before nursing school and continues throughout a nurse's career. A significant percentage of nurses leave their first job due to the negative behaviors of their coworkers, and bullying is likely to exacerbate the growing nurse shortage. A bullying culture contributes to a poor nurse work environment, increased risk to patients, lower Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) patient satisfaction scores, and greater nurse turnover, which costs the average hospital $4 million to $7 million a year. Addressing nurse bullying begins with acknowledging the problem, raising awareness, mitigating contributing factors, and creating and enforcing a strong antibullying policy. Nurses and stakeholders also must actively work to change the culture, and understand that bullying has no place in the nursing profession or anywhere else in health care.