A typology of bullying behaviours: the experiences of Australian nurses

Abstract

The detailed catalogue of bullying behaviours draws attention to the breadth of the bullying experience. It is anticipated the typology will be of use to nurses, managers and other professionals who are interested in responding to the problem of bullying in nursing.

Nurse Bullying: A Review And A Proposed Solution

“…The literature includes the following behaviors in describing bullying: scapegoating (unfairly blaming others), sabotage (withholding information needed for patient care), and excessive criticism (Simons, Stark, & DeMarco, 2011); refusing to provide support to a fellow nurse because they are not liked and setting them up to fail (Dellasega, 2009); humiliation, undermining their competence in front of others, making demeaning comments, hampering work, and assigning excessive or unreasonable workloads (Hutchinson, Vickers, Wilkes, & Jackson, 2010); and verbal outbursts, physical threats, refusing to perform assigned tasks, refusing to answer questions, and using condescending language (The Joint Commission, 2008).…”

Gender, Relationships, and Elder Abuse

“…Much of what is known about female-to-female aggression in adulthood is found in the nursing literature, which has well-documented aggressive relationships among nurses in the workplace, also known as horizontal violence, lateral violence, nurse-to-nurse bullying, and relational aggression (Dellasega, 2009;Felblinger, 2008;Hutchinson, Vickers, Wilkes, & Jackson, 2010;Longo & Sherman, 2007;McKenna, Smith, Poole, & Coverdale, 2003;Wilson, Diedrich, Phelps, & Choi, 2011). Recent surveys of nurses, which questioned their experiences with bullying in the last 6 months, have found rates of bullying from 39.1% to 85% (Rodwell & Demir, 2012;Wilson et al, 2011).…”

“…From the findings of a qualitative study of nurse-to-nurse bullying, a typology of bullying was developed, which includes personal attacks, acts aimed to erode professional competence and reputation, and attacks through work roles and tasks (Hutchinson et al, 2010). Participants described personal attacks as including both socially destructive behaviors, such as gossiping and exclusion, as well as verbal assaults, such as threats and insults (Hutchinson et al, 2010).…”

Deconstructing contributing factors to bullying and lateral violence in nursing using a postcolonial feminist lens

“…Since then much more research has been undertaken that has broadened the descriptors of the phenomenon. At times described in the literature as lateral violence: (Griffi n, 2004;Stanley, Martin, Michel, Welton, & Nemeth, 2007); horizontal violence (Curtis, Bowen, & Reid, 2006;Duffy, 1995;Lee & Saeed, 2001;McKenna, Smith, Poole, & Coverdale, 2003); aggression (Anderson, 2011;Farrell, 1997Farrell, , 1999Farrell, Bobrowski, & Bobrowski, 2006); bullying (Hutchinson, Jackson, Vickers, & Wilkes, 2006aHutchinson, Vickers, Jackson, & Wilkes, 2005, 2006b, 2010aHutchinson, Vickers, Wilkes, & Jackson, 2010b;Lewis, 2006;Randle, 2003aRandle, , 2003b; intimidation (Lamontagne, 2010), horizontal hostility (Thomas, 2003); workplace violence (Holmes, 2006;Speedy, 2006); disruptive behavior (Martin, 2008); relational aggression (Dellasega, 2009); disrespect (Parse, 2010); and incivility (Vickers, 2006); it is clear that this is a serious issue for nursing.…”