Loss of Individual and Social Identity: Consequences of Sexual Harassment of Iranian Nurses in the Workplace

Abstract

Background: Sexual harassment in the workplace is a common event with negative consequences for victims. Working conditions become unstable because of sexual harassment, and workplace insecurity causes psychological distress and physical problems, as well as a reduction in the quality of care. Therefore, the current study sought to investigate the effects of sexual harassment in the workplace on Iranian nurses.Materials and Methods: This qualitative study used conventional content analysis with a descriptive-explorative approach to investigate the consequences of sexual harassment in Iranian nurses (n = 22). The purposeful sampling method was used. Semi-structured and in-depth interviews were used to collect data. Maximum diversity in terms of age, sex, work experience, level of education, marital status, and type of hospital and ward was observed in order to obtain rich information. The Guba and Lincoln criteria were used to improve the study’s trustworthiness and rigor, and the Graneheim and Lundman method was used to analyze the content.Results: Two hundred and twenty-seventh number codes, one main category, four subcategories, and eighteen primary categories were extracted from the data in this study. The main category of “loss of individual and social identity: the consequences of sexual harassment in nurses” is divided into four subcategories: “psychological trauma,” “detrimental effects of work,” “physical problems,” and “disintegration of warm family relationships.” Sexual harassment had a greater psychological impact on victims.Conclusion: Sexual harassment has a number of negative consequences for nurses’ personal and professional lives and can impose a significant burden on the healthcare system due to decreased productivity and loss of active labor. Therefore, it requires increased attention and focus.

Iranian Nurses’ Experiences with Sexual Harassment in Workplace: a Qualitative Study

“…There are effective strategies to deal with nurse harassment, such as documenting each incident and initiating legal proceedings, condemning sexual abuse, demanding severe punishment for perpetrators, and improving the image of nurses in the media. Healthcare facilities should adopt policies and strategies aimed at reducing harassment and creating a safe working environment for nurses (Zeighami et al, 2021 ).…”

Strategies to prevent workplace sexual harassment among Iranian nurses: A qualitative study

“…Sexual harassment in the nursing system is an acute condition that has been experienced by some nurses in various ways in the workplace (Zeighami et al, 2022). Unwelcome sexual advances, behaviors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute sexual harassment when this conduct violates an individual's dignity and creates an intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating, or offensive environment (NFA, 2016;Danielsen and Dfaapa, 2018).…”

“…Sexual harassment in the nursing system is divided into five categories: verbal, physical, visual, seductive, and cyberbullying. However, patients and their families, doctors, colleagues, and other hospital staff may harass a nurse (Zeighami et al, 2022). According to a survey of Danish employees, the prevalence of sexual harassment was 3.1% across all occupations, but 16.4% among healthcare workers (NFA, 2016).…”

“…Ten to 87% of nurses reported sexual harassment (Berry et al, 2012;Spector et al, 2014;Kahsay et al, 2020). According to Zeighami et al (2021), nurses were sexually harassed in the workplace in a variety of ways (Zeighami et al, 2022), which had negative mental health consequences or short-term and long-term problems for nurses (Friborg et al, 2017). Sexual harassment has increasingly affected the health and safety of nurses as well as the quality and efficiency of healthcare systems (Adams et al, 2019).…”

“…Sexual harassment has increasingly affected the health and safety of nurses as well as the quality and efficiency of healthcare systems (Adams et al, 2019). Sexual harassment has a number of negative consequences, including psychological disorders, detrimental occupational effects, physical injury, and a lack of warm family relationships, all of which have a negative impact on their personal and professional lives and place a heavy burden on the healthcare system due to decreased productivity and loss of active labor (Zeighami et al, 2021). Several studies have addressed the negative psychological effects of sexual harassment on nurses, for example the investigations conducted in Denmark (Nielsen et al, 2017), South Korea (Kim et al, 2018), Sub-Saharan Africa (Tollstern Landin et al, 2020), and Iran (Zeighami et al, 2022).…”