Lateral Violence in Nursing
Pamela A. Jangro
Southern New Hampshire University
Abstract
The concept of lateral violence (LV) in nursing has been the topic of research for many years. It is a contradiction that nurses, whose basic role is to "care for others" are often know to "eat their young". LV in nursing has existed for many years and still exists despite ongoing research and education. Often new graduate nurses are the target of LV as an "initiation" into the field. LV is carried out through bullying, verbal threats, physical threats and sabotaging to name just a few pathways. The consequences of LV are low self esteem, depression and the consequences impact patient care.
Lateral Violence in Nursing: Introduction
Lateral violence (LV) is defined as acts of aggression that are committed against one nurse from another nurse. LV is shown through unkind and antagonistic behaviors that occur among nurses within a shared work environment. The most common expressions of LV are verbal abuse, undermining, withholding information,
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The United States has laws to protect citizens from sexual and racial harassment in the workplace but nothing to protect from lateral violence (Sheridan-Leos 399-402). Changing behaviors is the first step. Nursing management must acknowledge and address LV as it occurs. Management should provide education regarding LV and its impact on nursing to create awareness. Many schools have instituted zero tolerance bullying policies which would be helpful to institute in nursing as well. Managers are responsible to build morale, support nurses and provide a good example of model behavior as well as instituting strict policies regarding abuse. Sheridan-Leos referenced six principles written by Thomas (2003) to assist is eliminating lateral
Lateral violence is an act of aggression that occurs among nurses (Becher & Visovsky, 2012), many nurses are exposed to incidents of lateral violence two or more times weekly (Ceravolo, Schwartz, Foltz-Ramos, & Castner, 2012) (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, 2014). Lateral violence which is also called bullying, incivility, disruptive behaviors and horizontal violence may be covert or overt acts of verbal or nonverbal aggressions (American Nurses Association, 2011). Lateral violence may be verbal, physical or psychological in nature (Blair, 2013). Victims of lateral violence may have profound psychological effects including fatigue, insomnia, stress, depression, shame, guilt, isolations, substance abuse,
Horizontal violence is an action that has been reported and documented in nursing and other healthcare professions for many years. This type of behavior between nurses has provided very discouraging and truly serious outcomes for nursing professionals and unfortunately for their patients as well. Horizontal violence is “hostile, aggressive, and harmful behavior by a nurse or group of nurses via attitudes, actions words, and/or behaviors.”(Becher, J. & Visovsky, C (2012)). This can be done either overt or covert. Overt, done openly, is when the victim is experiencing name calling, bickering between colleagues, fault finding, c...
Blair, P. L. (2013). Lateral violence in nursing. Journal of Emergency Nursing, 39, 75-78. doi:10.1016/j.jen.2011.12.006
Incivility is an issue in nursing. Our profession is of caring and as nurses we do this without second thought. It’s a cruel act of a nurse’s character to treat colleagues the opposite of the values which form why nurses are nurses. An issue of incivility exists among nursing students. According to Karatas, Ozturk, and Bektas (2017), the issue of bullying in the academic setting is well known and frequent. As a family nurse practitioner (FNP) student it is important to be aware
According to (Abdollahzadeh, 2016), the issue of incivility in nursing can be defined as “low intensity” deviant behavior with the intent to harm the target. Nurses are subjected to incivility at a higher rate than other job fields, and this concern is one that has an impact on the mental health and well-being of nurses and can lead to a reduction in job satisfaction and employee recruitment and retention
Horizontal violence is a form of workplace relational aggression, an experience that is rampant in the nursing profession (McKenna, Smith, Poole, & Coverdale, 2003). The expression, horizontal violence, is used to describe cruel behaviors between colleagues of comparable status, such as registered nurses, in the workplace. Research has shown a variety of destructive peer-to-peer behaviors that are detrimental to the profession and healthcare systems (Farrell, 2001). Nevertheless, little research has been done on “eating their young,” horizontal violence arising between those with unequal power, such as registered nurses and students (Thomas & Burk, 2009).
The paper will address the problem of nurse hostility toward each other. It will address the etiology of the problem, and suggest some possible solutions or therapy to the problem. It will be discovered if truly preventive programs such as violence-prevention programs
It has various negative effects which are persistent in nature, and the individual victim realizes the behaviour as bullying (Wilson, 2016). Bullying is associated with physical and psychological problems among nurses leading to absenteeism, poor performance, low job satisfaction, and increased turnover (Ganz, et al., 2015). The issue of bullying among nurses further affects the entire health care team including patient outcomes and health care costs due to the declining level of nurses’ performance (Becher & Visovsky, 2012). Although bullying exists in the nursing work place, they are silent in nature, and goes undetected (Becher & Visovsky,2012). Hence, identifying and managing workplace bullying needs efforts of individual facing bullying and support of the
The trauma related to negative behavior can afflict the healthcare environment on many levels, from creating a hostile work environment in which job performance is affected, by increasing job turnover and causing nurses to leave the profession altogether. The Joint Commission states that in the United States 65.6 million workers have experienced or witnessed bullying, psychological harassment affects 38 percent of healthcare workers, and 44 percent of nurses are impacted by this behavior (The Joint Commission, 2016). Inclusively, this behavior can influence the way nurses care for their patients, staffing levels, and the healthcare organization’s
Yildirim, D. (2009). Bullying among nurses and its effects. International Nursing Review, 56(4), 504-511. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19930081
Therefore, this position statement is relevant because these abuses can be seen in day-to-day healthcare environment. The effects of violence in nursing can be harmful to the proper function within a workplace. It can be damaging to the nursing profession and patient care. According to (Johnston et al., 2010, p.36), workplace violence is “spreading like a ‘superbug.’” Studies have shown, that lateral violence, nurse-on-nurse, has been one of the highest incidence of violence within the workplace. Also, statistics have shown that lateral violence has one of the most emotional impacts on an individual. This will be further discussed below. For these reasons, it is important for healthcare workers to validate the detrimental effects violence can have in the workplace, and be prepared to combat and prevent workplace violence.
This incivility at work place affects the victim ability to work, their psychological, and causing them to have an unbalance living (Elmblad, 2014). Studies have showed that the stressful working under incivility at work place cause nurses to decrease their commitment to the facility and quit their job or even
Nurses should be mindful of clients who are aggressing for other reasons that are stimulating their violent behavior;
Many individuals are exposed to violence and aggression due to underlying pathology. However, violence and aggression due to clinical reasons should not be compared to those where there is spiteful intent (Gates et al 1999). By finding this original cause of aggression actually needs a growth in a nurse/patient relationship and also the understanding of the patient’s condition. So therefore, Rew and Ferns, 2005 suggests that it becomes the duty of the employer to provide suitable safety measures and training in order to reduce risks and also make sure that the health and welfare of their employees is
These characteristics of a nurse manager show how their leadership plays a role in their position in the nursing field. Without this position in the nursing structure, it would be very difficult to produce positive results in providing optimal patient ca...