Intimidation of Nurses in the Workplace

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Intimidation of nurses in the workforce continues to be a problem. Intimidating behavior affects not only the nurse but patient care as well. The nurse might be intimidated by peers, patients or physicians. Intimidating behavior is not healthy and should be addressed. In this paper the issue of nurse intimidation will be discussed. The discussion will include definitions of intimidation, the impact of intimidation on the nursing profession, the impact of intimidation on patient care, solutions for handling intimidation, implications for nursing curriculum, and future research possibilities regarding the topic of intimidation.

Definition of Intimidation

Intimidation is a form of bullying. Forms of intimidation can be behavior that belittles such as being shouted at or the use of profanities, and wrongly assigning blame (Edwards, 2007). Intimidation in the healthcare field among and between practitioners is most commonly in the form of verbal abuse. Verbal abuse may be an angry tone of voice, yelling and screaming, threats against a person or institution, or derogatory comments (Edwards, 2007). For the purpose of this paper, the terms intimidation, bullying, and disruptive behavior will be used interchangeably. The American Medical Association stated in 2002, “Personal conduct, whether verbal or physical, that affects or that potentially may affect patient care negatively constitutes disruptive behaviors”. Porto (2006) describes multiple types of disruptive behavior: profanity or disrespectful language, demeaning behavior, name-calling, throwing of instruments and charts, criticizing of other caregivers in front of patients or other staff, comments that undermine a caregiver’s confidence to provide care for a patient. While s...

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