Contemporary Issues: Horizontal Bullying Among Nurses

This report provides a critical analysis of horizontal bullying among nurses, a significant contemporary issue affecting the healthcare profession. The report begins by defining horizontal bullying and highlighting its prevalence, supported by statistical evidence. It then delves into the underlying causes, including the 'oppressed profession' theory and the role of enculturation and workplace stress. The effects of bullying are examined, detailing the impact on nurses, such as increased suicidal rates, psychological effects like depression and anxiety, and self-harm, as well as the consequences for patient care, including medical errors. The report concludes by suggesting several strategies to address the issue, such as encouraging nurses to speak up, challenging gender stereotypes in nursing, and eliminating bullying during induction processes. The goal is to create a safer and more supportive environment for nurses and improve patient outcomes.

Running head: HORIZONTAL BULLYING AMONG NURSES 1
Horizontal Bullying among nurses
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Description of the contemporary issue with evidence
Despite the valuable role that nurses play in our society, they go through different
challenges. One of the major challenges is being subjected to repeat form of behavior and this
not only affect their health but safety and quality of healthcare that the patient is subjected to.
This form of behavior according to the Safe Work Australia is defined as horizontal bullying.
Horizontal bullying is a broad challenge since it involves verbal abuse, physical and even sexual
harassment. It is increasingly becoming an epidemic that is creating a shortage of nurses not only
in Australia but globally. More than 50% nursing students have been subjected to horizontal
bullying while 40% of registered hospital based nurses reported horizontal bullying in 2016
(Bloom, 2018). Horizontal bullying is a significant issue and without prompt and effective
strategies, the nursing profession will be devoid of employees completely.
Why horizontal bullying occurs
horizontal bullying among nurses is as a result of different reasons. However, one significant
cause that has been in existence for some time is a theory that suggests nursing as a profession of
the oppressed. This theory states that nurses are meant are meant to feel inferior compared to
others and they can take frustration to an even less powerful colleague (Chang & Cho, 2016).
This theory has its roots into power dynamics between nursing which is more feminine and
medicine which is more of masculine. This theory creates a real picture why horizontal bullying
is very common among nurses.
The second reason why horizontal bullying occurs is enculturation. Bullying is a learned
behavior and several nursing students in Australia describe that they are normally bullied by the
preceptors as a form of induction and they are also supposed to do the same when inducting new
students or nurses. There also a myth that good nurses are conciliatory and therefore becomes

HORIZONTAL BULLYING AMONG NURSES 3
vulnerable to bullying. Workplace stress is also a major reason of bullying as nurses vent out
their frustrations to other colleagues.
Effects of horizontal bullying to nurses and patients
Horizontal bullying has many effects both on the patient and the nurses. Increased
suicidal rates among nurses is one such effect. Studies note that with repeated traumatising and
bullying among nurses, suicide thoughts are common and have contributed to 50% of recent
suicidal cases (Hartin, Birks, & Lindsay, 2019). Horizontal bullying also leads to psychological
effects such as depression and anxiety. Studies illustrate that repeated bullying makes the nurses
feel that they are in the wrong profession thus leading to stress and anxiety. Furthermore, most of
them resort to medication to treat the condition. Most of this drugs are addictive and also
contributes to stress and anger. Self-harm has also been reported among nurses who experience
horizontal bullying. Self-harm is a situation where a nurse hurts him/herself to express their
feelings of anger or depression. Horizontal bullying also contributes to poor health services to
the patients since stress contributes to medical errors.
Addressing horizontal bullying among nurses.
Several strategies can be used to address horizontal bullying among nurses. The first
strategy is to encourage nurses to speak up in case they are bullied. Since conciliatory is one of
the reasons leading to bullying, nurses should desist from such behaviour and raise their voice
when bullied. This is in fact the initial step in the fight against horizontal bullying (Lewis‐Pierre,
Anglade, Saber, Gattamorta, & Piehl, 2019). Secondly, there is the need to come up with ways to
convince nursing students that nursing profession is not only meant for women. This will enable
men to also pursue the profession. This is in contrast with the fact that nursing is meant for

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women who are perceived as weak vessels such vulnerable to horizontal bullying. Other
strategies include eliminating enculturation that encourages bullying during induction (Wressell,
Rasmussen, & Driscoll, 2018). Instead, there should be better ways to introduce nursing students
and staff into practice other than the normal bullying. Horizontal bullying is harmful and if there
are no considerable efforts by different stakeholders to address this problem, nursing profession
will be a thing of the past.

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References
Bloom, E. M. (2018). Horizontal violence among nurses: Experiences, responses, and job
performance. Nursing Forum, 54(1), 77-83. doi:10.1111/nuf.12300
Chang, H. E., & Cho, S. (2016). Workplace Violence and Job Outcomes of Newly Licensed
Nurses. Asian Nursing Research, 10(4), 271-276. doi:10.1016/j.anr.2016.09.001
Hartin, P., Birks, M., & Lindsay, D. (2019). Bullying in Nursing: Is it in the Eye of the
Beholder? Policy, Politics, & Nursing Practice, 152715441984541.
doi:10.1177/1527154419845411
Lewis‐Pierre, L., Anglade, D., Saber, D., Gattamorta, K. A., & Piehl, D. (2019). Evaluating
horizontal violence and bullying in the nursing workforce of an oncology academic
medical center. Journal of Nursing Management. doi:10.1111/jonm.12763
Wressell, J. A., Rasmussen, B., & Driscoll, A. (2018). Exploring the workplace violence risk
profile for remote area nurses and the impact of organisational culture and risk
management strategy. Collegian, 25(6), 601-606. doi:10.1016/j.colegn.2018.10.005