Effect of Work Place Bullying on Job Performance And Health Among Nurses

Abstract

At the beginning of the 21st Century, workplace bullying became a hot topic of discussion.
There have been a limited number of research studies on bullying to which nurses are exposed. Bullying
at work has a negative impact on a person's ability to do their job. The purpose of the current study is to
determine the rate and nature of workplace bullying experienced by nurses who work in tertiary care in
Pakistan and the effects on nurses’ practice and depression status. A five section survey form was used
for the collection of research data. The first section consisted of the participants' demographic
information, such as gender, age, education, position and experience. The other variables were collected
in four groups: workplace bullying behavior, workload, organizational effects and depression. The cross
sectional study design was conducted in a tertiary care hospital for the period of six months. The sample
Size was 110 Nurses of tertiary care hospital and the sampling technique was Convenient Random
Sampling and the measurement tool was a questionnaire including five sections. The first section included
the participants' demographic information; the other variables were measured in four categories:
Workplace bullying behavior, workload, working hour, organizational effects, and depression. Data
collection method was distribution of questionnaire. Workplace bullying leads to depression, lowered
work motivation, decreased ability to concentrate, poor productivity, lack of commitment to work, and
poor relationships with patients, managers and colleagues. Bullying experienced by nurses negatively
affects nurses’ job performance and can lead to depression. It is hoped that practitioners in the field will
take these findings into account in order to modify the working conditions of clinical nurses and decrease
bullying behaviors in the hospitals.