Horizontal Workplace ViolenceBy M. Shawn Wilson RN, DHS
Horizontal violence is a term that is seldom used in the hospital or university setting yet, it occurs, everyday in hospitals and universities across the country. Horizontal violence can be defined as bullying and aggression among members of groups. It can include hostile and aggressive behavior by one or more group members towards another member or members of a larger group. Horizontal violence is described as an epidemic that is becoming so wide spread that everyone from administration to nurse's aides are affected by this type of harassment.
The nursing profession is notorious for nurses looking out for themselves and often at the expense of other nurses. Nurses can be condescending and degrading to other nurses on other shifts as well as on their own shift. This typically involves verbal and emotional attacks. This is often seen when nurses are coming on their shift and complain about the nurses on the previous shift as being incompetent or lazy. For students, hospital staff may treat students as inferior and talk behind their backs about what type of nurse they will become. If horizontal violence continues over a period of time, it may lead to physical and emotional problems such as headaches, gastrointestinal problems, anxiety, depression, frustration, and loss of self esteem. This can have a direct affect on nurse absenteeism, performing unsafe practices, and a higher attrition rate among nursing students.
Nursing is one of the few professions where this is universal and not found in specific areas of the workforce. It is in universities, hospitals, clinics, and anywhere there are more than one nurse. While health care is facing the shortage of nurses, it is vital to the profession to recognize a potential threat to the profession. Healthcare professionals must depend on each other for cohesiveness and to learn through various strategies to share a mutual respect for each other, to embrace differences, and to gain knowledge from each other. The nursing profession is greatly impacted by cycles of horizontal violence that go unnoticed in the university setting and the workplace setting. Addressing this issue must begin on the university setting and continue through hospital based continuing education programs to call this behavior by name and enforce consequences for negative actions.
References
Anderson, C. (2002). Workplace violence: Are some nurses more vulnerable? [Electronic version]. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 23, 351-366.
Bartholomew, K. (2006). Ending nurse-to-nurse hostility: Why nurses eat their young and each other. Marblehead, MA: HCPro, Inc.
Curtis, J., Bowen, I., and Reid, A. (2007). You have no credibility: Nursing student's experiences of horizontal violence. Nursing Education Practice 7(3), 156-163.
Hastie, C. (2002). Horizontal violence in the workplace. Retrieved on January 15, 2008 from http://www.acegraphics.com.au/articles/hastie02.html
