Incivility, Bullying, And Workplace Violence

Bullying in the workplace has always been an issue that has not been given much importance. It is indeed a problem that should be addressed by the concerned personnel because it can result in many health and safety issues, especially when nurses are bullied at their workplace. From the beginning of times, people who are deployed at a senior post to tend to look down upon the students or new people who have just started work. Nursing is also one of the professions in which the fresh graduates or students are bullied to the extent that they feel that they would not be able to face their seniors. They start developing inferiority complex and are unable to perform their job well. When they are taunted by their seniors and preceptors about their lack of knowledge and experience, their confidence is shattered. This implies that when they are handling a case, they are not confident if they are doing the right thing or not. In this tussle, they sometimes do not even perform the task they were really good at and put the health and safety of the patient at stake.

Hatred in the work environment breeds various issues for workers. For example, representatives working in a negative situation will probably discover issues with confidence and low profitability. Also, a negative work environment can prompt high representative turnover rates. To build energy in the work environment, workers must to make a positive workplace and do what it takes to maintain and cultivate this culture. According to Yoder-wise (2011), “the definition of violence includes overt and covert behavior ranging from offensive threatening language to homicide” (Yoder Wise, 2011, p.498). Violence can be noted as the general term that represents lateral aggression,

First, it is imperative to understand what horizontal violence, lateral violence, or workplace bullying is to become fully aware of this issue’s extent; these terms are often used interchangeably. A commonality among sources is the description of horizontal violence as “acts of aggression” committed by one coworker against another (Becher & Visovsky, 2012, p. 210). Astonishingly, the range of what is considered horizontal violence is vast, and these aggressive acts are revealed in several forms. Some violence is unmistakable such as threatening, name calling, criticizing, or public humiliation; however, other acts are less obvious such as withholding information, eye rolling, silence, and isolation (Becher & Visovsky, 2012). Still, other violence includes “scapegoating

Workplace bullying can take on many forms. Lateral violence among nurses is a common example of workplace mistreatment, which affects individual nurses, patient’s care, and the ethical climate of an organization. In 2008, The Joint Commission released a sentinel alert addressing lateral violence, stating, “Intimidating and disruptive behaviors can foster medical errors, contribute to poor patient satisfaction and to preventable adverse outcomes, increase the cost of care, and cause qualified clinicians, administrators and managers to seek new positions in more professional environments” (Joint Commission, 2008). In this brief, ethical issues related to lateral violence are described with two approaches to solving this issue examined.

Most of us have experienced some form of bad behavior that was directed at us. We can all relate to young children being bullied in school and on playgrounds as it brings back memories of our own experiences with unsavory characters. Unfortunately, experiences of incivility cannot be relegated to childhood, because as employees many are faced with a work environment that impedes success and job satisfaction, due to inappropriate and uncivil behavior by peers and supervisors.

Unfortunately there is not only bullying in schools, there is bullying in the workplace as well. These are unacceptable behaviors that arise within a workplace situation. Bullying the workplace can take many forms and it’s not easy to always identify. The Fair Work Act 2009 made recent amendments that came into effect in January 2014 to define workplace bullying as occurring when an individual; group of individuals; repeatedly behaves unreasonably towards the worker, group of workers of which the worker is a member; and the behavior creates a risk to health and safety (Le Mire & Owens, 2014). This definition focuses on three main elements of bullying behavior, it is repeated, unreasonable, and creates a risk to health and safety. All three elements must be satisfied in order for bullying at the workplace to be found. Bullying behaviors could be things that are victimizing, humiliating, intimidating or threatening, but it is not limited to just those behaviors.

Violence is never the answer to any type of problem and it only causes pain to all parties involved. As humans, we tend to be very violent even though we have a higher thought process as compared to other creatures on this earth. Humans experience emotions such as anger, rage, jealousy, hate, and many more emotions that can potentially lead to violent outcomes. As Christians, we should learn to control our anger and emotions because in some cases it leads to violence from a lack of control or mental stability. God teaches us that we should not hurt each other and that we should forgive others for sins that are committed against us. This paper will talk about the different types of workplace violence, examples of workplace violence, as well as how to avoid violence in the workplace.

Incivility and bullying differ in that bullying is often an individual or a group of person that is the object of ridicule. This individuals or groups are often targeted by another person or group. For example, LBTG groups are targets for being who they are or people of different faction/ethnicities can face bullying. Bullying is not limited to personal issue as bullying can be seen in the workplace. For example, derogatory comment toward an individual about their work/ability to perform his or her job is seen as workplace bullying (Walker, 2017). Bullying is considered doing psychological and physical harm; it creates a suffocating and unfriendly environment to be in (Gomez-Mejia, Balkin & Cardy, 2016). The hostile actions are seen as aggressive, manipulative and humiliating. Bullying in the workplace stunts creativity, lower productivity, creates a toxic culture and puts the company at legal risk if the bullying is not dealt with (Walker, 2017).

Employees should have the right to feel safe in their work environment and to be free from workplace bullying. Employers need to be held accountable and have a plan in place to protect the employees from this type of violence. Barbara McCulloch is a mediator who has developed a process of mediation to address the complicated issues of bullying behavior in the workplace (McCulloch, 2010). Barbara suggests that

Our workplace safety is in need of reconstruction, not because of physical, ergonomic, chemical or biological hazards but because of bullying. According to Hanley and O'Rourke (2016, p. 352) workplace bullying is a "psychological hazard" towards its victims health and undermines the "successful pursuit of corporate and employee objectives". Workplace bullying is certainly a prevalent issue that is consequential to its victims and the state of Australia's companies. Although there have been Fair Work Commision jurisdictions placed against anti-bullying (eg. January 1 2014) Hanley and O'Rourke argue that these laws are a "minimalist" solution to this anti-social epidemic. Workplace bullying with its many forms should be recognised as a criminal

Incivility takes many forms. It may be from gossiping about colleagues, texting during meetings, and even forgetting to respond to e-mails (Pearson 2009; Sliter et al 2015; Harold and Holtz 2015). Over the last few years, research in the area of workplace mistreatment has swelled. This area of study has generated an abundance of research papers with regards to social interactions in the office (Hershcovis 2011, 1). Incivility has always been recognized as a prevalent occurrence of disapproving behavior at work and most supervisors underestimate the possible consequences of this issue (Pearson, Andersson, and Porath 2000). Studies on this topic range from linkages with neuroticism and age differences (Steiner et al 2012), the role of the target’s

Regardless of how Americans feel about bullying, it is still a major problem today. It is very evident in the American workplace. According to an article by Cynthia Plonien, she explains that, “In a recent survey conducted by the American Nurses Association involving 3,765 RNs, 50% of the respondents reported that they have been bullied in some way by a peer…”. This means that in the nursing field alone, a large percentage have been bullied by fellow workers. Everyone is affected by this problem, and there must be a focus on reducing it.

Workplace violence has been a serious problem in the past years around all location and sitting. It is any act physical or emotional of violence or disruptive behaviors that occur at the work site. It can vary from a simple verbal abuse to the physical act. Careless behaviors that surround the healthcare workers affect the security and comfort of both caregiver and patient. Increasing security and comfort at the workplace in the healthcare sitting is critical for patient centered care.

Heeman, V. (2007). Workplace Bullying: A Distinct, Interpersonal, and Communicative Phenomenon. Paper presented at the meeting of the National Communication Association.

The research project that I have chosen is Workplace bullying of social workers written by Kate van Heugten. I chose this topic because I felt that it spoke more to me. I have never personally been bullied but I have witnessed it happen. Not in a dramatic way just small children antics. At that time I wasn’t aware that, it was bullying. While reading an article about this topic, it made me realise how bullying is so common, even in professional environments. The topic itself grasped my interest instantly. I felt that this topic would be a real eye opener to how severe and common this topic is. This research project will give awareness to social work practitioners of the kind of bullying issues that happen every day in their work place. This could be a chance for social work organisations to create support services for social workers within their organisation.