Bullying in hospital settings : the nature of bullying, prevalence rates and occupational health outcomes
This thesis deals with the issue of bullying at work. The bullying concept refers to situations where a person is persistently and over time exposed to hostile and demeaning behaviours at work. Whether the bullying is deliberate or not, it is likely to cause humiliation, offence and distress in the...
| Main Author: | |
|---|---|
| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2003
|
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://kar.kent.ac.uk/94243/ https://kar.kent.ac.uk/94243/1/404549.pdf https://doi.org/10.22024/UniKent/01.02.94243 |
| Summary: | This thesis deals with the issue of bullying at work. The bullying concept refers to situations where a person is persistently and over time exposed to hostile and demeaning behaviours at work. Whether the bullying is deliberate or not, it is likely to cause humiliation, offence and distress in the target person. In the thesis, the focus is on two aspects of bullying at work - namely prevalence rates and occupational health outcomes. In recent years, attention has been paid to bullying and harassment among health care professionals. Findings from several countries suggest that health professionals are frequently exposed to various kinds of bullying behaviours or acts. Indeed, the two studies reported in this thesis point to high levels of bullying in the health sector. The studies took place in two hospital trusts, one located in Scotland and the other in Iceland. Questionnaires were used to assess the prevalence and nature of bullying experiences in these trusts. The study samples were large and randomly generated. Two key methods were used to assess prevalence levels. The first method focused on persistent exposure to undesirable behaviour at work. The second method focused on subjective experiences of bullying at work. An interesting disparity in findings appeared, depending on the method used. Results from the first method consistently pointed to higher prevalence rates than results from the second method. Apart from studying local prevalence rates, the project aimed at comparing the rates from the two countries. The results from this cross-cultural comparison pointed consistently to higher levels of bullying in Scotland than in Iceland. However, both studies showed that people were most likely to report work-related negative acts and personal derogation or isolation. This accords with the notion that rational-appearing aggression and other forms of covert aggression are more frequently used in the workplace than are overt forms of aggression. In Scotland, cross-sectional data were used to assess the link ... |
|---|