Bullying at the work place is a common occurrence, and hospitals have reported cases where bullying has been enabled or encouraged. Nurses and doctors are known to report cases of bullying from time to time, citing the effects they have on productivity. Work place bullying is an emotional and physical harm that is caused by another individual or group of people that results to negative effects. In hospitals and clinics, bullying affects the quality of care and patient safety directly and indirectly. Nurses and doctors who feel bullied do not do their jobs effectively, and this is seen in the responses of their patients and people under their care. Additionally, bullying affects a healthcare facility indirectly when patients feel that they are not safe in the hospital due to cases of bullying by nurses and doctors. In places where bullying is discouraged, productivity, communication and overall heathy relationships are established and created between hospitals practitioners and their patients. Since bullying is common in all workplaces, it should be discouraged and eliminated through various leadership strategies enabled to nurse practitioners to ensure positive patient outcomes.
Professional standards of practice to rectify Bullying
There are various professional standards of practice that can be applied to identify and help rectify bullying at the work place. For nurses, the work place is busy and messy, and there may be no time to address issues like bullying. However, bullying is a real problem in hospitals and clinics today and it needs strategic plans that can help leaders at work eliminate it (Al-Ghabeesh and Qattom, 2019). Just as explained, one professional way of dealing with and rectifying bullying as a nurse leader is to teach nurses the importance of reporting the cases. As professionals, nurses can report cases directly to the relevant authorities so that it can be addressed immediately. For instance, nurses are trained on how to deal with stubborn patients, so that they do not lose their temper in case of an argument. When nurses are tired, chances of them getting in trouble are high. However, trained professional will know when to avoid situations that may lead to bullying. Such reports are significant in helping the human resource and management team understand where the problem is and how to eliminate it. Additionally, nurse leaders need to teach new nurses and the old ones the significance of zero tolerance policies of bullying. Such rules and regulations of zero-tolerance are structures to let nurses and patients know the importance of staying professional at work. By having such zero-tolerance for bullying, nurse leaders encourage new and old workers to adhere to the rules for the purpose of maintaining professional conduct. Overall, nurse leaders should lead by example and maintain a level of self-awareness and professionalism that is commendable.
Roles of Nurse leaders and managers in addressing bullying
Nurse managers and nurse leaders have different roles in addressing bullying at the work place. They both have different approaches to addressing bullying since their job titles give them differing responsibilities. Through the involvement in small happenings that take place on a daily basis pertaining to patient care planning, nurse managers can address cases of bullying that have been reported. According to Al Omar, Salam, and Al-Surimi (2019), nurse managers are day to day leaders who are expected to provide guidelines on general patient care. Just as explained, the nurse manager is positioned to address daily reports of bullying that reported, and this would ensure patient safety and quality care for them. On the other hand, nurse leaders are required by their job description to create a professional and positive environment at work for both nurses and patients. Due to such responsibilities, nurse leaders are expected to come up with strategic plans that will create a road map to a safer work environment. Thus, nurse leaders address bullying through the provision of suggestions and implementations of rules and regulations that protect each person at the workplace.
Additional aspects management and leadership for nurses.
There are additional aspects of management and leadership strategies that can be imposed on healthcare facilities to encourage professionalism and ensure the provision of diverse healthcare practices while addressing bullying. Whitney (2018) assert that nurse leaders and managers are expected to come up with different strategies to ensure the work place is professional and friendly for individuals to work and receive the best heath care. Just as explained, nurse leaders and managers need to plan on goals and policies that would drive a better workplace. Planning is crucial in setting goals and targets. The same leaders can incorporate organization of the plans being made. When nurse managers and leaders are organized and well equipped with working plans, they will employ and staff their clinics and hospitals with professionals who will ensure better patient outcomes (Al-Ghabeesh and Qattom, 2019). Through the introduction of professional staffing., nurse manager and leaders will encourage zero-tolerance for bullying since they will have created a conducive and friendly environment for workers and patients. For instance, when a nurse practitioner staffs his clinic with professional and self-aware nurses, they will not report unnecessary complaints from patients that may include bullying. By reporting such cases effectively, action can be taken properly to ensure quality care is provided.
Leadership style to address bullying
The leadership style that would best address bullying in hospitals and clinics is the Laissez-Faire style. Through this style of leadership, nurses and other workers are allowed to function at work with minimal guidance. According to Whitney (2018), the Laissez-Faire style of leadership is crucial since it allows nurses to operate with minimal supervision and to set their own achievable goals. Just as explained, the style of leadership would address bullying effectively if nurse managers and leaders impose the style on workers. By doing this, nurse managers and leaders will ensure that nurses and even patients learn to be self-reliant and to come in contact with authority as little as possible. Most bullying cases are reported among juniors and their supervisor, and the leadership style will allow each worker to do their duties without authoritative supervision as much as possible. Thus, the Laissez-Faire style of leadership would help eliminate cases of bullying and ensure positive patient outcome since it calls for the improvement of practices as nurses learn to be self-reliant and sufficient.
References
Al-Ghabeesh, S. H., & Qattom, H. (2019). Retracted article: Workplace bullying and its preventive measures and productivity among emergency department nurses. Israel Journal of Health Policy Research, 8(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13584-019-0314-8
Al Omar, M., Salam, M., & Al-Surimi, K. (2019). Workplace bullying and its impact on the quality of healthcare and patient safety. Human Resources for Health, 17(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0433-x
Whitney, S. (2018). Roles and Responsibilities in Leadership and Management. In Grand Canyon University (Ed.), Nursing Leadership & Management: Leading and Serving. Retrieved from https://lc.gcumedia.com/nrs451vn/nursing-leadership-and-management-leading-and-serving/v1.1/#/chapter/2