Workplace ostracism and employee silence in nursing: the mediating role of organizational identification

• Published in: Journal of advanced nursing Vol. 72; no. 10; pp. 2381 - 2388
• Main Authors: Gkorezis, Panagiotis, Panagiotou, Maria, Theodorou, Mamas
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01.10.2016; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc
• Subjects: Attitude of Health Personnel; Cross-Sectional Studies; Cyprus; Employment; Hospitals, Public; Humans; mediation; Nurses; nurses' silence towards patient safety; Nursing; Nursing Staff, Hospital; Organizational behavior; Organizational Culture; organizational identification; Patient Safety; Surveys and Questionnaires; Work environment; Workplace; workplace ostracism; Cyprus; workplace ostracism; nurses' silence towards patient safety; nursing; mediation; organizational identification; nurses
• ISSN: 0309-2402; 1365-2648
• DOI: 10.1111/jan.12992

Aims The aim of this study was to examine the direct and indirect effect, through organizational identification, of workplace ostracism on nurses' silence towards patient safety. Background Employee silence in nursing has recently received attention in relation to its antecedents. Yet, very little is known about the role of workplace ostracism in generating nurses' silence. Design A cross‐sectional survey was conducted in a public hospital in Cyprus. Method Data were collected from 157 nurses employed in a public hospital of Cyprus between November 2014–January 2015. To examine the present hypotheses bootstrapping analysis and Sobel test were conducted. Results Results demonstrated that workplace ostracism has an effect on nurses' silence towards patient safety. Moreover, this effect was partially mediated through organizational identification. Conclusions Workplace ostracism among nurses significantly affects both nurses' attitude and behaviour namely organizational identification and employee silence.