Workplace bullying experienced by nurses newly licensed in Massachusetts and the relationship to intention to leave the organization

This study has three objectives: (1) to identify bullying behavior experienced by newly licensed registered nurses; (2) to determine if newly graduated nurses are bullied more than experienced, non-managerial nurses; and (3) to analyze the relationship between bullying and a newly licensed nurse...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author Simons, Shellie R
Format Dissertation
LanguageEnglish
Published ProQuest Dissertations & Theses 01.01.2006
Subjects
Bullying
Nursing
Occupational psychology
Resignations
Workplace violence
United States > US
Massachusetts
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Summary:This study has three objectives: (1) to identify bullying behavior experienced by newly licensed registered nurses; (2) to determine if newly graduated nurses are bullied more than experienced, non-managerial nurses; and (3) to analyze the relationship between bullying and a newly licensed nurse's intention to leave a position. The conceptual framework that guides this study is the Conceptual Model of Nursing and Health Policy (Fawcett & Russell, 2001) and the theory of oppressed group behavior (Freire, 2000). This retrospective, descriptive study uses a survey adapted from the Negative Acts Questionnaire. Data were collected using a mail survey of 511 randomly selected registered nurses who attained their Massachusetts RN license since 2001. Factor analysis and linear regression are used to analyze the data. Thirty-one percent of the sample were victims of bullying at work. Principal component factor analysis revealed four constructs to be part of bullying, explaining 56% of the variance. These constructs were "belittle," "punish," "excessive surveillance" and "exclude." Experienced nurses were equally victimized by bullying behavior as novice nurses. When controlling for other variables, bullying is a significant determinant in predicting intent to leave the organization in this study (B = 3.1, p < .0005). The main finding of this study is that, as workplace bullying among newly licensed nurses in Massachusetts increases, so does the individual's intent to leave the current nursing position. These findings suggest that effective interventions need to be implemented in education, practice and policy to stop workplace bullying and reduce the high rates of registered nurse turnover that contribute to a growing nursing shortage.
ISBN:0542741598
9780542741593