Abstract
Background: Verbal abuse in the workplace is experienced by registered nurses (RNs) worldwide; physicians are one of the main sources of verbal abuse. Purpose: To examine the relationship between levels of physician verbal abuse of early-career RNs and demographics, work attributes, and perceived work environment. Method: Fourth wave of a mailed national panel survey of early career RNs begun in2006. Discussion: RNs' perception of verbal abuse by physicians was significantly associated with poor workgroup cohesion, lower supervisory and mentor support, greater quantitative workload, organizational constraints, and nurse-colleague verbal abuse, as well as RNs' lower job satisfaction, organizational commitment, and intent to stay. Conclusion: RNs working in unfavorable work environments experience more physician abuse and have less favorable work attitudes. Causality is unclear: do poor working conditions create an environment in which physicians are more likely to be abusive, or does verbal abuse by physicians create an unfavorable work environment?
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 408-416 |
Number of pages | 9 |
Journal | Nursing outlook |
Volume | 61 |
Issue number | 6 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2013 |
Keywords
- Bullying
- Disruptive behavior
- Early career registered nurses
- Verbal abuse
- Work environment
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Nursing(all)