Bullying at Health care Work Places - Essay Example

The Impact of Bullying in Health Care Introduction As the health care fraternity seeks to better its objectives of providing better services to more people, assessments are conducted to ascertain some of the redundant factors which hinder these objectives. Multiple factors have been pinpointed as the causal factors to the achievement of health care objectives. They include management issues, medical errors, underemployment, lack of skills, language barriers, financial strains, and work environments to mention but a few. Some of these factors are external while the rest are internal. This means that some influence to the redundancy occurs from factors beyond health care while others emerge from within it. Of all the factors known, workplace bullying has been recognized as one of the most recurrent internal issues which affect health care dissemination. In definition, workplace bullying is any form of abuse that is repetitive in a way such that the victim suffers intimidation, threats, verbal abuse, humiliation, or just any act which keeps them from performing their duties to the best of their ability. The danger of workplace bullying affects both the professional and patient in this context of health care. In the light of these, the following study will highlight the issue of health care workplace bullying, and support that it limits the dissemination of health care, thus endangering the lives of patients. Article 1 Murray (2009) acknowledges that workplace bullying in health care is a big problem which affects the professionals and their patients as well. Again, he states that bullying will lead to lack of morale and feelings of helplessness, and any health care professional subjected to such conditions cannot perform well. The reasons offered as to why a health care professional may bully another include the need to control others, lack of remorse or guilt, an exaggerated sense of self, or being overly stubborn amongst others. Some forms of bullying include lack of appreciation by supervisors where credit is due, unfair degradation occurs, being falsely termed as incompetent, or denial or requested help. The list is endless. The impact of bullying is dangerous since it may lead to lost productivity, high turnover, work dissatisfaction, work-related injuries, and absenteeism. Collectively, these factors affect the patient most since they lack sufficient care, or receive low quality care, or lack any care at all. The information provided by Murray makes sense in that he concurs with the definition of bullying as any form of act which reduces the output capacity of a fellow health care worker. The information provided is relevant and credible in that the tell-tale signs provided, that is how to tell whether someone is being bullied, are within the definition of bullying. Additionally, they are evident in real-life. Murray presents his information derived from varying sources in a manner such that each event precedes the other in order. Bullying is defined, sings are highlighted, the implications follow, and finally, he offers recommendations to counter the issue of workplace bullying in health care. In supporting his claims, Murray presents information from scholarly articles and also provides real life scenarios at some points. The concept is to relate the information presented to what the sources outline. In this way, it is easier to connect the readings to how things actually happen in the real health care settings. In my opinion, Murray’s article makes total sense. First of all, I agree with him that bullying is one of the key factors which hinder the achievement of health care objectives. The reason is that it is impossible for anyone to work well when they feel helpless or unappreciated. On another note, Murray states that some people might bully others without their knowledge, such as when one possess self exaggeration or lack of remorse. What this means is not all bullying is intended. However, intentional bullying inspired by greed for control or being stubborn occurs more. Further sense is seen in that Murray feels that bullying demotivates health care professionals leading to reduced productivity, workplace conflicts, and a general limitation to the health care fraternity. Finally, I feel that just like Murray recommends, health care leaders should look into the issue more deeply and seriously since it is one of the issues that can go unnoticed for so long yet their impacts are overly dangerous. Article 2 In their article, Ariza-Montes, et.al (2013) provide a wider scope of the detrimental effects of workplace bullying in health care. They state that it is natural for bullying to occur in any organization since such settings usually encounter infrequency and certain irregularities. As such, unfairness is likely to occur everywhere, including in health care. Bullying, according to the authors is four times more likely to occur than sexual harassment. Nurses and physicians are highlighted as the health care professionals, to whom much bullying is thrown at, varying in form and intensity. The highlighted forms of bullying include mistreatment, psychological abuse, harassment, victimization, intimidation, and aggression to mention but a few. In a study presented herein, it was revealed that bullying is likely to occur in professionals working on shift schedules, those who perform monotonous roles, and those who are perceived as least likely to be promoted. The outcomes of bullying as identified include bad organization reputation, turnover, losses, lawsuits, labor shortage, and affected health of patients. The authors present information which is based on completed studies conducted in practicing health care professionals. As such, the information provided in their article is bound to be accurate and credible. Their implication from the very start is that bullying presents obvious detrimental effects to a health care organization, negatively influencing on the patients and professionals alike. The authors present the information in quantitative as well as qualitative manners such as when they reveal that workplace bullying recurrence (in health care) is four times that of sexual harassment. This comparison offers the magnitude of bullying since sexual harassment is known as one of the common occurrences committed against professionals by others. The fact that the authors have integrated a real life study case is a sufficient means of supporting their claims. For instance, they state that the rate of physical bullying per 1,000 nurses is 21.9, these statistics having being derived from studies conducted prior to the article’s presentation. From my perspective, I agree when the authors firmly ascertain that nothing positive would emerge from bullying within the health care context. Whether intentional or not, bullying will always affect the performance, feelings, and general well-being of any worker. The other point that I perceive of as being quite important to the topic is their information that certain factors such as professional qualifications, performing monotonous tasks, or working on shift schedules raise the chances of one to be bullied. This does not mean that workplace bullying only occurs in the mentioned settings; rather, they are the conditions that support much of the reported cases of bullying. In my understanding for instance, a nurse working on night shift is likely to be bullied by her supervisor or senior employee simply because most of the management staff is away at night. Article 3 Rodwell, et al. (2012) suggest that the universal definition of workplace bullying is any unreasonable and repeated behavior directed towards an employee or group of employees and which poses a risk to safety and health. They also acknowledge that workplace bullying in health care is an overly recurrent issue. They provide statistics that of the overall health care workforce in the United States, about 23 percent had experienced a form of bullying at work in a period of 6 months. More importantly, they reveal that of this number, 84 percent are junior doctors. In their article, they focus on the most common effects of workplace bullying. First, an organization goes short of significant returns, and is forced to pay some as fines. The income is affected in that when employees are absent from work, productivity is low. Additionally, turnover becomes a problem. The quality of care deteriorates as morale and commitment to work diminishes. Finally, a health care organization may be subjected to litigation owing to bullied to employees as well as neglected patients. In the above article summary, the authors introduced their topic by providing a precise definition of workplace bullying. This definition works to support the facts that are presented later in the article. They state that workplace bullying will affect the health and safety of both workers and patients, and go on to support this claim by providing the examples of risks. To do this, they state that de-motivated employees will either be underproductive, or leave an organization. This hurts not just an organization, but the patients suffer when care is unavailable. In further support of their claims about workplace bullying is a major problem in health care, they present statistics, which portray junior doctors as the most vulnerable group to bullying. Again, they provide the actual figure of 23% as the total number of health care employees who experience workplace bullying every 6 months. Collectively, their facts are supported, thus their article is credible. So far, the definition of workplace bullying as offered by Rodwell, et al is the most inclusive of them all. I feel this way because bullying does not only affect individuals but may also affect a group of health care professionals. As is herein provided, the junior doctors are bullied by the seniors (in most cases). This is an example of group bullying. I find the statistics provided in the article as being true, since they are almost equal to the ratios offered regarding the issue of bullying in this sector. In short, they point out that bullying is indeed a major setback for the health care industry. In support of their statement that workplace bullying affects the objectives of health care; the authors cite legal fines, staff turnovers, and affected productivity as implications of the vice. Again, they state that patients upon lacking quality care suffer as well. Concisely, I feel that they have sufficiently addressed the topic by credibly supporting their facts using actual experimental conclusions. Evaluation In evaluating the three articles, certain conclusions can be made with regards to the authors’ personal and professional contributions. However, the general overview suggests that they agree with most of their writing regarding the issue of workplace bullying. First of all, Murray (2009) states that bullying is a notorious problem in health care organizations. Similarly, Ariza-Montes, et.al (2013) feel that the problem is one that has been lurking around for way too long, and has not yet been resolved. Rodwell, et al (2012) follow suit by agreeing with the rest of the authors that bullying is indeed a problem that is too common in the health care fraternity. Murray goes a step ahead and provides a few potential causal reasons of bullying in health care organizations. To him, an individual’s nature can force them into it without their knowledge. He also adds that some people will bully others knowingly. In as much as Ariza-Montes et al does not provide direct contrast to this, their definition of bullying seems to counter Murray’s opinion that bullying may happen subconsciously. The contrast lies in that to them, nurses and physicians are the most affected of the general health care context. In short, if Murray’s thought was to be applied, then it would mean that the ratios would be equal across all the categories of health care. Coming close in support of Ariza-Montes et.al are Rodwell, et al. They state that junior doctors are mostly affected by bullying. In evaluation therefore, the other authors seem not to agree with Murray’s statement that bullying can be unintentional. The other strong converging point of the three articles is that the consequences they present as emerging from bullying in health care are similar. Collectively, they agree that both the health care providers are affected equally as their patients and this affects the achievement of health care objectives. Of the authors’ similar consequences of workplace bullying there is lack of job satisfaction which adds up to poor performance. Poor performance leads to an organization’s underproduction. This simply means losses. Second, there is employee turnover as health care providers quit their organizations as they go in search of peaceful others. This in turn amounts to bad reputation, shortage of labor, and expenses incurred in recruiting new staff. The third point of coincidence is that at some point lawsuits may apply in the event that an employee decides to seek legal action against bullying. This may add up to fines slammed on the organization for failing to protect its employees. Finally, the three articles recognize the patient as part of the suffering which follows health care workplaces bullying. The authors do not end the debate at the health care providers, but also point at the main player in health care, and that is the patient. The feelings are that in the event that a health care provider is not able to perform as they should, or when they leave, nobody is there to cater for the patients. This in turn affects their health and safety more, meaning the problem goes beyond the workers. In combining all of these factors, the authors imply that the quality of health care provision degrades, the labor force decreases, production is low, the reputation suffers, and all in all, the objectives of health care are not met. Personal and professional values The personal and professional values I possess may influence my views of this topic. Personally, I tend to concerned and full of empathy. These two values simply direct me towards treating other people as I would like to be treated. The concern part makes me think about my actions and what reactions I should expect. In the event that I notice my actions would not be so welcome, I avoid doing them. The empathy in me keeps me from hurting anyone in anyway. Rather, I feel for others. In the light of these, I would not support any form of bullying since I would not myself enjoy being bullied. This would even prompt me to intervene if in any case I noticed a form of it. Professionally, I am defined by my work values, and ethics. By my work values I mean that I only have to do what is right in the right way. In short, if I am a nurse of physician, I should only do what was taught to me and keep my personal issues out of it. This reflects work ethics. They dictate that one should not at any one point get in the way of others, or cause them discomfort. Simply put, being within work ethics means I would not look down at anyone to the extent of making them feel oppressed or helpless. As such, I agree that bullying is a vice that should be rooted out since it violates both personal and professional values of health care providers. Conclusion In this study, the three articles have justified that bullying happens in workplaces, and that health care is not an exception. In fact, health care is one of the areas where the vice dominates. The evaluation of the readings suggests that multiple factors may lead to bullying such as looking down on others, lack of empathy, and the greed for power amongst many others. As the authors collectively feel, the issue is getting out of hand, despite of nothing much being heard about it. In short, the management at health care organizations should ensure it does not happen at their firms. Bullying causes lack of job morale, loss of interest, conflicts, and employee turnover. The organization lacks labor, incurs fines and unnecessary expenses, low productivity, and overall bad reputation. The patients suffer as well due to lack of good services. The issue if not resolved will remain a limiting factor to the achievement of health care objectives which are providing quality services to everyone. The sense lies in that if the industry cannot be internally united, then it will be next t impossible in reaching out to the wider patient segment. References Ariza-Montes, A., et al. (2013, Aug). “Workplace Bullying among Health care Workers”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10 (8): 3121-3139. Murray, J. (2009). “Workplace Bullying in Nursing: A Problem That Can’t Be Ignored”. MEDSURG Nursing, 18 (5): 273-277. Rodwell, J., et al. (2012). “The Impact of Bullying on Health Care Administration Staff: Reduced Commitment Beyond the Influence of Negative Affectivity” Health Care Management Review, 37(4): 329-338. Read More