Introduction
Horizontal violence in healthcare is understood as acts of aggression, bullying, intimidation, or refusal to assist nurses and healthcare professionals towards each other. While respective attitude towards colleagues fosters collaboration and teamwork, horizontal violence leads to the formation of a negative working environment and constant stress often results in nurses’ burnout. To prevent horizontal violence in healthcare, ANA’s Code of Ethics outlines professional behaviors expected of nurses towards each other. To tackle the problem of horizontal violence, an atmosphere of collaboration should be fostered, and equal education opportunities given to all the staff.
Discussion
Every year, ANA reports numerous cases of horizontal violence in healthcare environments. This is largely because healthcare professionals often work under stress in settings where the price of a mistake is people’s health or even life. Staff shortages and overworking also contribute to the problem since it has been found that overtired people are more prone to insults, bullying, and aggression. While cases of horizontal aggression usually presuppose oppression at a horizontal level, studies show that is no less common on the part of nursing leaders to those who work under their command (Blackstock et al., 2018). There have been reported numerous cases where nurses complained of bullying and intimidation on the part of their superiors.
Stemming from a large workload and stress, horizontal aggression may be conducive to the development of depression, burnout and even leaving the profession on the part of healthcare professionals. Indeed, work in healthcare presupposes collaboration and reliance on colleagues in difficult situations. Without this, even the most professional healthcare workers risk not coping and making stress-related mistakes that may have an impact on patients’ health. Besides, horizontal violence directly contradicts the values outlined in the nurses’ Code of Ethics and endangers healthcare professionals’ ability to render patient-centered care (Blackstock et al., 2018). Indeed, when a nurse or a doctor is constantly brooding over the humiliations he or she regularly undergoes, the care of patients and their needs may recede into the background.
There are several ways to tackle the issue of horizontal violence in the workplace. First of all, support and education opportunities must be provided equally at all levels of the healthcare profession so that no worker feels left out of the team. A supportive and caring attitude on the part of one’s superiors significantly reduces cases of horizontal violence in healthcare settings as it helps to establish relations of trust and confidence in a workplace. Another method has proven to have good results in establishing a corrective plan when cases of horizontal violence are discovered (Blackstock et al., 2018). The corrective plan comprises the efforts of focus groups to educate personnel on the culture of respect and assistance by providing examples of working relations built on trust and consideration for other people’s differences.
Conclusion
Moreover, cases of bullying, insults, and humiliation should necessarily be confronted. It has been found that when cases of horizontal violence are seen as a deviation rather than a norm by the team one works with, it provides high motivation for a person to change his or her behavior (Blackstock et al., 2018). Finally, reporting cases of horizontal violence through proper channels should be encouraged as it helps to pinpoint the problem and take steps to improve the working culture in healthcare settings.
Reference
Blackstock, S., Salami, B., & Cummings, G. G. (2018). Organisational antecedents, policy and horizontal violence among nurses: An integrative review. Journal of Nursing Management, 26(8), 972-991.
