The American Nursing Association Continues to Mitigate Workplace Bullying

December 15th, 2015

Bullying belongs in no workplace, especially in the medical industry where patient care needs to be the focus. Unfortunately, coworker harassment can be a problem in hospitals and medical offices. The American Nursing Association (ANA) remains acutely aware of the problem and is taking steps to mitigate the issue.

Let’s take a closer look at how the ANA is solving this issue affecting medical offices across the country. Is your workplace one of them?

Safe Work Environments are a Must in the Healthcare Industry

The prime directive of the ANA’s fight against workplace violence in the medical industry is straightforward. They feel the ultimate goal of both RNs and their management is:

“…to create and sustain a culture of respect, which is free of incivility, bullying, and workplace violence. RNs and employers across the health care continuum, including academia, have an ethical, moral, and legal responsibility to create a healthy and safe work environment for RNs and all members of the health care team, health care consumers, families, and communities.”

In fact, the ANA’s own Code of Ethics requires all nurses to “create an ethical environment and culture of civility and kindness, treating colleagues, coworkers, employees, students, and others with dignity and respect.” Those same nurses can expect to be treated in the same manner.

In short, the ANA tolerates no violence of any kind in the nursing profession.

Employers need to implement Best Practices to mitigate Workplace Violence

If your company doesn’t already have a set of policies and procedures to prevent bullying and other forms of workplace violence, they must be implemented as soon as possible. Your operational efficiency, corporate finances, and — most importantly — the quality of patient care will suffer without them. Nurses themselves experience many adverse effects from workplace violence, including: decreased job satisfaction, reduced organizational commitment, decreased personal health, and, in some cases, ultimately leaving the profession itself.

In addition, OSHA’s General Duty Clause requires all employers to provide a workplace free of any hazards that could cause physical harm. Any failure to have an anti-bullying policy in place puts your organization at risk of being cited under that OSHA clause.

ANA Recommended Resources for handling Workplace Violence

The ANA recommends a variety of resources to mitigate workplace bullying. A selection of these resources follows:

The ANA Leadership Institute’s™ “Diversity Matters: Create an Inclusive Nursing Culture that Leads to Better Outcomes” webinar (ANA, 2015b).

“Civility Tool-kit: Resources to Empower Healthcare Leaders to Identify, Intervene, and Prevent Workplace Bullying” (Adeniran et al., 2015).

Ending Nurse-to-Nurse Hostility: Why Nurses Eat Their Young and Each Other (2nd ed.) (Bartholomew, 2014).

Employers should provide these and any other resources to help their staff stamp out bullying at the office. The ANA provides many other excellent resources to mitigate this issue.

If your organization needs additional input on building a top notch staff, talk to the experts at Pinnacle Workforce. One of the top medical employment agencies in the country, we offer quality candidates able to make a positive difference for your firm. Schedule a meeting with us today!

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