Lateral Violence in Nursing

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine lasteral vilence in nusing. A quantitative descriptive exploratory survey was developed to explore lateral violence on two nursing units within a major health care organization in southern California. Post hoc reliability testing demonstrated Cronbach's alpha of .79. Fifty-four subjects from two nursing units participated in the study. The findings show the occurance of lateralviolence on these units, nurses felling a lack of support by their co-workers, and some feeling threatened and humilated by their colleagues. The findings further show that this mistreatment has caused a direct effect on patient care and has been witnessed by visitors. The findings suggest that some respondents do not feel denied access to learning opportunities, despite the Lateral Violence that is occuring and these same respondents do not feel as though there would be repercussions if they were to discuss their mistreatment with the management level. Implications include education on the topic and zero tolerance for the behavior.