Channeling Nurses' Anger Into Positive Interventions

The authors outline strategies to address system and interpersonal sources of anger provocations, and describe positive interventions that can reduce the intrapsychic characteristics that fuel personal anger.

Abstract

Nurses are angry, and with good reason, but few seem to be proficient in anger management. Work-related experiences of anger were vividly described by female registered nurses (Smith, Droppleman, & Thomas, 1996) and male registered nurses (Brooks, Thomas, & Droppleman, 1996) in phenomenological interviews. The roots of the anger were found in the system and the interpersonal and intrapsychic elements of nursing. In this article the authors outline strategies to address system and interpersonal sources of anger provocations, and describe positive interventions that can reduce the intrapsychic characteristics that fuel personal anger.