STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Bullying and harassment at workplace is a widespread social stigma which is well recognized in the healthcare sector, both globally and in Pakistan. It can have devastating effects on the victim’s personal life, health, job satisfaction, performance and productivity. Women are the major victims of workplace harassment in Pakistan’s healthcare sector. Fear of reporting and confusion regarding how to get help has further added to the problem.
The responsibility to develop and promote a healthy and safe environment for all workers has to be taken, because existing laws and policies are either ineffective or the general public lacks awareness related to their legal rights.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Workplace bullying and harassment
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Sexual harassment is identified as any unwelcome and unwanted sexual advances, verbal or physical behavior of sexual nature and requesting for sexual favours due to which a worker’s performance is affected, he/she suffers from psychological trauma or an offensive/hostile atmosphere is created at the workplace.
The occurrence of workplace sexual harassment is linked with several risk factors. The nature of job and particularly the gender ratio at a workplace and traditionally male oriented jobs are among the significant ones. These pose an increased risk for women to face situations of getting sexually offended or harassed. Other important agents are social norms and organizational culture.
Bullying and workplace harassment adversely affects the individual victim, the employer organization and at large, the economy. The existence of unsafe work environment characterized by bullying and harassment undermines the business growth and profitability of organizations and also leads to a damaging impact on the organization’s corporate image. Employer organization consequently has to pay in terms of litigation, increased staff turnover and loss of morale, absenteeism, potential workers’ compensation claims etc. Furthermore, workplace harassment results in loss of time and productivity due to negative circumstances keeping employees preoccupied, loss of skill and experience due to employees leaving the organization and harm to company’s market
The organisation must be aware of all of the recent changes in order for the health care provisions to provide the best quality of care. The organisations employ managers who have the duty to ensure that all of the policies are adhered too, staffs are trained on a regular basis and that the improvement of care should be monitored after the training is provided. Health and social care provisions must have polices in place to deal with all forms of bullying or harassment. In accordance with the law if this occurs within the provision it can be dealt with by legislation, as laws are enforced to prevent bullying/harassment from happening. However, the health and social care establishment should still be able to effectively deal with cases like these.
Bullying and Harassment in the work place is illegal and not a good representation of what OCPS should stand
Sexual Harassment: Chartrand .Vanderwell Contractors Ltd. The definition of Sexual harassment in the AHRC is a form of forced unwanted sexual behaviour: verbally, and physically. The effects of this type of harassment infringes the rights of a person. In reference to a workplace: an employee’s position is threatened, elimination of any promotions/salary increases; reduces chances of employment.
Bullying amongst nurses causes detrimental effects on patients and healthcare professionals, creating a toxic work environment with negative work performance. Many nurses are threatening to leave an already understaffed profession. Proactive measures such as implementing anti-bullying policies, providing education, fostering a culture of support and accountability, and promoting open dialogue among team leaders can help in the resolution of this epidemic. By addressing the implications of bullying, healthcare organizations can create an atmosphere that encourages collaboration, enhances well-being, improves patient outcomes, and puts a stop to the stigma of “nurses eat their
That situation affected the organization to the insufficient of excellent nurses available to care for patients and have an effect on those who continued working in a troubling work environment. Granstra (2015) researched that “Bullying results in increased turnover when nurses choose to leave the organization instead of remaining in a workplace where they are unhappy” (p.
No harm was done to the participants during either of the studies which allowed for the principle of beneficence to be fulfilled. The studies were both congruent when explaining that the study would help design plans to not only determined the causes to workplace bullying, but also explaining the importance of having family and friends to help support those affected by bullying. This satisfied the principle of justice. Respect for person was achieved by allowing the participants to choose whether or not they would like to participate and all results were anonymous. The data was able to find major contributors to workplace bullying and lateral violence.
Although bullying, harassment and intimidation has been an occurring issue in the nursing profession Since its inception, it is only in the past decade it has received global recognition as a worldwide occurring workplace issue with serious consequences. Although it is difficult to grasp the accurate frequency of bullying, harassment and intimidation occurring before the last decade, but Vanderslott (1998) suggests that it is an immense problem with the consequences very hard to judge. The British Crime Survey (BCS) found there were close to 849,000 incidents of Bullying and harassment and intimidation at work in England and Wales in 2002/2003 (Budd, 2001). Professions subjected to a high probability of harassment includes police, firemen,
Theoretical Framework on Violence in the Workplace Violence can be experienced by many different people in different situations in health care. In the healthcare world, nurses are one of the most exposed groups to workplace violence in the world. Circumstances that lead patients to the hospital can be very stressful which can lead to anxiety, agitation, depression. Through using the theoretical framework developed by Ida Jean Orlando, workplace violence can be viewed and applied to address or even prevent violence experienced by nurses possibly. Violence has been a long-standing issue in the workplace.
SEXUAL HARASSMENT IN THE WORKPLACE The meaning of harassment is - “conduct as unwanted or unwelcome, and which has the purpose or effect of being intimidating, hostile, degrading, humiliating or offensive.” (Quick & McFadyen, 2017, pg. 286) Harassment can show itself in many different instances. It can be a verbal or physical offensive action against race, sex, age nationality or disability.
Workplace bullying is a phenomenon that is currently drawing considerable attention worldwide. Bullying can happen to anyone in any workplace and is more prevalent in the health care profession such as nursing. This phenomenon has appeared as a worldwide issue and identified to have impact on patient outcomes. It has been noted that it can harm the physical and psychological well being of nurses and may affect the organization as a whole in the long run. A culture of bullying where nurses work are likely to experience other negative work related effects such as low job satisfaction, decreased productivity, and lower morale.
Sexual harassment and sexual assault are very serious issues happening today in the workplace. Women or men have suffered from unsolicited sexual behaviors that are typically provoked by someone “higher” in position. “Sexual harassment especially has been a fixture in the workplace since women began to work outside their homes” (Fitzgerald, 1993). It is solely the responsibility of the employer to ensure that all employees within are aware and are very cautions of laws, misconduct, and liabilities. Employers must enforce the Policy Prohibiting Discrimination and further extend those laws and guidelines to their employees.
Organizations need to understand the proper risks related to bullying and how it can economically impact their company. Companies need to take strict actions against bullying and make laws equal for all employees including the higher authorities as well. They should provide clear consequences against bullying during hiring process and should even teach all employees to stand up against any crime towards bullying. Proper policies should be implemented to given right law and order in the company. “An organization should have a code of conduct that provides concrete examples of desirable and forbidden behaviors.
Theoretical Framework This study is postulated on the theories, concepts and principles regarding on Workplace Bullying and its impact on employees productivity and performance. According to Einarsen’s conceptual framework Model (see Figure 1) of the nature and cause of workplace bullying (Einarsen 2003; as cited in Einarsen, 2005), three elements can describe the causes of workplace bullying: individual, social and organizational. Hoel and Stalin (2003; as cited in Lewis, 2004) suggested that there are four antecedents to organizational causes of workplace bullying, namely: the changing nature of work, how work is organized, the organizational culture, and leadership. The changing nature of work can be attributed to globalization, mergers and the current economic recession, among others (McCarthy, 2003).
The study of workplace bullying is no longer a new phenomenon and has undergone widespread research. The article is premised on the assumption that there are imbalances in existing studies as research is always pointed towards the victims of bullying. Therefore, new research has been called for to examine bullying allegations from the perpetrators perspective. Most of what we know in relation to work place bullying comes from the viewpoints of the bullied victims and bystanders.
There are two obvious effect of workplace bullying which physical and physiology effect. This effect is usually in terms of stress and it is repetitive (Heames and Harvey,