Lateral violence is very prevalent in the nursing profession. Lateral violence is defined by the American Nurses Association (2018) as “repeated, unwanted, harmful actions intended to humiliate, offend, and cause distress in the recipient”. Lateral violence or bullying of any kind can have negative impacts on healthcare workers health, decreased productivity, job satisfaction, quality of care, patient safety, and outcomes (Berry, Gillespie, Gates, & Schafer, 2012). The purpose of this paper is to bring light to this critical issue nurses face. The difficulty of this topic is understanding what forms bullying can take and the effects it can have on a person. Bullying can be both nonverbal and verbal. It can be very obvious or hidden and secretive. Types of bullying can consist of unfair work assignments, gossiping, intimidating, withholding information, insults, angry outburst, and belittling to name a few. Working in this kind of environment can be exhausting. It causes you to always work in fear and not work up to your potential. It adds undue stress, anxiety, and pressure to an already high-stress environment. …show more content…
The author works in the operating room where the high-stress atmosphere and close quarter work environment increase the likely hood for bullying to occur (Chipps, Stelmaschuk, Albert, Bernhard, & Holloman, 2013). Nurses along with all members of the healthcare team deserve to work in a safe environment. At some point in our careers, we have all experienced, seen, heard, or taken part in bullying. This type of behavior can have devastating effects on the individual, leading to job dissatisfaction, unproductive completion, and ultimately poor patient care. Healthcare organizations need to have a zero-tolerance policy and stop allowing ‘nurses to eat their