Lateral Violence Essay

1536 Words7 Pages
Lateral Violence in Nursing There is a dark side to nursing. A side that most instructors don't lecture about, that most nurse managers don't explain in the interview and that even other nurses don't discuss. A nurse rolls her eyes at a co-worker as she picks up the assignment sheet that was created by a younger charge nurse. An ICU nurse pretends not to see her co-worker is drowning and ignores her request for help saying she is ‘too busy’. A newly hired RN who was previously a tech finds she is now shunned by both groups. Is this just life as a nurse or a nurse’s rite of passage? Or is it something more insidious? These behaviors go by several names: lateral or horizontal violence, incivility, nurse-to-nurse bullying, sabotage - “nurses eating their young”. As kind and compassionate as nurses can be to their patients, they can be just as mean and hateful to their colleagues. With knowledge comes responsibility. Horizontal violence is prevalent in the nursing profession, and the experience of this behavior is psychologically distressing, threatening patient safety, nurse moral, and nurse retention. To understand how to eliminate lateral violence amongst nurses, we first have to understand exactly what it is. WHAT IS IT Lateral violence is a devastating phenomenon in the nursing workplace. According to Martha Griffin, RN, PhD, who is a nationally recognized expert on lateral violence, lateral violence is “disruptive and inappropriate behavior demonstrated in the workplace by one employee to another who is in either an equal or lesser position.” It can consist of a variety of behaviors; from unintentional, thoughtless acts to purposeful, intentional, destructive acts meant to harm, intimidate or humiliate another group or individual. Lateral violence can range from random instances to a pattern of repeated behaviors. She has identified ten of the most

More about Lateral Violence Essay

Open Document