Staffing Issues in Nursing: Workplace Bullying in Nursing
Introduction
The nursing industry is facing serious problems, including the bullying of recent graduates. Bullying negatively affects the morale and job satisfaction of freshly minted nurses, among other things. Bullying has a detrimental effect on new nurses’ intentions to remain, worsening the problem of the nursing shortage (Roberts, 2015). Bullying is regarded as a form of violent behavior in which the victim of the bullying is deliberately and repeatedly subjected to pain, discomfort, or harm. Bullying can take many different forms, such as yelling, touching, or less overt behavior. Bullying is a widespread problem in the nursing industry, primarily affecting recent graduates. The scenario has a detrimental effect on novice nurses who are already having difficulty transitioning from training to practice. The adage “nurses eat their young” has been used to illustrate the severity of a situation that must be addressed immediately (Coletti et al., 2012). The paper aims to provide potential solutions to the issues from the perspective of a nursing advocate using the maleficence ethical framework.
Ethical Conundrum
Older nurses are expected to collaborate with and mentor newly minted nursing professionals in a nursing context. A newly minted nurse may feel bullied and mistreated by an older nurse in one nursing setting because the older nurse gives the young nurse much work. The new nurse is too exhausted and feels like giving up; they may even consider quitting. The older nurse, in response, asserts that it is her responsibility to teach and train the new nurse, and the most efficient way to do this is to make sure she rotates through various nursing jobs.