Seventy-three percent of adult women found workplace bullying to be “common” or “very common.” The same women reported that weekly, they are, on average, a bully 1.5 times, a victim of bullying 1.8 times and a bystander to bullying nearly seven times.
These alarming statistics are results of a recent study conducted by Cheryl Dellasega, PhD, CRNP, whose new book, When Nurses Hurt Nurses: Recognizing and Overcoming the Cycle of Bullying, is now available.
Published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI), the book discusses the tendency among health care professionals to “eat the young,” a tendency that, in addition to fostering personal and interpersonal conflict, can cause medical errors and reduce patient safety.
The book includes practical information on how to prevent becoming a victim and offers advice and sample dialogue on how to diffuse and prevent bullying behaviors.
Carol F. Rocker, MHS, BN, RN, of Vancouver Island Health Authority and Alberta Health Services, says: “I recommend this book to every nurse who has experienced, observed or has questions about workplace bullying. This work should certainly be required reading for any person who is serious about creating a safer, more respectful workplace.”
Martha Griffin, PhD, CS, RN, director of nursing education and research, observes, “When Nurses Hurt Nurses courageously and informatively breaks down the barriers to understanding, and further pushes the paradigm shift by applying the knowledge of what works and why, in a way that will provide nurses with an ‘aha’ moment.”
Dellasega, professor of humanities in the College of Medicine and professor of women’s studies at The Pennsylvania State University, also authored Mean Girls Grown Up (Wiley, 2005), Girl Wars (Simon & Schuster, 2004) and Surviving Ophelia (Perseus, 2001). As the founder of Club and Camp Ophelia, Dellasega has helped girls confront and overcome relational aggression. She has worked clinically as a nurse practitioner and is an international expert on family relationships. RNL
Ordering information
When Nurses Hurt Nurses: Recognizing and Overcoming the Cycle of Bullying, by Cheryl Dellasega, PhD, CRNP; published by the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International; ISBN: 978-1935476566; price: US $29.95; trade paperback, 224 pages; trim size 5 3/8 x 8 3/8; available at www.nursingknowledge.org/STTIbooks
