The Relationship between Workplace Bullying for Nurses and Leadership Styles

Abstract

Background: Workplace bullying is a social and organizational problem within the nursing profession; this phenomenon has significant negative effects and is closely associated with leadership styles. Aim: This study aimed to examine the relationship between workplace bullying for nurses and leadership styles. Design: A descriptive correlational design was used in this study. Setting: This study was conducted at El-Obour Hospital for Health Insurance, Kafr El-Sheikh Branch. Sample: Consisted of a representative sample of staff nurses (N=295). Tools: Two tools were used for data collection: The Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R) and the Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (MLQ). Results: (61.7%) of staff nurses were highly exposed to workplace bullying. Also, the most dominant style was laissez-faire leadership, with the highest mean percentage of respondents. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between staff nurses' exposure to workplace bullying and transformational leadership. There was also a statistically significant negative correlation between staff nurses' exposure to workplace bullying and transactional leadership. While, there was a statistically significant positive correlation between staff nurses' exposure to workplace bullying and laissez-faire leadership. Conclusion: There was a statistically significant, negative correlation between staff nurses’ exposure to workplace bullying (r =-0.285, p< 0.001) and leadership styles. Recommendation: Healthcare organizations should suggest policies and rules to prevent bullying and punish bullies. Nurse Managers should encourage staff nurses to report workplace bullying incidents. Further studies: Explore the staff nurses' perceptions about bullying before and after applying a training program about bullying and strategies to deal with it.