Horizontal violence: a conundrum for nursing

Abstract

Abstract Horizontal violence is described as intergroup conflict and is manifested in overt and covert non-physical hostility such as sabotage, infighting, scapegoating and criticism. The notion of horizontal violence is frequently referred to amongst nurses, and is often explained in terms of behaviours associated with: women working together; personality traits; jealousy; ambition, and lack of respect for each other. It is rarely linked to politics in nursing and health care. Nursing's subordinate position in the health care system is long established and well documented. The subordination of nurses, established early in the history of the nursing occupation, and the ideologies of women as nurses have been maintained and reinforced through primary socialisation, nursing education and professional socialisation. As a result, nurses perceive themselves as powerless to effect change and to challenge the status quo in nursing and health care. This paper explores critically the phenomenon of horizontal violence in nursing. The analysis rests on the premise that, structurally, nurses are an oppressed group. Oppression theory, therefore, provides the framework for analysis.