The Experience of Clinical Nurses after Korea's Enactment of Workplace Anti-Bullying Legislation: A Phenomenological Study.

Hee-Sun Kim,In-Ok Sim

doi:10.3390/ijerph18115711

Abstract

Workplace bullying is a global issue that has emerged over the past decades and is widespread all around the world. In Korea, there is a high prevalence of bullying in nursing. In 2019, Korea enacted its workplace anti-bullying legislation. This study explores the changes experienced by nurses after the enactment of the legislation and identifies problems and improvements. Qualitative research was conducted using the phenomenological analysis method proposed by Van Kaam. Twelve nurses with experience in working before and after the enactment of the legislation were selected as study participants. They worked in various departments in five general hospitals across Korea. Purposive sampling was used to recruit participants. Data were collected using one-on-one interviews. These data were analyzed by extracting significant statements and classifying them into categories, themes, and subthemes. The analysis yielded 14 subthemes, five themes, and three categories. The three categories were “positive effect of the law”, “need for awareness of the law reform”, and “impracticalities of the law that caused chaos”. There is a difference between the theory of the law and how things happen in practice in actual nursing situations. Nurses have been educated about the new law, but better education with input from nurses themselves is needed. This study lays the groundwork for a quantitative study of the issue.

Highlights

Workplace bullying is a worldwide phenomenon with an increasing incidence over the last decades
This study aims to provide preliminary data for subsequent clinical application by recognizing the changes in the bullying culture experienced by nurses in the medical environment after the establishment of a workplace bullying prevention method, and identifying potential persisting issues
Category 1 referred to the positive experiences of participants after the enactment of the workplace anti-bullying law (Table 2)

Summary

Introduction

Workplace bullying is a worldwide phenomenon with an increasing incidence over the last decades. Bullying in the workplace is recognized worldwide as a serious problem in social management, and interests and approaches are diversifying to prevent and manage it [1,2,3,4,5]. The consequences of bullying at work can lead to physical and mental problems by leaving people with weak powers unadaptable at work or in unethical and irrational situations in which they are unable to defend themselves [6]. Power-driven violence and domination by bullying in the workplace have negative consequences at various levels in the work environment [7,8,9]

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