Workplace violence and its effect on nursing professionals at the in-hospital level: a national and international systematic review

Abstract

Psychological harassment in the workplace, or mobbing, is a practice that has become today a health problem that affects not only the victim but also society as a whole; however, nursing professionals, who are both victims and perpetrators, are no exception. The present study allows, within the framework of the research, to gather more sources of information in order to provide the basis for the creation of protocols, public policies and measures to protect and promote a healthy work environment, free of violent practices and based on the ultimate goal of the profession: to take care of oneself in order to take care of others. Objective: To identify the effects of workplace violence on the mental health of nursing professionals within the in-hospital setting at the national and international level. Method: An exhaustive analysis of the world literature on workplace mobbing among nursing professionals from different countries was carried out. For this purpose, databases such as Web of Science, Scielo, ResearchGate, PubMed, Science Direct, Redalyc, Google Scholar and the Repositorio Académico de la Universidad de Chile were used, where a series of key words corresponding to the research topic were used. Results: There are effects on health, interpersonal relationships and job performance in nurses when exposed to workplace bullying. Coping and prevention strategies used by nurses from various countries against mobbing were identified. Conclusions: It was possible to identify the negative effects of workplace mobbing among nursing professionals, as well as their respective coping and prevention strategies. It is recommended to increase research on the subject and implement urgent regulations at the national level.