"You Need to Get Over the Difficulties and Stand Up Again"-A Qualitative Inquiry into Young Nurses' Coping with Lateral Violence from the Feminist Perspective.

Aimei Mao,Iat Kio Van,Pak Leng Cheong,Hon Lon Tam

doi:10.3390/ijerph18137167

Aimei Mao, Iat Kio Van + Show 2 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph18137167

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Abstract

Previous studies have reported lateral violence (LV) styles among nurses and the adverse impacts of LV on nurses and nursing. Young nurses, including nursing students and novice nurses, are often victims of LV. A large qualitative research study that contained three sub-studies exploring professional identity development in different professional stages was conducted by a research team in Macau, Special Administrative Region of China. Semi-structured interviews with nursing students and clinical nurses were carried out; among the 58 participants in the three sub-studies, 20 described some forms of LV and their ways of dealing with them. Framed by the feminist perspective, the researchers explored young nurses’ coping strategies in dealing with LV perpetrated by senior colleagues. Two themes were developed reflecting the coping strategies for LV: “making extra efforts” and “soothing emotional distress”. Three sub-themes were under the theme of “making extra efforts”: “catching up knowledge”, “making the most use of learning resources”, “adjusting communication manner”; another batch of sub-themes was under the theme of “soothing emotional distress”: “seeking support from schoolmates”, “living with family but crying alone”, and “adjusting lifestyle”. The study implied that young nurses exerted their agency in coping with LV in clinical practices. Nursing managers and educators should support young nurses’ efforts in overcoming power-based LV and incivility.

Highlights

The famous idiom “nurses eat their young” embodies lateral violence (LV) as a part of the nursing environment [1]
The study explored the coping strategies applied by nursing students and junior nurses to deal with LV in clinical practices
The study provided an opportunity for the young nurses, who are usually silenced by nursing’s hierarchical power system, to speak out about their victimized experiences

Summary

Introduction

The famous idiom “nurses eat their young” embodies lateral violence (LV) as a part of the nursing environment [1]. It has destructive effects on victims both physiologically and psychologically, such as tiredness, sleep deprivation, depression, and lower selfesteem [2,3]. These can affect the professional performance of nurse victims, resulting in poor patient care quality. Bystander nurses who have witnessed LV may hold negative attitudes toward nurses and nursing and struggle to establish their professional identity [4]

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