Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1333042
6 Working Nurse l WorkingNurse.com January 25-February 22, 2021 ON THE QUICK Nursing & Healthcare News Conflicts with Colleagues and Patients "The bully is given the benefit of the doubt" H ow's the atmosphere in your workplace? The American Nurse's latest Nursing Trends and Salary Survey for 2020 finds that bullying and verbal abuse are distressingly common. Trouble at Work Fully 39 percent of survey respondents said they'd been verbally assaulted by a colleague and 46 percent said they'd observed such bullying in their workplace. While most nurses who wit- nessed such incidents said they tried to intervene, only 38 percent reported them, and few of those who did so were happy with the response. "Too many times man- agers and supervisors try to give the benefit of the doubt to the bully," said one respondent. Thirty-nine percent of those who didn't report bullying said they feared reprisals. This is of particular concern because managers are sometimes perpetrators; 18 percent of respondents said a manager had bullied or verbally assaulted them. The number of nurses who said they'd been verbally abused at work rose from 35 percent to 39 percent between 2019 and 2020. Patient Conflicts Assaults by patients and visitors also remain common: Fifty-four percent of nurses said a patient had verbally assaulted them; 18 percent had been physically assaulted by a patient; and 36 percent had been verbally assaulted by a family mem- ber or other visitor. Nurses were slightly more likely to report incidents involving patients or visitors than interpro- fessional conflicts, although only about half of those who did were satisfied with the response. Four in 10 respondents said they didn't report an incident because they didn't think anything would be done about it. "The adage 'the cus- tomer is always right' seems to count first and foremost over the safety and regard for nurses," one respondent lamented. On the Bright Side One positive step many organiza- tions are taking to protect nurses is providing training in de-escalating conflicts. Seventy-one percent of respondents who received such training have used it in practice, and 85 percent find it helpful. You can read more survey results at www.myamericannurse.com. 2020 NURSING TRENDS AND SALARY SURVEY The American Nurse, official journal of the ANA, recently released results from its fourth annual Nursing Trends and Salary Survey. Here is what respondents said.