Lateral Violence as Experienced by Registered Nurses in Magnet-Designated Hospitals

Background: Lateral violence exists among nurses in both magnet and non-magnet designated hospitals despite efforts to decrease the incidence. Lateral violence can be verbal and displayed by yelling, swearing, belittling, and other similar behaviors, while nonverbal assaults include eye-rolling, withholding of information that is necessary to perform the job, gossiping, and spreading rumors. Objective: This research was conducted to understand lateral violence as experienced by registered nurses in magnet-designated hospitals. Methodology: Lateral violence in magnet-designated hospitals has not been studied extensively; therefore, a qualitative descriptive phenomenology design was chosen for this study. Eleven registered nurses who experienced lateral violence while working in magnet-designated hospitals participated in face-to-face interviews. Participants were recruited through the American Nurses Association-New York (ANA-NY) website. Data collection was conducted using semi-structured questions and transcribed verbatim. Data were analyzed using the Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen Method. Results: Five themes emerged from the data: Not wanting to go back to work, Being screamed or yelled at, Not allowed to ask questions, I had anxiety, and Being put down or talked down to. Limitations: Recruiting participants for the study was challenging. The reason could have been that nurses were preoccupied during this period with the SARS-CoV-2. The disease impacted New York State, and nurses experienced significant loss of lives daily and had to work in unsafe conditions due to a lack of personal protective equipment. Clinical Implications: The results of the study provided insight into the problem of lateral violence in nursing and may be used to revise and implement programs to decrease the incidence of lateral violence in the workplace.