ADVANCING HEALTH-CARE PRACTICE





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1.3     Introduction

After hearing from a nurse about an experience of verbal abuse from a physician, health researcher Dr. Cox began to wonder how many other nurses have had similar experiences. In 1985, she undertook a study to determine the prevalence and effect of verbal abuse in health care settings. The International Congress of Nursing (ICN) describes abuse in the context of the workplace as; "behavior that humiliates, degrades, or otherwise indicates a lack of respect for the dignity and worth of an individual."

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While nurses may know that what they are experiencing is unacceptable, both studies also demonstrate that nurses do not feel that they have the power to change it and do not always feel supported in their attempts to make changes. This module will explore one nurse's experience of abuse in the workplace and how it affects several aspects of her work. This story is based on real events at a hospital in British Columbia. The names of the individuals have been changed.

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