Leaving so soon? : A study on the bullying of nurses

Abstract: Introduction. This study is about examining bullying of nurses in the Swedish health care system. Bullying is a negative behaviour that has been going on for a longer period of time (Arbetsmiljöverket, 2023a). The negative behaviour in healthcare can have consequences for not just the nurses, but also for the society as a whole. When nurses experience negative behaviour they are more likely to leave (Bambi, et al., 2018) and when nurses leave there is a greater shortage. Since the focus on previous research has mostly been on individuals and not the social interactions between co-workers, is why this studie has chosen to examen these social factors closer using Social perception theory. Framwork. Social perception theory is the processes by which people perceive other people. Especially how people interpret, categorize and form impressions of others. There are three major influences on social perception, which will form the three hypothesis. H1: There is a strong positive relationship between the characteristic of the situation on bullying which can triggers resignations. H2: There is a strong positive relationship between the characteristic of the person perceived on bullying which can triggers resignation. H3: There is a strong positive relationship between the characteristic of the perceiver on bullying which can triggers resignation. Method. Since the interest of the study was to investigate perceived bullying, a quantitative method was chosen. The lack of quantitative studies in the field also contributed to the choice of a quantitative approach. The data collection to answer the research question was done through a quantitative method, specifically a survey. The collected data was compiled and analysed through descriptive statistics and regression analyses. Reliability and Validity tests were performed to ensure high research quality. Results. There were 106 people who responded to the3 (79)survey, only 61 fit the requirement. There were a significant correlation between Internal competition (p<0,05), Support from co-workers (p<0,01) and H3 (p<0,01). However H1 is very close to the significant value (0,065). Conclusion. Only hypothesis 3 was accepted since it showed a positive effect of resigning. Hypothesis H2 was rejected, whereas H1 was rejected with hesitation.