Antecedents and consequences of bullying among nurses: a review study

Workplace bullying is an occupational hazard with destructive effects. The aim of this study was to assess the antecedents and the consequences of bullying among nurses.

This narrative review was conducted in 2021. An online literature search was performed in several Persian and English databases, namely Magiran, SID, Noormags, Elmnet, IranMedex, PubMed, and Scopus. Search protocol was limited to the time interval between 2010 and 2020. Search key terms were, “bullying”, “coercion”, “healthcare providers”, “nurse”, and “horizontal violence”. Advanced search was also performed in Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were publication in English or Persian, access to full-text, and publication as an original article.

Sixteen articles were included in this study. The two main antecedents of workplace bullying were personal and organizational factors and the three main consequences of bullying were physical, mental, and occupational consequences.

As bullying is associated with different physical, mental, and occupational consequences, healthcare managers need to employ strategies to determine and manage bullying antecedents and reduce bullying prevalence.