The effect of mobbing in workplace on professional self-esteem of nurses

Objective: This study aims to investigate the effect of mobbing (psychological violence) experienced in Ataturk University Yakutiye Research Hospital on professional self-esteem of the nurses. Materials and Methods: The study population consisted of 188 nurses working in Ataturk University Yakutiye Research Hospital between March 19 and July 27, 2016. Introductory Information Form, NAQ-R (Negative Acts Questionnaire Revised), and the Professional Self-Esteem Scale were used for data collection. Percentages, mean, standard deviation, t test, Mann Whitney U test analysis were used in the evaluation of the data. Results: Considering the socio-demographic characteristics of 188 nurses, 55.9% was 30 years old or younger, 11.7% was in the 31-34 age group, 18.1% was in the 35-39 age group, and 14.4% was 40 years old or over. Of the nurses, 74.5% was female, and 25.5% was male. Of them, 51.1% was married, and 48.9% was single. Of the nurses included in the study, 29.8% was high-school graduate, 26.1% had associate degree, 40.4% Bachelor's degree, 3.7% had a graduate degree. In the study, it was revealed that 70.2% was working as service nurses. Of them, 31.4% was working as nurse for 3-6 years in the same institution. Of the nurses, 79.8% was working 40 hours a week. And, 43.1% was working in day shift. Of the nurses, 52.1% has not been worked in other institutions previously. It was determined that 40.4% of the nurses were exposed to psychological violence in their current institution. In the study, nurses' exposure to negative behaviors was found to be 34.61±12.99 on average, indicating a "moderate" level of exposure. According to the mobbing variable used for determining nurses' negative behavior scores, there was a statistically borderline difference in nurse opinions [t(186)=4.221, p=0.05]. It was found in the study that the mean professional self-esteem score of nurses was 104.92±17.27, which indicates a higher self-esteem. The study revealed that there was a statistically significant difference between nurses' professional self-esteem in terms of their work years in the institution [F=.129, p<0.05]. According to the statistical analysis, a negative correlation was found between Professional Self-Esteem and Negative Behavior Scale scores (r=-.191, p<0.05). Conclusion: The level of professional self-esteem of the nurses included in the study was found to be statistically significant in terms of exposure to psychological violence (r=-.191, p <0.05). In the study, the "Insults or mocking about your work" was ranked first among the negative behaviors experienced by the nurses.