Comparison of the frequency of mobbing suffered by the medical staff at private hospitals in İstanbul and Anatolia

Mobbing is the systematic exposure of one or several employee(s) to the emotionally damaging behaviors of one or several employee(s) at the work place every day or periodically. Mobbing is a process of attrition which takes place at the work place. It is also called as psychological violence, intimidation, and bullying. The performance of the employee plays a major role in the success of the organization where the employer works. As, in the health sector, the performance of the employee and the success of the organization are directly related to human health, a survey of the mobbing which the medical staff are subjected to assumes further importance.Our study has been carried out with a view to comparing the frequency of mobbing suffered by the medical staff of a private group hospital engaging in activities within the province of İstanbul and that of a private group hospital engaging in activities in Anatolia. Method: The survey was conducted with a total number of participants of 456, being the medical staff employed by a private group hospital engaging in activities in İstanbul and those employed by a private group hospital engaging in activities in Anatolia. The study was conducted during 3rd September 2012 ? 20th September 2012. The data were compiled using the questionnaire method. The content of the questionnaire consists of three main sections. In the first section, demographic data are included relevant to the medical staff taking part in the survey. This section is where the sex, age, marital status, term of office, professional seniority, and duty of the medical staff are stated. The second section contains 26 questions where negative behaviors as implying mobbing are indicated. The third section includes demographic characteristics of an employee exhibiting the negative behavior. In the surveys used, 5 point likert scale (None, Rarely, Once a Week, Once a Month, Every Day) was used in order to measure the frequency of suffering mobbing by the medical staff.Findings: 62% and 38% of the medical staff taking part in the survey study conducted at the group hospital in İstanbul are female and male, respectively. While 63,99% expressed not having been subjected by answering "no" to the question "Have you ever been subjected to any one of the negative behaviors as described in the questionnaire by one or several person(s)?", 36,11% said "yes", thus expressing that they were subjected to such a situation. Further, 69,7% and 30,3% of the medical staff taking part in the survey study conducted at a group hospital in Anatolia are female and male, respectively. The rate of those who answered "yes" to the question "Have you ever been subjected to any one of the negative behaviors as described in the questionnaire by one or several person(s)?" was 28,2%, and the rate of those who answered "no" was 71,8%. Conclusion: According to the survey study conducted in the group hospitals both in Istanbul and Anatolia, a statistically meaningful difference was observed as a result of the Mann Whitney U test as conducted in order to study whether or not there is a difference in points based on exposure to mobbing by the medical staff. Similarly, it was determined that the frequency of exposure to mobbing manifested a difference based on sex in both of the group hospitals and that female medical staff was subjected to mobbing more than the male medical staff. Nevertheless, it was found out that the frequency of exposure to mobbing did not display a meaningful difference depending on age, marital status, term of office and seniority in both of the group hospitals. Keywords: Mobbing, psychological violence, intimidation, bullying