Abstract
Dear Editor,
In a recent issue of Workplace Health & Safety, we read with interest the article by Ovayolu, Ovayolu, and Karadag (2014) titled “Workplace Bullying in Nursing” which reported on a study of 260 nurses working in three public hospitals. The authors emphasized how bullying behaviors affect the behaviors of nurses and suggested strategies to prevent these negative behaviors (Ovayolu et al., 2014). However, we think that some points should be discussed further.
The authors did not identify the study scale, including who developed the instrument or how many items comprised the tool. Also they did not report the validity or reliability of the scale and whether the data in this study followed a normal distribution. These issues could cause misinterpretation of the findings and negatively affect the validity of the study (Çakmur, 2012; Karagoz & Ekici, 2004; Ruacan, 2005).
The exposure to and frequency of bullying behavior was not clearly stated which could cause a misunderstanding of both the identification and assessment of these behaviors. It is essential that bullying behaviors be negative and hostile, repeated in a systematic way, and continue through a certain time period according to the investigators. Displaying negative interpersonal behavior once or a few times should not be considered bullying (Einarsen, Hoel, & Notelears, 2009; Einarsen, Hoel, Zapf, & Cooper, 2003; Leymann, 1996; Salin, 2003). Leymann (1996) has defined this negative behavior frequency as occurring at least once per week and continuing at least 6 months.
Occupational health nurses must define bullying behaviors, identify individuals responsible for preventing workplace bullying, and develop organizational policies to eliminate workplace bullying.