Lateral Violence and Bullying in Nursing

Call for Papers

As recent Institute of Medicine (IOM) reports call for more collaborative efforts both outside the discipline of nursing and within it, more reports are emerging that document lateral violence as a major barrier to achieving professional collaboration. Lateral violence, also referred to as “horizontal violence,” “vertical violence,” “incivility,” or “bullying,” is subsumed into the set of workplace violence and involves the infliction of psychological injury to peers (American Nurses Association (ANA), 2012; Dellasega, 2009). Unresolved conflict and disruptive behavior are a significant issue that hinders the organization’s ability to sustain a culture of patient quality and safety (The Joint Commission (TJC), 2008).

Evidence of lateral violence may be both verbal and nonverbal and includes a range of covert and overt harassment behaviors such as withholding information, gossiping, yelling, refusal to mentor or help, mockery, and backstabbing, among many others (Alspach, 2007; Center for American Nurses, 2008; Martin, 2010; Rocker, 2008). Lateral violence may pervade many levels of nursing, from nursing education to clinical practice and administration, and is detrimental to workplace satisfaction, recruitment and retention, and patient outcomes (Hughes, 2008). Both nurses and student nurses have reported experiencing lateral violence at alarming levels (American Nurses Association (ANA), 2001; Longo, 2007).

We invite authors to contribute original research or synthesis manuscripts that, when taken as a whole, will capture the scope and depth of lateral violence and bullying in nursing, and solutions for promoting positive educational and/or work environments. We are particularly interested in manuscripts on the evaluation of interventions targeted at lateral violence and promoting positive learning and work environments, while also providing a conceptual analysis of the issue in many different settings. In addition, we are seeking manuscripts that document the impact that bullying and lateral violence have in both educational and practice settings. Innovative approach manuscripts that meet the intent of the journal’s aims and scope are also appreciated as well as international variances on the topic. Potential topics include, but are not limited to:

• Bullying and lateral violence during orientation and onboarding of new nurses
• Bullying and lateral violence in or by nursing (or other) leadership
• Bullying and lateral violence within nursing educational settings by students and/or faculty
• Bullying and lateral violence in nursing or interdisciplinary teamwork
• Bullying and lateral violence interventions and outcomes
• Bullying and lateral violence as an impact on educational or workplace satisfaction
• Bullying and lateral violence as an impact on educational or patient outcomes
• Theoretical constructs amenable to testing in future research

Before submission authors should carefully read over the journal's Author Guidelines, which are located at http://www.hindawi.com/journals/nrp/guidelines/. Prospective authors should submit an electronic copy of their complete manuscript through the journal Manuscript Tracking System at http://mts.hindawi.com/submit/journals/nrp/lvbull/ according to the following timetable:

Lead Guest Editor

• Deanna L. Reising, School of Nursing, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN 47405, USA

Guest Editors

• Darlene M. Del Prato, Department of Nursing, New England Institute of Technology, Warwick, RI 02818, USA
• Debbie Nogueras, School of Nursing, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, AZ, 86011, USA