Management of work place bullying in hospital: A review of the use of cognitive rehearsal as an alternative management strategy

Lateral violence is not uncommon in workplaces. Unfortunately, nursing, a profession that builds its practice on compassion and code of ethics while caring for their patients is not spared from this phenomenon of lateral violence. Studies have reported cases of lateral violence among nurses to occur frequently worldwide. The impact of lateral violence has serious repercussions not only on the health of bullied victims but also on the structure and financial spending of the organisation. More importantly, the potential latent impacts on the patients' safety and health is of great concern. This literature review suggests that the contributing factors towards lateral violence are mainly due to characteristics of perpetrators, victims' reaction to bullying and organisation's characteristic. To mitigate the impact of lateral violence among young and inexperienced nurses, a cognitive rehearsal scripted response is proposed to prevent harassment and bullying incidents from becoming a feature at the workplace for nurses.