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NewsBriefs_Mar RAD's changes Korea back 4/2/10 6:11 PM Page 8 NEWS BRIEFS Michigan Nurses Combat Nurse-toNurse Bullying, Promote Respect MICHIGAN t's been called "nursing's dirty little secret," the "elephant in the room," and "nurses eating their young." In the last few years, more formal names have emerged – lateral violence, incivility, nurse-to-nurse aggression. For decades, nurses have been subject to emotional attacks from peers in the workplace with little to no understanding of why they happen or how to prevent them. For the last year, the Michigan Nurses Association has been removing the elephant from the room through research and teaching on lateral violence, a term that encompasses both casual, thoughtless acts that leave psychological scars and abuse that is intentionally designed to harm, intimidate, or humiliate another group or individuals. MNA's continuing education session on the topic was presented over 60 times during 2009 and continues to be popular in 2010. In two modules of one hour each, nurses and nursing students receive the facts, figures and armor to repel lateral violence through lecture, question and answer sessions, and group participation. In the first module, audiences learn the basic facts about lateral violence—what it is, I 8 N AT I O N A L N U R S E where it comes from, what it does on a personal and corporate level, and how it affects patient care. They discuss potential solutions to the problem. The Joint Commission code of conduct is reviewed in light of how it relates to lateral violence policies within workplaces. The second module uses methodology based on the work of Dr. Martha Griffin, RN, CS, PhD to teach cognitive behavior rehearsal techniques. Participants are introduced to the top 10 most frequent forms of lateral violence—including gossip, sabotage, and withholding information—and then given acceptable responses to these attacks. They then divide into small groups and W W W. N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G role-play different situations using the responses in their own words. In addition to teaching the two modules at schools, conferences and health institutions, MNA has partnered with the Michigan State University School of Labor and Industrial Relations to survey several Michigan hospitals regarding the level of lateral violence within their workplaces. The preliminary research results have already been presented at international conferences in San Juan, Puerto Rico and Rome, and will be presented at the United Association for Labor Education in San Diego in March. Dr. Griffin's research points out the huge toll lateral violence takes on nursing: Approximately 60 percent of new nurses leave their first position within six months due to some form of lateral violence being perpetrated against them. Lateral violence is costly in terms of retaining nurses and millions of dollars are spent every year in "mental health" days. Meanwhile, nurses suffer lasting emotional distress. "A lateral violence attack is like getting struck by a poisonous snake," the program materials state. "You didn't see it coming, it strikes quickly, and before you know it, the poison is spreading. You want to stop the venom from getting any farther into your system and apply the antivenom." —Ann Kettering Sincox MARCH 2010