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. 2020 Oct 2;13:1905–1914. doi: 10.2147/RMHP.S265127

Table 2.

Distribution of Workplace Bullying Incident Characteristics

n(%)
684(100.0)
Type of bullying*
 Verbal
 Physical
 Sexual

671(98.1)
81(11.8)
40(5.8)
Perpetrator of incidents
 Patient
 Relatives of patients (visitors)
 Manager or supervisor
 Employees

247(36.1)
202(29.5)
49(7.2)
186(27.2)
Time of incident
 Day shift
 Evening shift
 Night shift

549(80.3)
46(6.7)
89(13.0)
Area of incident
 Patient room
 Treatment room/Clinic
 Working station/office
 Nonclinical areas

142(20.9)
157(23.0)
360(52.6)
24(3.5)
Reaction to workplace bullying*
 Told friends/family
 Reported to senior staff member
 Told the person to stop
 Told a colleague
 Tried to defend self physically
 Completed incident or accident form
 Sought counseling
 Transferred to another position
 No action, pretended it never happened

331(48.4)
197(28.8)
183(26.8)
180(26.3)
124(18.1)
76(11.1)
55(8.0)
46(6.7)
71(6.6)
Causes of workplace bullying*
 Misunderstanding
 Lack of discipline to hold people accountable about their behavior
 Concern of patients
 Communication or Language barriers
 Lack of explicit rights or procedure
 Illness
 Personal problem of coworker
 Scapegoat for medical dispute
 Poor training on WPB
 Fault of oneself
 Drinking problem

527(77.0)
398(58.2)
279(40.8)
267(39.0)
118(17.3)
106(15.5)
96(14.0)
26(3.8)
24(3.5)
23(3.4)
15(2.2)
Consequences to the perpetrator
 None
 Verbal warning issued
 Written warning
 Care discontinued
 Counseling
 Reported to police (prosecution)
 Do not know

160(23.4)
230(33.6)
83(12.1)
58(8.5)
10(1.5)
9(1.3)
134(19.6)

Note: *Non-mutually exclusive.

Abbreviations: n, frequency; %, percentage.