Date of Submission

8-27-2024

Document Type

DiP

Degree

Doctor of Education

Department

Education

Keywords

Lateral aggression, psychological safety, nurses, leaders, ethical, relational, blended

Abstract

Nursing is generally known as a profession of caring. The public identifies these professionals as one of the most trusted roles in a healthcare setting. Despite this, many behaviours contradict this paradigm. These uncivil behaviours may be overt or subtle, but they are contributing to a psychologically unsafe environment where nursing instability and increased turnover threaten the ability to provide competent care for current and future patients. The nursing literature often refers to the term, eating their young, to summarize a harmful concept where experienced nurses neglect, betray, or belittle junior nurses who are in need of support from their more experienced peers. Many stressors at micro, meso, and macro levels have led to the resurgence of lateral aggression in the nursing profession. These actions have permeated to novice nurses, who now act as perpetrators engaging in this cannibalistic behaviour. This creates psychologically unsafe environments and acts as a deterrent for nurses staying in a specialty area. In view of its costly health-related repercussions, the prevention of lateral aggression is crucial to conserve nurse well-being and safeguard the provision of competent nursing care into the future. A blended learning pathway is proposed for nurses and leaders to recognize, respond, and address lateral aggression in action on adult surgical units. Kotter’s 8-step change model, combined with CQI methodology, is used to guide a change implementation plan. Workforce metrics such as turnover rates, overtime usage, absenteeism, sick time, and safety occurrence reporting will serve as indicators of success.

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