Strengthening communication to overcome lateral violence

AIM: This quality improvement project aims to reduce nurse-to-nurse lateral violence and create a more respectful workplace culture through a series of workshops. BACKGROUND: Lateral violence is common and pervasive in nursing, with detrimental physical, psychological and organizational consequences. METHODS: This project describes the organization-wide pre- and post-intervention survey of registered nurses' perception of lateral violence and turnover. RESULTS: After the workshop series, nurses who reported experiencing verbal abuse fell from 90 to 76%. A greater percentage of nurses perceived a workplace that was respectful to others and in which it was safe to express opinions. After the workshop series, a greater percentage of nurses felt determined to solve the problem after an incident of lateral violence, while a smaller percentage felt powerless. Nursing turnover and vacancy rates dropped. CONCLUSIONS: Educational workshops that enhanced awareness of lateral violence and improved assertive communication resulted in a better working environment, reduction in turnover and vacancy rates, and reduced incidence of lateral violence. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING MANAGEMENT: Nurse managers must raise awareness of lateral violence with individual and organizational consequences. Nursing leadership can effect organizational change to lesson lateral violence and enhance a healthy workplace culture by replicating our intervention or components of our workshops.