Workplace bullying in nursing: towards a more critical organisational perspective

Workplace bullying is a significant issue confronting the nursing profession. Bullying in nursing is frequently described in terms of \u27oppressed group\u27 behaviour or \u27horizontal violence\u27. It is proposed that the use of \u27oppressed group\u27 behaviour theory has fostered only a partial understanding of the phenomenon in nursing. It is suggested that the continued use of \u27oppressed group\u27 behaviour as the major means for understanding bullying in nursing places a flawed emphasis on bullying as a phenomenon that exists only among nurses, rather than considering it within the broader organisational context. The work of Foucault and the \u27circuits of power\u27 model proposed by Clegg are used to provide an alternative understanding of the operation of power within organisations and therefore another way to conceive bullying in the nursing workforce