SPECIAL ISSUE PAPER
Sexual harassment of nurses by patients and missed nursing care—A hidden population study
Gillie Gabay Ph.D,
Sigal Shafran Tikva RN, MPH, MHA, Ph.D,
Corresponding Author
Gillie Gabay Ph.D
Senior lecturer
School of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, College of Management Academic Studies, Rishon-Letzion, Israel
Correspondence
Gillie Gabay, School of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, College of Management Academic Studies, 7 Rabin Blvd, Rishon-Letzion, Israel.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorSigal Shafran Tikva RN, MPH, MHA, Ph.D
Founder and Director
Hadassah Medical Center, Hadassah Braun School of Public and Community Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Search for more papers by this authorGillie Gabay Ph.D,
Sigal Shafran Tikva RN, MPH, MHA, Ph.D,
Corresponding Author
Gillie Gabay Ph.D
Senior lecturer
School of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, College of Management Academic Studies, Rishon-Letzion, Israel
Correspondence
Gillie Gabay, School of Behavioral Sciences and Psychology, College of Management Academic Studies, 7 Rabin Blvd, Rishon-Letzion, Israel.
Email: [email protected]
Search for more papers by this authorSigal Shafran Tikva RN, MPH, MHA, Ph.D
Founder and Director
Hadassah Medical Center, Hadassah Braun School of Public and Community Medicine, The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
Search for more papers by this authorAbstract
Aim
To raise awareness of a patient-related antecedent of missed nursing care.
Background
Missed nursing care is negatively associated with patient outcomes; accordingly, hospitals employ strategies to mitigate missed care. While antecedents of missed nursing care resulting from the work environment of nurses are recognized, sexual harassment by patients is not.
Methods
This study is a hidden population study using respondent-driven sampling. We analysed data from thirty letters of frontline nurses from a tertiary Israeli hospital using the six steps of Aronson's thematic analysis.
Findings
Six themes emerged. Nurses (a) felt objectified and that the sacred nurse–patient therapeutic space was desecrated; (b) felt a lack of support from ward managers; (c) felt unprotected, lonely, and alienated; (d) did not share the experience with managers; (e) coped with sexual harassment by ending treatment quickly and later realized they missed some tasks; and (f) considered leaving nursing.
Conclusion (s)
Policymakers are called upon to adopt the eight steps suggested for effectively coping with sexual harassment by patients and thus to reduce missed nursing care.
Implications for Nursing Management
Managers are called upon to modify their management style and to provide support to nurses who experience sexual harassment in order to alleviate their stress, which is an also antecedent of missed nursing care.
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