TY  - JOUR
PY  - 2011//
TI  - One-year prospective study on the effect of workplace bullying on long-term sickness absence
JO  - Journal of Nursing Management
A1  - Ortega, Adrian
A1  - Christensen, Karl B.
A1  - Hogh, Annie
A1  - Rugulies, Reiner
A1  - Borg, Vilhelm
SP  - 752
EP  - 759
VL  - 19
IS  - 6
N2  - Aims  To examine the effect of workplace bullying on long-term sickness absence using a prospective design. Background  Although bullying has been identified as a serious problem in the health care sector, little attention has been given to the possible effect of workplace bullying on long-term sickness absence and its implications. Methods  The sample consisted of 9949 employees (78.1% response rate) working in the elderly-care sector in 36 Danish municipalities. Long-term sickness absence was measured by linking a survey on work and health to the national register on social transfer payments. Results  Among the 1171 employees that were bullied at work in the past 12 months, 1.8% were frequently bullied and 7.3% were occasionally bullied. The risk of long-term sickness absence was higher for those frequently bullied even after adjusting for psychosocial work characteristics [rate ratio (RR) = 1.92, confidence interval (CI): 1.29-2.84; P < 0.05]. Conclusion  This is the first prospective study that explored the effect of both frequent and occasional bullying on long-term sickness absence among health care employees. The effect of frequent bullying on long-term sickness absence was independent of the psychosocial work characteristics. Implications for Nursing Management  Workplace bullying might impact negatively the quality of care and patients safety.<p />  <p>Language: en</p>
LA  - en
SN  - 0966-0429
UR  - http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-2834.2010.01179.x
ID  - ref1
ER  -