ABSTRACT:
Bullying is the use of force, threat, or coercion to abuse, intimidates, or aggressively dominates others. The behaviour is often repeated and habitual. If bullying is done by a group, it is called mobbing. "Targets" of bullying are also sometimes referred to as "victims" of bullying. Behaviours used to assert such domination can include verbal harassment or threat, physical assault or coercion, and such acts may be directed repeatedly towards particular targets. Bullying in health care workplaces has been identified in India and international research reports. It has long been acknowledged that some nurses engage in hostile behaviours toward other nurses, as evidenced by the often repeated expression, “Nurses eat their young”-Bartholomew, 2006 Various terms have been used to describe the interpersonal hostility that can occur in the nursing workplace, including bullying, horizontal violence, and verbal abuse-Rowe and Sherlock, 2005. Bullying behaviour in the workplace is a form of aggression that occurs when employees perceive negative actions directed at them from one or several individuals over time; employees have difficulty defending themselves against these actions -Matthiesen and Einarsen, 2001. An incident cannot be categorized as bullying unless there is a power gradient, perceived or actual, between the individuals involved -Zapf and Gross, 2001. Bullying is distinct from harassment in that it is not distinguished by sexual or racial motives-Pryor and Fitzgerald, 2003.