Legal Issues Diversity Nursing
Sexual Harassment Among Nurses: A Review According to recent research into healthcare and workplace diversity, sexual harassment and intimidation in the form of physical or emotional abuse is still very common (Hamlin & Hoffman, 2002). This harassment often comes in the form of sexual insults, uses of "vulgarity" and the creation of a hostile work environment. Hamlin & Hoffman (2002) provide an overview of sexual harassment in their article, Perioperative nurses and sexual harassment. The legal issue clearly presented is sexual harassment. This particular article summarizes sexual harassment abroad, noting legislation is in place in many countries "in the form of antidiscrimination or equal employment opportunity" which should protect against these behaviors (Hamlin & Hoffman, 2002). Sexual harassment for purposes of this article and review include any behaviors that are not welcome, including physical contact, lewd gestures, comments or discrimination in the workplace against members of the opposite sex. Forms may also include staring, leering, or providing sexually explicit content to members of the opposite sex in the workplace. Part of the problem managing this diversity issue is the comp
Many times, these patients may not even realize their behaviors cause issues among the staff working with them. Nurses and other health professionals must also receive training that teaches them not to acquiesce to behaviors that violate their rights (Hamlin & Hoffman, 2002). Training for nurses and other support staff should include communication strategies for dealing with patients that demonstrate harassing behaviors. For nurses harassment may come from not only co-workers but also from doctors or supervisors, and more commonly, from patients (Lawler, 1991). Rather, to approach and combat sexual harassment in an increasingly diverse work environment, health organizations must review what groups, like nurses, are most likely to receive sexual harassment and why. However, there is no standard for training nurses in all facilities, nor is there a standard for training other people a nurse or his or her support staff may encounter when working with. While one can manage the behaviors of employees easily, through means of suspension or firing, managing the behaviors of patients becomes a much more complex task. In doing so, patients would not have the ability to claim they were not aware their behavior constituted harassment. Doctors and administrators need more knowledge of the problem so better solutions can result. What should healthcare organizations do to address this issue? Many adopt training programs that focus on showing employees what is and are not acceptable behavior. What is offensive to one may not be to another. Similarly, training, gentle training, may be given patients in hospitals, since studies suggest much of sexual harassment occurring in healthcare environments comes from those nurses and other staff serve (Lawler, 1991). This can lead to increasing difficulty and even greater harassment among health professionals like nurses. So too does the task of defining what behaviors by patients constitute sexual harassment and which do not.
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