Uncaring Nurses: Violence in Academia

Abstract

Workplace violence is an area of increasing concern worldwide. Issues of violence are well documented in nursing. To address this, a better understanding of the culture of nursing academia is required. Problems of incivility are reported between students, between students and faculty, and between faculty and faculty. The purpose of this study is to increase understanding of faculty to faculty violence in nursing academia. Guided by a theoretical framework incorporating the perspectives of Mason and Foucault and specifically on the concepts of violence, power, knowledge, difference and resistance, this study focuses on aspects of the social and cultural work environment, and organizational policies and procedures influencing workplace violence between faculty members. Using principles from critical ethnography, the research was conducted within three schools of nursing at universities in eastern Canada. Data collection included 29 semi-structured interviews with nursing faculty, key informants (including representation from management, human resources, support staff and human rights office) and mute document review. Three major themes emerged: the academic apparatus, experiencing academia, and coping mechanisms. Nursing academic culture is divergent, exhibiting fierce competitiveness and elitism, intertwined with pockets of support and resilience. Faculty identified diverse personal and professional strategies employed to withstand the challenges. Need for change was expressed by some faculty and managers. These findings may inform the efforts of faculty and management seeking transformation to a less competitive and elitist culture.