Relationship between Organizational Culture and Workplace Bullying among Korean Nurses

ABSTRACT

PURPOSE: To identify the relationship between organizational culture and experience of workplace bullying among Korean nurses. METHODS: Participants were 298 hospital nurses in Busan, South Korea. We assessed nursing organizational culture and workplace bullying among nurses using structured questionnaires from July 1 through August 15, 2014. RESULTS: Most participants considered their organizational culture as hierarchy-oriented (45.5%), followed by relation-oriented (36.0%), innovation-oriented (10.4%), and task-oriented (8.1%). According to the operational bullying criteria, the prevalence of workplace bullying was 15.8%. A multivariate logistic regression analysis revealed that the odds of being a victim of bullying were 2.58 times as high among nurses in a hierarchy-oriented culture as among nurses in a relation-oriented culture [95% confidence interval (1.12, 5.94)]. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that the types of nursing organizational culture are related to workplace bullying in Korean nurses. Further research is needed to develop interventions that can foster relationoriented cultures to prevent workplace bullying in nurses.