Sexual harassment--a touchy subject for nurses.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this paper is to examine prevalence of sexual harassment (SH) in nursing and the environmental factors that contribute to incidents of SH.


METHODS
A mixed-method research methodology is adopted. A total of 538 questionnaires are collected from nurses working in eight different hospitals across metropolitan and rural areas in Australia. A total of 23 in-depth semi-structured interviews are conducted.


RESULTS
Prevalence of SH in nursing is high with 60 percent of female nurses and 34 percent of male nurses reporting a SH incident in the two-year period prior to this paper. The questionnaire data suggest that patients are the most likely perpetrator, however, the interviews name physicians as typical perpetrators. A model is tested via structural equation modelling and revealed that leadership behaviors, an unbalanced job gender ratio and no prior socialization are positively associated with SH.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper closes gaps in theory by introducing a new framework explaining the contextual factors that heighten a nurses' probability of being harassed. Some variables such as organizational culture and specific nursing units have not been explored and can be considered a limitation of the paper.


CONCLUSIONS
The results of this paper assist health professionals to adopt proactive practices for managing SH and plan a workforce where SH is minimized.


CONCLUSIONS
This paper illustrates the prevalence of different types of SH and the causes for male and female nurses that have not been investigated previously. The results help health managers make informed decisions in regard to intervention strategies.
Australian School of Business, University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia. julie.cogin@unsw.edu.au
Julie
J
Cogin
Alan
A
Fish
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007400:Interprofessional Relations; D007857:Leadership; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009517:New South Wales; D009723:Nurse-Patient Relations; D009726:Nurses / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D015279:Organizational Culture; D015995:Prevalence; D017406:Sexual Harassment / Q000523:psychology* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D013338:Students, Nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014739:Victoria; D055815:Young Adult