title: Workplace bullying in nursing: The case of Azerbaijan province, Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Workplace bullying is a significant issue confronting the nursing profession both in Iran and internationally. This study examined workplace bullying among a group of Iranian nurses.
  
  
  METHODS
  The prevalence rate of bullying behavior among nurses was determined. Data were collected from 162 nurses who worked in four hospitals located in West Azerbaijan province, Iran.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Results showed that only 9% of nurses who participated in this study had frequently been exposed to bullying behavior, 22% had occasionally been bullied, and 69% had never been exposed to these behaviors during the last year. The most common type of workplace bullying experienced by nurses was verbal bullying. Forty percent of the nurses reported exposure to verbal bullying behavior frequently or occasionally.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  To be able to intervene with bullying behavior in the workplace, there is a need to pay greater attention to the problem by the entire range of managers, lawyers, industrial-organizational psychologists, counselors, social workers, and local authorities.
authors.affiliation: Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Ali Nasr
authors.initials: AN
authors.lastname: Esfahani
authors.affiliation: Department of Management, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Gholamreza
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Shahbazi
keywords: Iran; nursing; workplace bullying