Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Doctor of Healthcare Administration (D.H.A.)

School

Health Services

Advisor

Mary A. Garbowski

Abstract

AbstractSeveral studies report that healthcare workers face verbal abuse from patients, patients’ family members, and other healthcare personnel at increasingly higher rates, and trends depict early-career registered nurses (ECRNs) are affected disproportionally. This negative trend can affect the future registered nurse (RN) workforce and create a potential shortfall of qualified nurses. It has become increasingly important for hospital administrators to mitigate verbal abuse among ECRNs to manage their future RN workforce. This purpose of this quantitative study was to empirically evaluate the effects of verbal abuse towards ECRNs. This study used the social exchange theory to provide a framework that explains the reciprocal nature between groups of people and was used to clarify the negative effects of verbal abuse between those groups. Three research questions focused on the relationships between the frequency of verbal abuse to the level of RN engagement, job satisfaction rates, and intent to leave. Using a quantitative method approach, simple linear regression was used to examine any significant relationships between verbal abuse (n=1082), RN engagement (n=1099), job satisfaction (n=1111), and intent to leave (n=1108). The results of this study indicate no significant relationship was found between verbal abuse and RN engagement (p < 0.5). In contrast, significance relationships were found between verbal abuse, job satisfaction (p < .001), and intent to leave (p < .001). These results indicated that hospital administrators should be aware that verbal abuse significantly affects ECRN job satisfaction rates and increases their intent to leave. These results give hospital administrators increased knowledge of the importance of implementing strategies to mitigate verbal abuse to protect their future RN workforce.

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