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Conscientious staff are promoted less and harassed more

Patient Safety Monitor Alert, November 23, 2004

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Conscientious and pleasant workers are less likely to be promoted in the workplace, according to a recent study conducted by researcher Nikos Bozionelos at the University of Sheffield in Britain. In addition, research from unrelated studies suggests that these same people are more apt to be given low-profile tasks and harassed in the workplace.

The hardest professions hit are the "helper" professions, such as nursing, teaching, and counseling, according to Gary Namie, author of "The Bully At Work: What You Can Do to Stop the Hurt and Reclaim Dignity On The Job (Sourcebook, 2000).

Bullying occurs in medical schools and hospitals—specifically in the operating room and the emergency room. There are rampant stories of surgeons who will throw instruments, have fits, and scream and holler," says Evelyn Bain, the health and safety program coordinator for the Massachusetts Nurses Association.

While the issue is widely acknowledged in Europe and Canada, according to an article published on BostonWorks.com http://bostonworks.boston.com/globe/articles/112104_nice.html, it is often ignored in the United States, where forcefulness and aggression may be rewarded and celebrated.

However, not everyone feels this way. David Yamada, a Suffolk University Law School professor in Boston has been promoting his "healthy workplace bill" (see http://bullyinginstitute.org/advocacy/WBTIbill.pdf) which prohibits an abusive, destructive interpersonal workplace that interferes with work and makes health-impairing misconduct illegal. So far, he's gotten the bill introduced in California, Oklahoma, and Oregon.

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