Introduction
Interaction with others can be a cause of considerable stress in our lives. We may find that in some areas of life we succeed in communicating our needs and wishes confidently, effectively and honestly, yet find that in others we feel totally insignificant.
The Advisory Conciliation and Arbitration Service (Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS), 2006) characterise bullying as:
‘Offensive, intimidating, malicious or insulting behaviour, an abuse or misuse of power through means intended to undermine, humiliate, denigrate or injure the recipient. Bullying or harassment may be by an individual, against an individual or involve groups of people. It may be obvious or it may be insidious. Whatever form it takes it is unwarranted and unwelcome to the individual.’
In an environment where the midwife gives care, in being supportive, empathic and acting as an advocate for women, she should be able to expect that support and empathy from colleagues. Midwives must reflect on their interactions with others and challenge beliefs so that they may continue to evolve professionally. This can be hard for victims of bullying to do, having lost their self-belief and confidence.
Incidence and facts
- 40% midwives admit to having been bullied and 68% report observing bullying (Tehrani, 2004).
- Bullying is a major reason for midwives leaving the profession (Ball et al., 2002).
- Bullying can cause anxiety-related illness: increased sickness, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (Tehrani, 2004) or even suicide (Hastie, 2006).
- Midwives who feel bullied may resist challenging the ‘norm’ in their working area and may be less willing to support women in their choices.
- Workplace bullying is prevalent within the hierarchy of the NHS (UNISOM, 2003) and can become an ‘entrenched role’ for some individuals (Hadikin, 2006)
What is a bully?
- Bullies are driven by a need to control. Despite a confident facade they often have low self-esteem.
- They may have been bullied themselves in the past, not necessarily in the work environment (Randle et al., 2007).
- They may be experiencing bullying themselves from their managers or even their peers (Keeling et al., 2006).
- They may not realise that they are behaving in a bullying way.
- Bullies may sometimes consider themselves a force to be reckonedwith;someone to be revered (Keeling et al., 2006) with good social skills which enable them to build a clique (Randle et al., 2007).
Victims of bullying may experience
- Being unjustly scrutinised and criticised at work or becoming the subject of unfounded or malicious rumours.
- Being given impossible workloads compared to other people.
- Having work, ideas or initiatives credited to someone else,possiblyeventhe bully.
- Being ‘volunteered’ without discussion and excluded from decision making, e.g. off duty changes, on calls.
- Verbal abuse, dismissive comments, threats, ridicule or being completely ignored (Hastie, 2006). It may be related to age, sex or race.
- Feeling that vital or necessary information is withheld from them (Georgiou, 2006).
Bullying can affect the care given to women
Midwives in authority (e.g. senior midwives and managers) have more power to influence conformity and obedience than junior midwives (Hollins Martin, 2006). Bullied midwives may be vulnerable to their influence, and adopt the habits and language of peers or seniors in order to avoid standing out and making themselves vulnerable. This may affect their care of women in labour.
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