Hierarchical models of workplace bullying among Japanese hospital nurses

Workplace bullying is a newly recognized form of psychological violence at work. To date, few studies on workplace bullying among Japanese hospital nurses exist. Numerous studies conducted in other settings have suggested that individual and workplace variables were associated with the occurrence of workplace bullying. Hierarchical models are appropriate statistical strategies for analyzing multilevel data, such as individuals nested within workplaces.;The aims of this cross-sectional questionnaire survey were (a) to examine the psychometric properties of measures translated into Japanese in order to operationalize workplace bullying and associated variables (i.e., group cohesion and task interdependence), (b) to describe the prevalence of workplace bullying among Japanese hospital nurses, and (c) to examine the relationships of selected individual-, unit-, and hospital-level variables to workplace bullying among Japanese hospital nurses using hierarchical models.;Out of the 1,464, a total of 1,234 nurses (84.3%) returned the completed questionnaires. After including the responses from the second preliminary study, the researcher utilized the responses from 946 nurses in 89 units within 18 hospitals satisfying the selection criteria. The Cronbach's alphas were at least .80 for all measures. The prevalence of workplace bullying ranged from 3.2% to 15.9% among nurses, according to the operational definitions of workplace bullying. Workplace bullying defined by perception alone discriminated among units. Three 2-level hierarchical generalized linear models were constructed with this variable as a dependent variable. A model including three independent variables of group cohesion, the work environment, and the group cohesion unit mean, showed the best fit. For this model, nurses were .83 (95% CI = .75-.91) or .93 (95% CI = .91-.96) times less likely to perceive themselves as having been subjected to workplace bullying when they had one point more in group cohesion or the work environment at the nurse level, respectively. At the unit level, nurses were .65 (95% CI = .50-.86) times less likely to perceive themselves as having been subjected to workplace bullying when their units had one point more in the group cohesion unit mean. Nurses, and specifically nurse executives, are responsible for the prevention of this problem.