Introduction
Nowadays, many organizations are concerned with creating a comfortable working environment that meets employees’ needs and helps them be more productive and efficient. Unfortunately, some phenomena hinder the creation of a non-stressful psychological climate, one of which is bullying in the workplace. Identifying bullying behaviors at work and eliminating them is especially important in medical settings which usually require a high degree of precision and concentration from healthcare practitioners. Their composure may be compromised by insults, psychological pressure, and other forms of bullying. In their study, Johnson and Trad aimed at establishing how widespread workplace bullying is in the field of radiation therapy. Researchers deemed it important to specify bullying behaviors experienced by radiation therapists, the attitude of their colleagues and administration, and health implications. Johnson and Trad claimed that bullying was both a highly resolvable and in some cases, preventable issue, which, however, needed further research to be addressed appropriately.
Literature Review
In preparation for their study, Johnson and Trad did extensive research on the literature on their topic. The literature review encompassed a considerable number of sources pertinent to the study and recent enough to be relevant; all the publications were dated within the last fifteen years. The authors made sure to back up their claim about the connection between bullying and adverse health outcomes with suitable data that went into detail as to how exactly bullying impacted a person’s well-being. However, there might be evidence of selection bias as researchers never mentioned a single study that would deny such a connection.
One may say that further investigation of the topic is well-justified. Johnson and Trad referred to a study on workplace bullying in nursing. However, they struggled to find similar studies concerning the field of radiation technology. Since literature research made it clear that the issue was pandemic and transcended occupation fields, it was only fair to assume that radiation therapy was not immune to that phenomenon. Hence, a study that dealt with bullying in radiology had the potential to fill the gap.
Methods and Research Design
Johnson and Trad conducted a cross-sectional quantitative research study based on a survey. They elaborated 78 Likert-type questions broken down into four sections, namely, Bullying Prevalence and Demographic Characteristics of the Bullies, Workplace Environment, Health Effects, and Participant Demographic Characteristics. The questionnaire underwent testing in a pilot study and was edited where necessary. The type of study and the survey design was appropriate for research questions since determining dominant characteristics of a particular group at a certain point in time is usually attained through cross-sectional studies and polls.
The variables investigated were based logically on literature research. and in that aspect, the study under examination was in line with previous research. Independent variables were the total number of participants and the number of participants that chose a specific answer. Dependent variables were the prevalence of bullying behaviors and their health implications. These variables were operationalized as the percentage of interviewees that experienced bullying and suffered from enlisted health effects respectively. However, the authors did not mention any extraneous variables that might have played a role; for instance, insomnia or headaches may be linked to substance abuse and not only to an unhealthy work environment. Perhaps a closer examination of participants’ backgrounds was needed.
The sampling method used by Johnson and Trad has its strengths and weaknesses. Researchers handpicked 88 organizations from a common United States database which allows one to call it convenience and hence, non-randomized sampling. In case such a sampling method is used, it might be troublesome to infer the results on broader population groups. However, the authors made an effort to diversify the sample and include specialists from various backgrounds and demographic groups.
Results and Findings
Johnson and Trad provided comprehensive descriptive data, which included the questionnaire itself and the number of people who chose a specific answer. For each question, the percentage of participants who picked a particular option was calculated which constituted inferential data that might be further extrapolated in a broader population. The study showed a clear link between bullying and health implications such as insomnia, fatigue, depression, and so on. Bullying proved to be a common issue as it was present in 68% of organizations. 71% of therapists experienced it personally, and 75% of occurrences were horizontal, i.e., between colleagues. 46% of bullying cases took place between an employee and their supervisor. As for the general attitudes, unfortunately, as the findings displayed, such toxic behaviors are often tolerated. All in all, the phenomenon proved to be persistent and widely unaddressed.
Discussion and Conclusions
In their study, Johnson and Trad succeeded in answering all the research questions. In general, the findings were similar to that of the studies mentioned in the literature review as they all showed the prevalence of the phenomenon and its detrimental impact on health and job performance. Foundational and unique, the study by Johnson and Trad, however, had certain limitations. First, the response rate was rather low, as only 48 out of 88 contacted organizations participated. Furthermore, surveys are rarely devoid of a volunteer bias since those who faced the problem that is being examined are more likely to engage. Researchers clearly outlined the study’s implications; to them, it appeared imperative to maintain open horizontal and vertical communication in medical facilities. At that, a safe space where every employee can share their experiences and not be afraid of a confidentiality breach should be created. In line with this study’s purposes, in the future, the correlation between staff turnover and bullying may be investigated. One may also research toxic behavior education and point out its benefits for a work environment.
References
Johnson J, Trad M. Bullying behavior among radiation therapists and its effects on personal health. Rad Therapist. 2014;23(1):11-20.