Workplace violence (WPV) is ranked as one of the leading causes of occupational injury in the United States and is common in health settings. Nurses have the highest rate of violent victimization reported in the U.S., thus presenting a significant issue for healthcare leaders. Various researchers focus on prevalence rates of WPV among nurses discussing types of violence, location, and the setting where the WPV occurred. Less information exists regarding time taken off work and factors associated with WPV among nurses versus nursing assistants (NAs). This information is important due to the impact on safe work environments for nursing employees. The research questions for the study examined the prevalence of WPV and time taken off work among nurses compared to NAs. The study employed a retrospective secondary analysis of data collected by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, from 2011 to 2014, of nurses and NAs in the State of Texas. Multivariate analysis, partial correlation statistical test, and partition of the sum of squares (ANOVA) determined that NAs experienced more incidents of WPV and spent more time away from work due to injuries than nurses. The study was limited because the data did not provide clear indications of environmental factors that led to the injuries, nor did data related to the culture of the working environments and injuries exist. A recommendation for future research is evaluation of the impact of WPV on productivity, patient safety, and quality of care when nurses continue to work or return to work after experiencing WPV. Results of the study reveal the differences in injuries between the two groups and factors impacting the injuries. This information is important for social change as healthcare leaders evaluate opportunities to create a safe working environment for their staff and provide additional resources for nurses to prevent WPV incidents.

This thesis is purposed to understand and mathematically formulate a model for testing the functional value of self-expression in the workplace. Starting from “pure self-expression”, this paper develops “functional self-expression” in given contexts. This development is through the lens of an idealized workplace context whose intrinsic value is profit-maximizing. This perspective is dominating and fills the entire surface to which the self can express too. The logical foundations of this paper begin anecdotal and transcend to holistic visualizations and a concluding model. In the end, we discover that the self-expression within “friendship” poses a threat to the idealized dominating context of the workplace.

While organizations have significantly reduced the overt and intentional forms of sex discrimination that impeded women’s careers in the past, a great deal of research suggests women continue to face informal barriers in the workplace. One such arena in which women tend to be disadvantaged is in their workplace networks. In many ways, men and women have similar networks, yet women are less likely than their male counterparts to have personal relationships with high status coworkers. Scholars have long suggested that these strategic connections are valuable and may be especially beneficial to or necessary for women. Networking has long been touted as one way women can overcome workplace disadvantage by strategically developing and/or capitalizing on such networks, which can enable their success and satisfaction at work. However, networking is a considerable investment. Indeed, networking has been called women’s third shift, after work and family responsibilities. As such, it is vital that we understand how women and men can best capitalize on their investments in networking. This research seeks to add to our scholarly understanding by examining the extent to which men and women can translate their networking behaviors into high status connections and capitalize on those connections to enhance their performance and job satisfaction. Results suggest networking behaviors enable men and women to have friends with higher informal status. However, while men’s networking behaviors are related to having higher ranking (formal status) friends, women’s networking behaviors are related to having lower ranking friends. Post-hoc analyses begin to explore the possibility that these gender differences are due to choices made by or others’ reactions to male and female networkers. Results also distinguish between employees’ gender and legitimacy to shed light on how and why men and women can develop and capitalize on high status connections, providing practical implications for employees and organizations seeking to intervene to enable women and men to develop high status connections. This research uses multimethod data to illuminate ways in which both women and men can translate their networking behaviors into high status connections, workplace performance, and job satisfaction.

Prior research shows that female police officers experience more incidents of harassment than male police officers, and these experiences of harassment have been shown to have negative effects on their mental and physical health, retention, and job satisfaction. The current study examined the experiences of harassment of 20 female police officers from agencies around Southern California. A survey interview was used, and it was found that none of the women had experienced quid pro quo harassment, but every woman recalled experiencing environmental harassment at some point throughout their career. Hostility towards women was more commonly experienced than harassment which was sexual in nature. Several themes arose from responses to open-ended questions. Female police officers reported that: gender related comments/jokes are not “unwanted”; that they participate in the jokes; gender related jokes are part of the policing culture; and that female officers are negatively targeted because of their sex. Some women stated they did not want to report the harassment and risk ruining their career.

Organizational leaders and managers may not have the management acumen, organizational awareness, or leadership expertise to construct and implement effective strategies, policies, and procedures to help reduce the frequency of the phenomenon of workplace isolation. The purpose of this qualitative, exploratory, multiple case study was to gain a common understanding about how workplace isolation may influence a remote employee'€™s performance in a customer service organization in the United States. Emerson'€™s social exchange theory was used as the conceptual framework. A series of semistructured interviews with 21 remote workers that consisted of four different divisions at the same organization was conducted to yield thematic results. Data analysis included holistic and pattern coding. The most common understandings that emerged into themes were the need of social interaction, manager communication, and peer-to-peer interactions that had an influence on job performance. The knowledge acquired in this study can affect social change by providing insights for leaders, managers, and practitioners to create policies and strategies to improve the engagement, performance, and well-being of remote workers who may experience workplace isolation.

Business leaders may see social media as a distraction for their workers; however, blocking access could lead to a reduction in productivity. Using social media technologies with knowledge workers could achieve cost reductions for payroll of 30% to 35%. The purpose of this multiple case study was to explore how business leaders used a social media policy to support employee productivity. The conceptual framework for this study was social exchange theory, which supports the notion that dyad and small group interactions make up most interactions, and such interactions enhance employees' productivity. The research question was to explore how finance industry leaders are using a social media policy to enhance productivity. The target population for this study was leaders from financial companies in Charlotte, North Carolina, who have experience in using social media policies to increase employee productivity. Data collection included semistructured interviews with 9 technology leaders and company documents at two companies related to the research phenomenon. Yin's 5-step data analysis approach resulted in 3 themes: employee productivity, communication, and open company culture. Business leaders should consider using a social media policy to engage employees to support productivity, enhance communication both externally and internally, and enrich company culture in a way that is visible to employees. Employee engagement in a social media platform to connect and communicate with people could lead to a happier workplace and encourage employees to volunteer more frequently for social good.

Bullying has long been associated with school children. In recent years, however, more attention has been paid to the bullying that has reached beyond the playground and into the workforce. One population facing this problem is staff nurses. To date, no one has found an effective way to address workplace bullying in the healthcare field, nor have effective methods been found for retaining trained nurses affected by this problem. The focus of this dissertation was on understanding nurses' lived experiences and how nurses decided to remain in their current working position despite these problems. Taking a phenomenological approach and using the conceptual framework of resilience, the study included telephone interviews of 2 pilot study participants and 12 main study participants. Recorded and transcribed participant responses to interview questions were coded thematically and analyzed. Three main themes emerged: stories of working with workplace bullying, challenges of the lived experiences of being bullied, and special techniques of nurses being bullied. Three subthemes also emerged: despair, love of being a nurse, and resilience. This study gave a voice to nurses affected by this problem, revealing special challenges they encounter and coping strategies they employ. Hospital administrators can use the findings of this study to create social change within nurses' working environment by implementing policies that will keep their nurses safe and happily employed. Future research should focus on workplace bullying in the nursing field and how it affects patient safety.

Businesses that fail to retain knowledgeable employees risk remaining competitive in the marketplace. Approximately 25 million people quit their jobs in 2016, overall. This single case study explored strategies business managers use to reduce employee turnover. The population for this study was 5 business managers from a business and technical personnel support organization in the information and solutions industry in the state of New Jersey who had experience with strategies to improve employee retention. The conceptual framework used in this study was systems theory. Data were collected from company archival documents and semistructured face-to-face interviews with 5 business managers. Moustakas' modified van Kaam method was used for data analysis. Member checking helped to ensure credibility and trustworthiness in the interpretation of interviewee responses. Three major themes emerged: workplace environment, safety, and training. Strategies ascertained in this study may be helpful for business managers who develop ways to reduce employee turnover. The implications for positive social change include retaining valuable employees in critical positions, reducing unemployment rates and unemployment compensation, and the potential to disencumber funds to support additional social services.

Despite the high incidence of violence directed at registered nurses while on duty, there is limited qualitative data that explores the lived experience of returning to the workplace after an assaultive incident. This phenomenological study sought to explore and analyze the phenomena of registered nurses who are employed in high-risk settings. The research questions considered the detailed descriptions of the experiences of nurses returning to the workplace. The conceptual framework was resiliency, as these participants continued to survive and thrive after the adverse assaultive events. Data were collected using in-depth interviews from purposeful sampling. Registered nurses working in the high risk areas of inpatient psychiatry and emergency departments provided detailed descriptions about the phenomena. Data management was an inductive, iterative analysis completed and facilitated by the use of NVivo 10 software program. The study found that participants had a brief emotional response post assault mitigated by the community of nursing personal from their immediate surroundings and that assault is "part of the job." Providing a true culture of safety would include enhancements to the internal community of bedside nursing practice. In addition, research is needed on interventions that can effectively enhance the internal community after assault by patients. This study contributes to positive social change by providing registered nurses, an oppressed group, and a "voice" to mitigate negative consequences associated with assault in the hospital setting.

Over recent decades, there has been growing recognition that workplace bullying is a pervasive and harmful feature of modern workplaces. In the Australian nursing context, bullying is reported as a common form of aggression. While acknowledged as a concerning issue, there is little substantive data on the meaning of bullying or how it affects the private or professional lives of Australian nurses. The aim of this study was to address this gap by investigating the nature, extent and consequences of bullying in the Australian nursing workplace. A three-stage sequential mixed method design was adopted for the study. The first stage involved in-depth, semi-structured, qualitative interviews with 26 nurses with experience of workplace bullying. Content analysis of the interview transcripts using the NVivo software program identified four major categories, and a number of minor categories and sub-categories. These categories formed the basis of a survey instrument developed for use in the second stage of the study. The second stage of the study established the validity, reliability and factor structure of the newly developed instrument. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software identified seven coherent latent factors, which underpinned the experience, consequences, and organisational features associated with workplace bullying. The EFA identified reliable measures of the seven latent factors and two scales were refined entitled the Bullying Acts and Consequences Scale and the Organisational Processes Scale. The third stage of the study employed the survey instrument validated in the previous stage of the study with a cross-sectional randomised sample of the Australian nursing workforce. Analysis of the survey data identified that bullying occurred across all sectors of the nursing workforce, with no correlations between experiencing bullying and demographic and employment characteristics. In addition to describing the nature, extent and consequences of bullying, confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used on the data from the national survey to further refine the scales developed in the previous stage of the study. These two scales were refined into one multidimensional scale entitled the Organisational Predictors and Consequences of Bullying Scale (OPCBS). The final step in the analysis of the national survey data involved structural equation modeling (SEM) using the AMOS software program. The modeling established that the four organisational factors measured in the study were associated with bullying and the measured consequences. The significant contributions of this study include the finding that organisational features rather than individual characteristics influence the experience of bullying in the nursing workplace, and the development of valid and reliable measures of bullying behaviours, associated organisational features and the consequences of bullying. / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)