Managing nurses through disciplinary power: a Foucauldian analysis of workplace violence

This paper describes discipline as a specific technique of power which constitutes, in our view, a form of institutional violence.

The need to create and maintain safe and healthy work environments for healthcare professionals is well documented.

Foucault's concept of disciplinary power was used to explore institutional violence from a critical perspective.

Violence is identified as an important factor in the recruitment and retention of healthcare professionals. Given the shortage of such professionals, there is an urgent need to take a fresh look at their working environments and working conditions.

Power, surveillance and disciplinary techniques are used at all levels of hospital management to control and contain both human resources and costs.

By associating common workplace practices with institutional violence, employers who have a policy of zero tolerance toward workplace violence will need to re-examine their current ways of operating.