Effect of Workplace Bullying on Depressive Symptoms Among Newly Hired Hospital Nurses: A Cross-Sectional and...

Workplace bullying (WB) among hospital nurses in Korea is a growing issue that affects their physical and mental health and safety. Thus, we aimed to identify the association between WB and depressive symptoms in newly hired hospital nurses.

We enrolled 508 nurses for the cross-sectional study and 311 nurses for the prospective observational study. In both studies, we conducted multiple logistic regression analyses controlling for age, gender, education level, living status (alone or not), alcohol consumption, exercise, department, and workplace. For the cross-sectional study, WB scores were categorized into three groups: "low," "intermediate," and "high." In the prospective observational study, WB levels were classified as "absent" or "present," based on the median score. Using the combination of WB status at baseline and follow-up, we categorized cases into four groups: "both absent," "present to absent," "both present," and "absent to present."

In the cross-sectional study, nurses with intermediate WB scores had an increased risk of depressive symptoms (odds ratio [OR], 2.080; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.791-5.472), and those with high WB scores showed an even greater risk (OR, 6.606; 95% CI, 2.926-14.915) compared to nurses with low WB scores. In the prospective observational study, the risk of depressive symptoms was found to increase among nurses. After adjusting for confounding variables, the ORs for the "both present" group and the "absent to present" group were 4.308 (95% CI, 1.449-12.806) and 7.647 (95% CI, 2.639-11.157), respectively, compared to the "both absent" group.

WB among newly hired hospital nurses likely causes significant depressive symptoms. Therefore, organizational interventions should be considered to prevent depressive symptoms.