Excising verbal abuse

1. Verbal abuse, defined as "communication that is perceived to be a harsh, condemnatory attack towards the victim, either professionally or personally," most commonly follows a stressful event. 2. Verbal abuse has multiple areas of negative impact on nursing practice, including increased numbers of errors and, subsequently, lawsuits. 3. Verbal abuse is costly. There is no valid reason to allow verbal abuse to continue because it can be successfully controlled.