Journal article
Sticks and Stones: A Scoping Review of the Impacts of Bullying within the Nursing Profession on Pain Management
Issues in Mental Health Nursing, Vol.Advanced access
26-Aug-2026
PMID: 42647438
Abstract
Bullying within the nursing profession is widespread, with observable negative impacts upon physical and psychological health, greater job dissatisfaction and attrition, and higher organisational costs. Importantly, bullying is linked to errors in treatment, medication, adverse events and lower patient satisfaction. However, it is not clear whether this includes negative impacts upon pain management. This scoping review aimed to explore what is known about the bullying behaviours and their impact on pain management in nursing practice. A detailed search was performed using PubMed, Scopus and CINAHL electronic databases. Following screening and full-text review, zero articles met inclusion criteria - identifying a nil result outcome. Having used rigorous search methods, we contend that this appears to be a genuinely under-researched phenomenon. Although each element has received attention in research and subsequently appears in the literature, as a discrete phenomenon, it appears to represent a newer emerging field. We explore the nature of bullying behaviours and consider their potential impacts upon pain management practices by nurses, including lower quality practice and poorer patient outcomes. This article provides a foundation for future inquiry and encourages greater integration of consideration of bullying into the pain management discourse.
Details
- Title
- Sticks and Stones: A Scoping Review of the Impacts of Bullying within the Nursing Profession on Pain Management
- Authors
- Andrew Duffy (Corresponding Author) - University of the Sunshine CoastJohn Rosenberg - University of the Sunshine Coast
- Publication details
- Issues in Mental Health Nursing, Vol.Advanced access
- Publisher
- Taylor & Francis Inc.
- DOI
- 10.1080/01612840.2026.2703660
- ISSN
- 1096-4673
- PMID
- 42647438
- Copyright note
- © 2026 The Author(s). Published with license by Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered, transformed, or built upon in any way. The terms on which this article has been published allow the posting of the Accepted Manuscript in a repository by the author(s) or with their consent.
- Organisation Unit
- Healthy Ageing Research Cluster; School of Health - Nursing
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991254353802621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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