The Phenomenon of Mobbing in the Greek Health Sector: A pilot study

Abstract

Introduction: The phenomenon of mobbing is a social problem that many workers have faced at one time in their working environment and directly affects their life consequences as they create a host of psychological and other health problems. Aim: To record and study the effect of the phenomenon of mobbing on health professionals in a Greek public hospital. Material and Method: At the pilot study participated 40 health professionals from a provincial general hospital, who completed four anonymous questionnaires in a month (January 2015). In particular, the WHOQOL-BREF questionnaires, the Workplace Psychologically Violent Behavior (WPVB), the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ28), the Multidimensional Scale Concept Social Support (MSPSS) questionnaire. Results: 15.4% of the sample were men, while 84.6% were women. The average age was 40 years. 53.3% of the sample were nurses, 13.3% doctors, 13.3% administrative staff and 20.0% other staff. The results showed that health professionals suffered moral harassment in their workplace by colleagues (p=0.02), bosses (p=0.04) and has a negative impact on their quality of life and health (p=0.015) (anxiety, depression, reduced social function and physical symptoms). Questionnaire WPVB (Workplace Psychologically Violent Behaviour) was found to be reliable (Cronbach's a 0.92). The correlation coefficients of the questionnaire for the measurement of violent psychological behaviour with the GHQ-28 symptoms, the WHOQOL-Bref quality of life and the MSPSS were in most cases significant indicating good structure validity. Conclusions: The study highlights that the phenomenon of mobbing in Greek public hospital exists in healthcare professionals regardless of age, gender, level of study and negatively affects their lives. Further study is required using a bigger sample to contribute into the generalisation of results.