Sexual harassment of critical care nurses: a costly workplace issue

1994 ◽  
Vol 3 (6) ◽  
pp. 409-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
J Kaye ◽  
CG Donald ◽  
S Merker
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Critical Care Nurses ◽  
Physical Contact ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Discrimination In Employment ◽  
The Media ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies ◽  
Definition Of

BACKGROUND. Sexual harassment in the workplace is a prevalent form of impermissible sex discrimination in employment. The high profile of this issue in the media, together with laws prohibiting sexual harassment, have not prevented this problem for working nurses. OBJECTIVES. To describe and determine the extent of sexual harassment incidents experienced by nurses working in critical care areas, and to determine attitudes about, and presence of policies regarding, sexual harassment in hospitals. METHODS. For this descriptive study the federal government's definition of sexual harassment and a list of sexually harassing behaviors was mailed with a survey to 188 critical care nurses. RESULTS. Findings indicated that 46% of the respondents had been harassed. Offensive sexual remarks (56%), unwanted physical contact (53%), unwanted nonverbal attention (27%), requests for dates (16%), and sexual propositions (9%) were types of sexual harassment experienced. Sexual assault was experienced by one woman. Harassers were physicians (82%), coworkers (20%), or immediate supervisors (7%). A majority of the incidents (69%) were not reported. Most nurses (80%) had not received training, nor were there policies and procedures to follow in most cases for reporting harassment. CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that many critical care nurses are harassed and that relatively few hospitals have sexual harassment policies known to employees. They also indicate that sexual harassment training, policies, and procedures are needed to provide a safe, healthy work environment for critical care nurses.

Sexual Harassment

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa M. Beiner
Keyword(s):  
Civil Rights ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Sex Discrimination ◽  
Current Status ◽  
Court System ◽  
Grass Roots ◽  
Sexual Harassment Law ◽  
Discrimination In Employment ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies ◽  
Feminist Organizing

This chapter explores the origins, development, and current status of workplace sexual harassment law. Sexual harassment law owes its genesis to a combination of grass-roots feminist organizing and legal feminist theorizing. After initial losses in the courts, feminist lawyers and their clients scored significant victories in the court system. Employers and those accused of discrimination soon fought back, including by participating in the development of an extensive system of training and anti-sexual harassment policies that have not proven helpful to targets of sexual harassment. Feminist legal scholars have offered critiques of the courts’ decisions, taking a variety of approaches to increasing the law’s efficacy and extending its reach to encompass the experiences of men, women of color, and sexual minorities. Yet, plaintiffs using Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the main federal antidiscrimination statute applicable to sex discrimination in employment, continue to find themselves thrust out of court due to formalistic rules developed in the court system. This has led other scholars to suggest different legal approaches to address this persistent and disturbing form of workplace discrimination. Whether current grass-roots campaigns like the #MeToo movement will prove more effective than prior legal efforts remains to be seen.

scholarly journals A study of the interplay between the law and organisational codes of conduct with regards to sexual harassment in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Heike Menne-Spohr
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Legal Consciousness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
The Law ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies

<p>The aim of this research is to fill a gap in the New Zealand literature which is to investigate whether the sexual harassment legislation is being understood, implemented and monitored in organisations effectively.  This thesis explores how organisations in New Zealand are using tick-box compliance when implementing sexual harassment legislation into their employee policies and procedures documents due to the ambiguity of certain words. It looks at the role that Human Resources consultants and trade unions play, and further using the endogeneity model, the thesis explores the effect that tick-box compliance has on the legal consciousness of sexual harassment in organisations and third parties.  Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with Human Resources professional at public and private sector organisations, Human Resources consultants as well as trade union representatives who are actively involved with the implementation and management of sexual harassment policies in the workplace.    It was found that organisations had implemented sexual harassment policies and procedures several years previously and that these had not been changed significantly due to a lack of change in the law itself. The findings also indicate that the organisations implement sexual harassment polices using a tick-box approach and they do not necessarily fully understand the legislation. It was suggested that the emphasis had shifted from sexual harassment to bullying and that the third parties like trade unions and Human Resources consultants see more cases of this than sexual harassment.   The thesis concludes that although organisations have sexual harassment policies and procedures, these are outdated and are not part of the legal consciousness of organisations, trade unions and Human Resources consultants. The ambiguous nature of the wording in the law itself and the lack of guidelines for organisations on how to implement them has resulted in tick-box compliance and organisations do not know if their policies are effective or not. Further the low penalties for sexual harassment behaviour means that there is no incentive for sexual harassment victims to raise complaints.</p>

scholarly journals The effectiveness of sexual harassment policies and procedures at higher education institutions in South Africa

2011 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Joubert ◽  
Christo Van Wyk ◽  
Sebastiaan Rothmann
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Academic Staff ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Staff Members ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies

Orientation: Sexual harassment policies are generally in place in higher education institutions without any indication of its effectiveness as determined by the awareness of the policy.Research purpose: The aim of this study was to investigate the awareness levels of academic staff members at higher education institutions in South Africa of sexual harassment policies and procedures in their institutions.Motivation for the study: A number of high profile court cases emphasised the need for effective policies to reduce the incidence of sexual harassment complaints.Research design, approach and method: A cross-sectional survey design was conducted amongst 161 academic staff members, representing 10 higher education institutions in South Africa. The measuring instrument that was used is the Sexual Harassment Questionnaire (SHQ) that was developed specifically for this study.Main findings: The results showed that despite indications that sexual harassment policies do exist and that they are regarded as effective tools in addressing sexual harassment, the implementation of such policies is not effective and few academic staff members received training and/or guidance on the utilisation of the policy. Significant correlation coefficients were found between the elements of an effective policy and between population group and some of the elements.Practical/managerial implications: Employers across the board should regularly conduct an audit to determine the level of awareness of sexual harassment policies and procedures and plan interventions.Contribution: No other study in South Africa attempted to measure the awareness levels of academics and its impact on the management of sexual harassment.

scholarly journals Sexual harassment in tertiary institutions: A comparative perspective

Temida ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 18 (2) ◽  
pp. 125-144 ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Joseph
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Public Awareness ◽  
Comparative Perspective ◽  
Tertiary Institutions ◽  
The Media ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Responses To Sexual Harassment

Sexual harassment is not a new phenomenon in tertiary institutions. It has been receiving considerable attention in research and the media and public awareness has increased dramatically. However, the term sexual harassment is not used uniformly across the globe because countries have defined it differently. Consequently, prevalence of sexual harassment in education varies across cultures. This paper examines sexual harassment from a comparative perspective. It specifically focuses on the definition of sexual harassment, incidence of sexual harassment of students in tertiary institutions, effects of sexual harassment on victims; and victims? responses to sexual harassment. It also offers suggestions for curtailing sexual harassment in these institutions.

scholarly journals A study of the interplay between the law and organisational codes of conduct with regards to sexual harassment in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Heike Menne-Spohr
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Human Resources ◽  
Trade Unions ◽  
Third Parties ◽  
Legal Consciousness ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Policies And Procedures ◽  
The Law ◽  
Sexual Harassment Policies

<p>The aim of this research is to fill a gap in the New Zealand literature which is to investigate whether the sexual harassment legislation is being understood, implemented and monitored in organisations effectively.  This thesis explores how organisations in New Zealand are using tick-box compliance when implementing sexual harassment legislation into their employee policies and procedures documents due to the ambiguity of certain words. It looks at the role that Human Resources consultants and trade unions play, and further using the endogeneity model, the thesis explores the effect that tick-box compliance has on the legal consciousness of sexual harassment in organisations and third parties.  Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with Human Resources professional at public and private sector organisations, Human Resources consultants as well as trade union representatives who are actively involved with the implementation and management of sexual harassment policies in the workplace.    It was found that organisations had implemented sexual harassment policies and procedures several years previously and that these had not been changed significantly due to a lack of change in the law itself. The findings also indicate that the organisations implement sexual harassment polices using a tick-box approach and they do not necessarily fully understand the legislation. It was suggested that the emphasis had shifted from sexual harassment to bullying and that the third parties like trade unions and Human Resources consultants see more cases of this than sexual harassment.   The thesis concludes that although organisations have sexual harassment policies and procedures, these are outdated and are not part of the legal consciousness of organisations, trade unions and Human Resources consultants. The ambiguous nature of the wording in the law itself and the lack of guidelines for organisations on how to implement them has resulted in tick-box compliance and organisations do not know if their policies are effective or not. Further the low penalties for sexual harassment behaviour means that there is no incentive for sexual harassment victims to raise complaints.</p>

Laryngeal mask airway: indications and management for critical care

1998 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 83-87 ◽  
Author(s):  
SJ Fetzer
Keyword(s):  
Critical Care ◽  
Laryngeal Mask Airway ◽  
Airway Management ◽  
Critical Care Nurses ◽  
Laryngeal Mask ◽  
Standards Of Care ◽  
Policies And Procedures

The laryngeal mask airway is the newest tool for airway management during the perianesthesia period. This device has joined other resuscitation equipment on emergency carts. Critical care nurses must be prepared to care for patients for whom laryngeal mask airways are indicated and used. A solid understanding of the purpose and placement of the laryngeal mask airway is necessary for safe removal of the device. Policies and procedures should be developed to define standards of care and responsibilities for care of patients with a laryngeal mask airway.

scholarly journals Sexual Harassment Discourse in News Portal delfi.lt: 2017-2018

2021 ◽  
Vol 92 ◽  
pp. 28-45
Author(s):  
Lijana Stundžė
Keyword(s):  
Sexual Harassment ◽  
Exploratory Study ◽  
Legal Regulation ◽  
Statistical Information ◽  
Social Psychological ◽  
The Media ◽  
Definition Of

The definition of sexual harassment is mostly based on its legal regulation and is stated to be one of the forms of discrimination based on sex. However, such designation does not reveal social, psychological, economic, etc. sides of this phenomenon. Therefore, this article pays a lot of attention to the analysis of the phenomenon of sexual harassment, based on the insights of Lithuanian and foreign scientists, examines its forms, causes, consequences, and provides statistical information. As there are no scientific insights into the representation of sexual harassment in the media in Lithuania, research insights from foreign researchers are presented. This article presents an exploratory study of the representation of sexual harassment on the news portal delfi.lt, conducted during the analysis of 2017- 2018 publications. The aim of the article is to analyze the peculiarities of the representation of sexual harassment on the delfi.lt news portal. The research found that the topic of sexual harassment appears on the news portal only in the context of certain events, in this case the #metoo movement; there is a lack of analytical publications that would cover a broader context than the statement of facts; the experience of potential victims is presented as an individual problem.

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