Insider versus outsider workplace mistreatment and their impact on affective ill‐being in healthcare professionals: Can personal resources act as buffers?

Abstract

Aims

Workplace stress can negatively impact healthcare providers' professionalism and quality of care. One source of workplace stress is the experience of workplace mistreatment. Drawing on the Job Demands-Resources theory, this study aimed to (a) investigate the impact of mistreatment frequency experienced by healthcare workers from insider sources (i.e. co-workers, supervisors) and outsider sources (i.e. patients, visitors) on affective ill-being and (b) the potential moderating role of trait resilience and trait self-efficacy, as personal resources, in the mistreatment–ill-being relationship.

Design

Lagged design.

Methods

We collected data from 153 Irish healthcare workers between January 2018 and June 2019 via three surveys, separated by 1-week intervals. Personal resources were measured at Time 1, frequency of mistreatment from the two sources was assessed at Time 2 and affective ill-being was assessed at Time 3. We used moderated regression analyses to evaluate the association of mistreatment frequency from the two sources and affective ill-being and the moderating effect of personal resources.

Results

Only insider mistreatment frequency was positively related to affective ill-being. Furthermore, the positive impact of insider mistreatment on affective ill-being was moderated by self-efficacy (but not by trait resilience). In contrast to our expectations, the relationship was stronger at high levels compared to low levels of self-efficacy.

Conclusion

Mistreatment from co-workers and supervisors is linked to higher levels of affective ill-being. Additionally, healthcare workers with high self-efficacy were more vulnerable to the negative consequences of co-worker and supervisor mistreatment as it impacted their affective ill-being.

Impact

These findings extend the literature on workplace mistreatment by integrating insider and outsider perpetrators of mistreatment and examining their differential impact on the employees' affective ill-being. It also highlights mistreatment from organizational insiders as a significant factor in the relationship between mistreatment and affective ill-being.

Patient or Public Contribution

No patient or public contribution.

What Does this Paper Contribute to the Wider Global Community?

The findings underscore the detrimental impact of workplace mistreatment on the well-being of healthcare professionals. The study findings of higher frequency of insider mistreatment being associated with increased affective ill-being call for action, with line managers and supervisors being critical to achieving respective changes in healthcare workers' environment. The findings have implications for policymakers interested in developing a framework to support healthcare professionals in addressing workplace mistreatment, enabling them to effectively fulfil their role as care providers.