Promote And Hinder Nurses

A Quantitative Study on the Factors that Promote and Hinder Nurses’ Willingness to
Report Wrongdoing to Healthcare Leadership

Reem Azhari
A Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of
The Chicago School of Professional Psychology
In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements
For the Degree of Doctor of Organizational Leadership

May 21, 2014

UMI Number: 3636182

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UMI 3636182
Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the
Healthcare leadership may also suffer when the quality of care decreases due to a lack of reporting on the part of the nurse. Nurses who fear reporting wrongdoing may not come forward thus continuing the cycle of unethical patient care.

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The Practical Problem
With the onset of managed care in the 1980s, hospitals and healthcare organizations have had to work with limited resources which may affect the quality of care provided to their patients (Gaudine, LeFort, Lamb, & Thorne, 2011). Administrators fear damaging relationships with the high revenue generating physicians who are often employed by the hospital. Because of this, nurses are discouraged from reporting unethical behavior, and in many instances are retaliated against (Jackson et al., 2010a).
This presents a problem in that nurses realize they may not be supported thus this inhibits them from coming forward and reporting unethical behaviors.
Nurses are required by their profession to raise concerns regarding the standards of practice they witness. Healthcare leadership has failed to create an open culture and in doing so risks a decrease in the safety and quality of patient care (Attree, 2007).
It is estimated that as many as 50% of nurses exit or change their
Purpose Statement
The purpose of this study was to identify if significant relationships existed amongst the factors that both promote and those that inhibit the reporting of wrongdoing

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by nurses working in healthcare organizations. This study contributed to the body of knowledge needed to address this problem by understanding what inhibits nurses from disclosing harmful behavior. It will increase the awareness of the types of nurses who are likely to report unethical behavior. By determining the factors that lead to nurses taking action or ignoring issues, the outcome of this research may assist healthcare leaders in overcoming those barriers. By understanding why nurses fail to report wrongdoing, healthcare organizations can attempt to foster systems that encourage open cultures that promote the culture of learning. A learning culture is necessary for an organization by removing the factors that limit growth and creating solutions (Senge, 2006).
Leaders must possess a moral compass in order to promote a culture of ethics and safety in nursing (By, Burnes, & Oswick, 2012). Leadership strategies must be able to create the necessary changes that can influence the moral compass of nurses who