Occupational Disappointment in Emergency Department Nurses as a Result of Verbal Abuse

Abstract

Occupational disappointment is a novel concept in emergency nursing, defined as a feeling of disheartenment with career choice in this group of nurses who enter the profession to help others. It results from prevalent, unaddressed verbal abuse in the emergency department directed towards nurses from patients and/or their visitors. In the limited literature published, it is shown to be conceptually different from nursing burnout syndrome and compassion fatigue, yet it can lead to negative effects for nurses and their patients. A qualitative descriptive methodology was used in this research study to yield a straight description of occupational disappointment. Six emergency department nurses were interviewed to explore the questions: What are the concerns of nurses about occupational disappointment? What are nurses’ responses towards occupational disappointment? From an emic perspective, nurses in this study discussed the prevalence of occupational disappointment in emergency nursing culture and offer their concerns regarding this pervasive issue.