518 - NAVIGATING THE TOXIC TERRAIN: IMPACT OF WORKPLACE BULLYING ON EMPLOYEE BEHAVIOUR IN THE HEALTHCARE SECTOR

Session: D01S007 - Workplace Well-Being & Mental Health 7
AUTHORS:
Prakash Shivangi (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur ~ Kharagpur, West Bengal ~ India) , Srivastava Kailash (Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur ~ Kharagpur, West Bengal ~ India)
Abstract text:
The healthcare sector's vulnerability to toxic leadership is amplified by its hierarchy, which can foster workplace bullying and lead to significant emotional, behavioural, and psychological consequences for its employees. Specifically, this study examines how toxic leadership may lead to psychological consequences such as moral injury and job burnout. It tests the mediating role of workplace bullying in this relationship. The data were collected from 215 full-time early-career Indian doctors and nurses. The results reveal that toxic leadership significantly affects moral injury and job burnout. In addition, the findings confirmed the partially mediating role of workplace bullying in this relationship. The present study aims to address the adverse outcomes experienced by healthcare employees, highlighting the urgent need to improve organisational health by promoting healthier leadership practices, creating a positive work environment, fostering meaningful work relationships and also how management can reduce workplace bullying by providing information and instruction on workplace bullying policies and procedures, ultimately helping healthcare professionals cope with toxic work environments.