Reporting Misconduct of a Coworker to Protect a Patient: A Comparison between Experienced Nurses and Nursing Students

Purpose. Whistleblowing is the reporting of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices to persons or organizations that may affect the action. The current study compares experienced nurses to nursing students regarding their willingness to blow the whistle to protect a patient’s interests. Methods....

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Main Authors: Abraham Mansbach, Talma Kushnir, Hana Ziedenberg, Yaacov G. Bachner
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2014-01-01
Series:The Scientific World Journal
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/413926
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author Abraham Mansbach
Talma Kushnir
Hana Ziedenberg
Yaacov G. Bachner
author_facet Abraham Mansbach
Talma Kushnir
Hana Ziedenberg
Yaacov G. Bachner
author_sort Abraham Mansbach
collection DOAJ
description Purpose. Whistleblowing is the reporting of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices to persons or organizations that may affect the action. The current study compares experienced nurses to nursing students regarding their willingness to blow the whistle to protect a patient’s interests. Methods. 165 participants were divided into two groups: 82 undergraduate nursing students and 83 experienced nurses. Participants responded to two vignettes that described a colleague’s and a manager’s misconduct at work. Results. The nursing students perceived the severity of the misconduct significantly lower compared to the experienced nurses. The nursing students also ranked the internal and external whistleblowing indices higher than the nurses, but the differences did not reach statistical significance. For each of the examined internal and external indices, professional experience was found to be significant in multivariate regression analyses. Conclusions. Even though nursing students perceived the severity of the misconduct significantly lower than the experienced nurses, the students demonstrated a greater readiness to blow the whistle, both internally and externally. Recommendations for handling comparable situations are offered.
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spelling doaj-art-15dacc502a794e348cbbde07de7abd6e2025-08-20T03:54:25ZengWileyThe Scientific World Journal2356-61401537-744X2014-01-01201410.1155/2014/413926413926Reporting Misconduct of a Coworker to Protect a Patient: A Comparison between Experienced Nurses and Nursing StudentsAbraham Mansbach0Talma Kushnir1Hana Ziedenberg2Yaacov G. Bachner3Department of Philosophy, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 84105 Beer Sheva, IsraelDepartment of Public Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 84105 Beer Sheva, IsraelDepartment of Nursing, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 84105 Beer Sheva, IsraelDepartment of Public Health, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, P.O. Box 653, 84105 Beer Sheva, IsraelPurpose. Whistleblowing is the reporting of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices to persons or organizations that may affect the action. The current study compares experienced nurses to nursing students regarding their willingness to blow the whistle to protect a patient’s interests. Methods. 165 participants were divided into two groups: 82 undergraduate nursing students and 83 experienced nurses. Participants responded to two vignettes that described a colleague’s and a manager’s misconduct at work. Results. The nursing students perceived the severity of the misconduct significantly lower compared to the experienced nurses. The nursing students also ranked the internal and external whistleblowing indices higher than the nurses, but the differences did not reach statistical significance. For each of the examined internal and external indices, professional experience was found to be significant in multivariate regression analyses. Conclusions. Even though nursing students perceived the severity of the misconduct significantly lower than the experienced nurses, the students demonstrated a greater readiness to blow the whistle, both internally and externally. Recommendations for handling comparable situations are offered.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/413926
spellingShingle Abraham Mansbach
Talma Kushnir
Hana Ziedenberg
Yaacov G. Bachner
Reporting Misconduct of a Coworker to Protect a Patient: A Comparison between Experienced Nurses and Nursing Students
The Scientific World Journal
title Reporting Misconduct of a Coworker to Protect a Patient: A Comparison between Experienced Nurses and Nursing Students
title_full Reporting Misconduct of a Coworker to Protect a Patient: A Comparison between Experienced Nurses and Nursing Students
title_fullStr Reporting Misconduct of a Coworker to Protect a Patient: A Comparison between Experienced Nurses and Nursing Students
title_full_unstemmed Reporting Misconduct of a Coworker to Protect a Patient: A Comparison between Experienced Nurses and Nursing Students
title_short Reporting Misconduct of a Coworker to Protect a Patient: A Comparison between Experienced Nurses and Nursing Students
title_sort reporting misconduct of a coworker to protect a patient a comparison between experienced nurses and nursing students
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2014/413926
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