Workplace Bullying and Its Relational Consequences Among Nurses: A Qualitative Study.

Workplace bullying in nursing is widely documented, yet its consequences beyond the workplace, particularly for family life, remain insufficiently understood. Guided by spillover-crossover perspectives and the Conservation of Resources (COR) framework, this qualitative study explored how nurses experience workplace bullying and how these experiences extend into family relationships. Semi-structured face-to-face interviews were conducted with nurses in Türkiye (N = 13) who reported exposure to bullying, and the data were analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. The analysis generated three interrelated themes: Institutionalised Workplace Hostility, Psychological Harm and Emotional Depletion, and Relational Consequences in Family Life. Participants described workplace bullying as embedded in organisational practices that contributed to emotional exhaustion and diminished psychological well-being. These experiences frequently spilled over into family life through reduced emotional availability, relational withdrawal, and communication difficulties. In several cases, stress also crossed over to partners, generating tension, protective responses, and shifts in family roles, while spousal support sometimes buffered these effects. The findings suggest that workplace bullying may extend beyond the workplace, shaping nurses' family relationships and everyday relational well-being, with implications for nurses' mental health and the delivery of person-centred care.