Jennifer Cox
Workplace bullying is a persistent issue within the health workforce. Bullying has negative outcomes which affect the individuals involved, bystanders, patients, and organisations. Bullying undermines employers’ responsibility to keep employees safe, and healthcare providers’ responsibility for patients safety. Despite a substantial body of evidence on workplace bullying, interventions for bullying are not well understood. To organise the literature on bullying in the health workforce a systematic literature review was undertaken. Systematic review methods were used to address the question: do any interventions successfully reduce the incidences of bullying, manage incidents of bullying, or support workers who have experienced workplace bullying in healthcare settings? Following PRISMA, and Centre for Reviews and Dissemination guidance a search of electronic databases was undertaken alongside manual searches. 36 papers published between 2015 and 2025 met the selection criteria after a thorough screening process. Outcomes from the selected studies were analysed. The main finding was that interventions can reduce bullying, improve workers’ strategies for responding, and decrease negative consequences. However, the review also shows that results are inconsistent and the quality of evidence is poor. Studies take a narrow focus which leaves gaps in understanding interventions, including how to manage bullying and minimise negative outcomes. This review provides a baseline for the current state of the literature and suggests recommendations for future research. Overall, this review concludes that further empirical research with sufficient sample sizes, multiple measures, and longer follow-up are needed. Future research should compare interventions, analyse results by ethnicity and focus on organisational change.