Actual condition, sex-role attitudes and ethical behavior of nurses who experienced sexual harassment from patients

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to examine the actual condition, sex-role attitudes and ethical behavior of nurses who experienced sexual harassment from patients. The study employs a questionnaire survey, and the contents are “The scale of egalitarian sex-role attitudes̶a short form(SESRA-S)” and the “Ethical Behavior Scale”. The subjects were 834 nurses(94.8% female, 4.7% male)in six prefectures in the Tohoku region of Japan. 62.6% of the participants had experienced sexual harassment. Of the 632 answers given by respondents who experienced sexual harassment, “There was a sense of discomfort” accounted for over 60%. There were no differences in the SESRA-S score and the Ethical Behavior Scale score depending on whether or not sexual harassment was experienced. There was a weak positive correlation between the SESRA-S score and the Ethical Behavior Scale score, ρ=0. 302. The cause of nurses’ sexual harassment from their patients could not be attributed to their individual sex-role attitudes and ethical behavior. In the future, it was suggested that patient factors should be taken into account when planning sexual harassment prevention measures for nurses in Japanese hospitals.