Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace

Sexual Harassment in the Workplace:Julie has been a nurse at Memorial Hospital for three years. During that time, she has developed productive relationships with her colleagues and has earned a reputation for providing exceptional care to patients. One day she approaches you, her manager, and asks to speak in private. Once you are alone, Julie explains that over the past couple of months she has heard a physician and two nurses repeatedly make disparaging remarks about people who are homosexual. She appears visibly upset as she tells you this. Julie says that the situation has become so uncomfortable that she no longer feels safe in this environment.

Does this scenario reflect a possible case of sexual harassment? How would you respond to Julie, and what steps might you take next?

Sexual harassment is an important topic in today’s organizations–one that is often addressed through HR presentations and trainings. However, even for experienced nurse managers and HR professionals, it can be challenging to recognize some of the behaviors and actions that may indicate sexual harassment. Nurses in leadership and management positions have a critical responsibility to become attuned to the various interactions that can be problematic, including inappropriate remarks and jokes, improper fraternization, quid pro quo situations, and potentially offensive images.

To prepare

·         Review the articles, “Sexual Harassment – A Touchy Subject for Nurses,” “Why Are Nurses Leaving? Findings from an Initial Qualitative Study on Nursing,” and “Bullying, Harassment, and Horizontal Violence in the Nursing Workforce.” Consider sexual harassment situations most commonly experienced by nurses.

·         Think about a work environment with which you are familiar. Have you witnessed or experienced any behaviors that–perhaps with the benefit of hindsight and increasing awareness–may be construed as sexual harassment, even if you did not think of them that way at the time? Do you recall any instances in which you might have intentionally or unintentionally contributed to or participated in an environment that tolerated harassment against one or more individuals? If so, what were your thoughts and feelings at the time? How, perhaps, has your perspective since shifted?

·         Select one of the following options:

1.      Option 1: Conduct research via the Walden Library, or other scholarly sites, to select an article that presents an authentic example of workplace sexual harassment.

2.      Option 2: Identify an authentic example of suspected or proven sexual harassment from your professional experience.

·         Conduct research related to your selected example to assess the ramifications that may result from instances of sexual harassment.

·         Consider how you could partner with HR to mitigate situations of sexual harassment in your workplace. In addition, think about specific steps you could take to diminish inappropriate behaviors in the workplace.

To complete

Submit a 3- to 5-page paper in which you do the following:

Describe an authentic example of suspected or proven sexual harassment.

·         Explain how this specific instance of sexual harassment impacted the workplace.

·         Identify at least two legal ramifications that could have (or did) result from this situation and how they could (or did) negatively impact the workplace.

·         Briefly explain other ramifications (e.g., organizational culture, staff relationships, individual and team performances, patient safety, quality of care) that could have (or did) result because of this specific instance.

·         Describe the actions that were taken to resolve the situation, if applicable.

Formulate an action plan that can be used to mitigate and/or ameliorate behaviors that constitute sexual harassment.

·         Based on your example, explain how you would educate staff on the identification and prevention of inappropriate behaviors. Describe at least two specific steps you would take to diminish similar sexual harassment situations.

·         Describe at least two ways you could partner with HR to effectively accomplish your action plan.

NOTE: For the purposes of this assignment, please do not reveal the name of your workplace or the individuals involved.

Reminder: The School of Nursing requires that all papers submitted include a title page, introduction, summary, and references. The Sample Paper provided at the Walden Writing Center provides an example of those required elements (available at http://writingcenter.waldenu.edu/57.htm). All papers submitted must use this formatting.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

• Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
• There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
• Include in-text citations in your response
• Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
• Follow APA-7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

• A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
• Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
• Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
• Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
• Follow APA 7th edition
• Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

• Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
• Here are some helpful links
• The is a great resource