Objective

To analyze studies on mobbing among nursing professionals, risk factors, and consequences.

Method

This is a systematic review of scientific works on mobbing among nursing staff published during the last decade (2005-2014). National (Dialnet, ISOC Ciencias Sociales y Humanidades, IME Biomedicina) and international (CINHAL, Medline, PsycINFO, PubMed Central) databases, as well as directories of open access journals were consulted. Established criteria were: 1) studies analyzing mobbing among nursing staff; 2) any methodological design; 3) offering empirical data on the topic; 4) access to the full text; 5) written in English, Spanish, or Portuguese. From a total of 96 studies identified, 18 were finally selected.

Results

The findings show a prevalence of mobbing among nursing staff of around 17-20%. Risk factors such as age younger than 30 years old, brief professional trajectory, and being working in specific units or shifts were identified. Among the consequences, psychological problems, low productivity, and social relations deteriorations were identified.

Conclusions

It is important to highlight the scanty scientific production on the topic, and also the necessity to develop instruments which allow an adequate assessment of harassment conducts among nursing professionals.