Unveiling the Prevalence and Factors of Workplace Bullying in Primary Healthcare Settings: A Cross-Sectional Study in Jeddah City, Saudi Arabia

Introduction Bullying in workplaces can lead to serious and deleterious effects on both the health and well-being of individuals. In a healthcare environment, bullying can lead to life-threatening adverse outcomes for patients and healthcare workers. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and factors of bullying among primary healthcare workers in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Methods This cross-sectional study targeted physicians and nurses in Jeddah healthcare centers and used a Negative Acts Questionnaire-Revised (NAQ-R) to evaluate participants' exposure to bullying. The chi-square test was used to examine the relationship between the outcome and other variables. Results The majority of participants (59.8%) had more than 10 years of experience and were nurses (56.6%). The majority of participants (69.4%) scored below 33 on the NAQ- R scale, while 19.9% scored between 33 and 45, and 10.7% scored over 45. Most perpetrators were references/patients (22.4%), supervisors (19.2%), department managers, or general managers (19.2%). Of all participants, 28.8% had experienced workplace bullying (WPB), and 31.7% witnessed it over the past five years. Being subjected to WPB (P < 0.001), being bullied by a manager (P < 0.001), and experiencing and witnessing WPB over the past five years (P < 0.001) correlated with higher NAQ-R scores. Years of experience were significantly associated with NAQ-R scores (P = 0.016). Conclusions This study indicates bullying among a third of healthcare workers, mainly perpetrated by patients and managers. Years of experience and manager offenses, experiencing and witnessing WPB were associated with higher bullying rates. Therefore, there is an urgent need for antibullying policies, awareness campaigns, education programs, effective communication, conflict resolution, leadership training, and transparent culture to address this problem.