Workplace ostracism and employee silence in nursing: the mediating role of organizational identification

Aims. The aim of this study was to examine the direct and indirect effect, through organizational identification, of workplace ostracism on nurses' silence towards patient safety. Background. Employee silence in nursing has recently received attention in relation to its antecedents. Yet, very little is known about the role of workplace ostracism in generating nurses' silence. Design. A cross-sectional survey was conducted in a public hospital in Cyprus. Method. Data were collected from 157 nurses employed in a public hospital of Cyprus between November 2014-January 2015. To examine the present hypotheses bootstrapping analysis and Sobel test were conducted. Results. Results demonstrated that workplace ostracism has an effect on nurses' silence towards patient safety. Moreover, this effect was partially mediated through organizational identification. Conclusions. Workplace ostracism among nurses significantly affects both nurses' attitude and behaviour namely organizational identification and employee silence.