When Civility Harms: Relational and Reputational Bullying in Mental Health Nursing

Abstract

Abstract Workplace bullying in nursing is commonly understood as overt interpersonal conflict, including incivility, aggression, or intimidation. While important, such framings risk obscuring subtler mechanisms through which harm is enacted and sustained in healthcare and academic settings. Drawing on mental health nursing scholarship, organisational theory, and critical perspectives, this paper adopts a conceptual and discursive approach to examine relational and reputational forms of bullying in mental health nursing practice and academia. It argues that under managerialism, commodification, and performance metrics, reputation functions as organisational currency. In these contexts, bullying operates through impression management and moral framing, where tactics such as flattery and strategic alignment confer protection and influence. Conversely, critically reflective and highly competent practitioners and academics whose work depends on ethical reflexivity and relational engagement, may be disproportionately marginalised. These dynamics challenge dominant assumptions about bullying, civility, and professionalism, showing how harm persists while remaining formally unrecognised. A conceptual model illustrates the structural, cultural, relational, and individual processes through which such bullying is produced and normalised. The paper concludes by considering implications for workplace culture, leadership, professional standards, and research, calling for greater attention to organisational conditions influencing whose voices are heard and whose are cancelled.