Sexual harassment in an overlooked occupation: experiences of CNA and the influence of nurses

The prevalence of sexual harassment (SH) in health care facilities has been documented in previous research, but few studies have focused on Certified Nursing assistants (CNA; Burgess et al., 2018; Dean, 2020; Deery et al., 2011; Hibino et al., 2006). The purpose of this study is to explore SH that CNA experience from their patients and what influence supervising nurses may have in impacting the negative outcomes of SH. Participants (N = 95) were recruited to take an online survey through social media and snowball recruiting. The hypotheses of this study were not supported by the data, but results may be limited due to sample-related limitations. A significant finding of this study was that 64% of participants reported experiencing SH within the last 12 months from a patient. Significant correlations were found with negative affect and reporting SH. Organizational implications are discussed related to promoting awareness, policy improvement, and simplifying the reporting process