May 2023 Courage in Action
For a decade, researchers have been exploring institutional betrayal and institutional courage—now, its popularity is surging. Most studies so far have examined education-related institutions and their responses to sexual violence. However, more research is now being carried out in other areas and situations.
A recent article in Nurse Leader, written by Katherine Brewer, explores institutional betrayal and courage in the nursing profession. Her article titled, “Institutional Courage: An Antidote to Institutional Betrayal and Broken Trust,” reviews a 2020 study. In this study, nurses filled out the Institutional Betrayal Questionnaire for Health. Brewer reveals the study’s finding: “nurses who experienced at least 1 act of betrayal on the part of the organization had higher levels of burnout, job dissatisfaction, and absenteeism.”
[Two nurses in Texas] reported a physician at their hospital for fraud and negligent medical practice. The nurses had witnessed the physician in question falsifying patient documentation, leading to patient safety concerns. They decided to submit an anonymous report to the state medical board; however, when the hospital discovered the nurses were the sources of the complaint, they retaliated against them.
Brewer notes that while institutional betrayal has highly negative consequences, there is a solution: institutional courage. She ends her article urging every institution we rely on, from nursing and education to policing, to embody institutional courage:
Organizations who can be dedicated to listening, responding, and acting to their members, and take conscious efforts to repair the wounds of the past, can be held up as models of courage.
Jennifer Joy Freyd, PhD
Founder and President
Center for Institutional Courage