Aim. The purpose of this publication is an attempt to show the scale and scope, as well as forms, manifestations and consequences of mobbing in the group of female nurses, male nurses and midwives working in open and closed treatment in Poznan hospitals. Material and methods. The test results were collected by the diagnostic survey using a questionnaire survey and a narrative and free interview in the group of 42 randomly selected employees. Results. The ¾ (i.e. 66.7%) of the total researched persons experienced mobbing in the workplace. In turn, based on H. Leymann’s criterion, 12% of respondents out of the total surveyed were considered as psychological abuse cases. In the opinion of respondents it is vertical mobbing, i.e. mobbers are superiors (83.3%). Victims of mobbing have usually experienced harassment and abuse, personal intimidation and physical violence at work. The most common ‘tools’ of psychological violence are: excessive workload, ignoring, excluding or boycotting. Conclusions. People experiencing psychological abuse frequently meet vertical mobbing, which may show dysfunctions in the process of human resources management and the necessary need for remodelling the organization culture in the workplaces. This remodelling will be the form of implementing anti-mobbing prevention in the researched environment.

Key words: mobbing, psychological terror, female nurses, male nurses, midwives.