Organisational Undertows

Unaddressed organisational mechanisms can generate invisible accumulations of negative sentiment called undertows. The undertow of discontent emerged as a culture of peer complaining rather than formal upward reporting. The undertow of inertia manifested as passive disengagement from improvement activity. The undertow of distrust hardened after years without adequate intervention and left nurses more disillusioned after a failed dialogue intervention. The article recommends treating discontent, distrust, and inertia as signals of dysfunctional circumstances rather than dysfunctional behaviour.