LAUSR

Healthy interpersonal relationships are crucial in everyday interactions and characteristics of these include authenticity, trust, fairness, mutual respect, communication and being open and honest with each other. For a range of reasons and circumstances; relationships can unravel and quickly change – especially if one feels betrayed. Betrayal is defined as “a voluntary violation of mutually known pivotal expectations of the trustor by the trusted party (trustee), which has the potential to threaten the well-being of the trustor” (Elangovan & Shapiro, 1998, p. 548). Milton defined betrayal as “to lead astray, to deceive, to betray, to be unfaithful in guarding or fulfilling a trust” (Milton, 2011, p. 207). In this column we briefly overview workplace betrayal and discuss its influence on work-based behaviors and relationships and consider the need for actions that are congruent with personal and professional values. Betrayal occurs when people engage in behaviors or acts that are perceived to be disloyal (Finkel, Rusbult, Kumashiro, & Hannon, 2002). As nurses we encounter people who have been betrayed by others in whom they have trusted, in a range of situations, including people who have experienced domestic violence (Dienemann, Glass, Hanson, & Lunsford, 2007); children and young people who have been abused by a family member/s or other significant person in their life (Martin, Van Ryzin, & Dishion, 2016; Wager, 2013), perception of institutional betrayal to veterans exposed to military sexual trauma (Monteith, Bahraini, Matarazzo, Soberay, & Smith, 2016) or older people who may have been physically or financially exploited by trusted relatives, friends or carers (Cooper, Selwood, & Livingston, 2008). In addition to these more overt acts of betrayal, Freyd (2013) warns that we can further betray people in more subtle ways, such as by the language we use to pathologize their trauma and mistreatment, which locates the problem with the victim/survivor instead of the event, thereby undermining their individual strength and dignity. Betrayal is not confined to the privacy of personal relationships, nor the clients or students nurses we work with (Cleary, Horsfall, Jackson, & Hunt, 2012; Hutchinson, Jackson, Walter, & Cleary, 2013), but may also be evident in the workplace. In nursing we need to be able to communicate with, and trust our colleagues (Cleary, Walter, Horsfall, & Jackson, 2013; Read, 2014). But collegial trust can be fragile (Jackson, 2008) and breaches can be experienced as acts of betrayal that may interfere with working relationships, team effectiveness and morale, and in turn influence consumer outcomes. In an environment of trust, people can truly be, and act, their best (Grohar-Murray & Langan, 2011). In nursing, trusting relationships with colleagues