Bullying from Staff Nurses : The Experience of Senior Undergraduate Nursing Students during Clinical Placements

The phenomenon of bullying within nursing is not new, and unfortunately nursing students are often victims. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perspectives of nursing students who have been bullied by staff nurses during a clinical experience. Participants from two western Canadian universities were recruited through convenience and snowball sampling using a series of emails and by a social media poster. Data collection involved one on one semi structured interviews with six senior undergraduate nursing students. Three main themes were identified: the student experience of bullying; the intervening influence of nursing educators; and the outcome of (in)security. Recommendations included education provided to students, clinical sites and clinical instructors; clinical setting guidelines for clinical instructors; policy implementation for reporting bullying and creating clinical groups; greater communication by institutional nursing leaders with staff and clinical instructors; and further research.