Sources of Bullying Behavior, and Coping Strategies among Student Nurses in Karachi, Pakistan

Abstract

BACKGROUND & OBJECTIVE: Bullying is increasing daily among healthcare professionals. Nursing students (NS) are particularly victimized due to their novelty in nursing. The objective of the current study was to find out the frequency of bullying behavior, sources (perpetrators), and coping strategies among NS in Karachi, Pakistan. METHODOLOGY: A cross-sectional survey was conducted among NS at the Dow Institute of Nursing and Midwifery, Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. The study duration was three months. Purposive sampling was applied to recruit the participants in the study. NS, who were bullied, were included in the study. Unwilling participants were excluded from the study. An adapted questionnaire was administered for data collection. According to its objectives, this study adapted the bullying behavior of nursing education questionnaire (BBNEQ) from previous studies. The data was analyzed and entered into SPSS version 26.0, and frequencies of different types of bullying, sources (perpetrators), and coping strategies were concluded through percentages, means, and standard deviations. The chi-square test was used to determine the association between frequencies of bully behavior and its sources and coping strategies by considering 95% C.I. and p-value <0.05, which are considered significant. For a pictorial view, a bar chart depicted the frequency of bullying at the nursing institute and during clinicals. RESULTS: Out of 300 NSs, 193 (64.3%) were bullied in their clinical practice, and 35 (11.7%) reported bullying in nursing school. The frequency of bullying behavior was significantly (p≤0.001) associated with the source and coping strategies among NS. There were 171 seniors (57.0%) who regularly bully NS, 117 teachers (39.0%) who sometimes bully NS, and 145 physicians (48.3%) who rarely bully NS. Most female NS, 84 (28.0%), did nothing, and the highest proportion of male NS directly, 60 (20.0%), spoke to the perpetrator. CONCLUSION: The present study found that most NS were bullied in clinical settings. Senior nurses and teachers were substantial sources of bullying among NS. Most NS did nothing as a coping strategy to combat bullying behavior. The sources of bullying behavior and coping strategies were significantly associated with the frequency of bullying behavior.