A Call to Revisit and Address the Histories of Bullying in Nursing Education

Abstract

The issue of bullying in nursing, and particularly in nursing education has been examined in numerous contexts, both in Canada and elsewhere. In this paper, we reflect on the ongoing prevalence of bullying in nursing’s history, its impacts, and question why it has continued to be problematic in nursing and in nursing education. We argue that part of the issue is a reluctance to come to terms with bullying’s historical origins in nursing. While we note that discussions of the issue of bullying in nursing start to appear in the 1970s, and more dedicated discussions of bullying in nursing education specifically may not appear in the literature until the 1990s, we suggest that descriptions of behaviours that can be understood as bullying can be found in earlier references. Furthermore, we review some of the theories that have been put forward in an attempt to understand the origins of bullying in nursing, including its relationship to power imbalances and hierarchies in nursing and society at large. Finally, highlighting the proactive work of nursing associations with a focus on those in Canada, we point to some ways forward. We also call for more scholarship to critically examine earlier history of bullying in nursing education. In particular we argue that such scholarship must proactively seek out diverse nurses’ voices which may be inadequately represented in dominant narratives of nursing history.