Nurse academics' experience of contra-power harassment from under-graduate nursing students in Australia

Abstract

Background There is growing concern around inappropriate behaviour being perpetrated by undergraduate nursing students towards nursing academics. Coined contra-power harassment, is defined as the harassment of individuals in formal positions of power and authority by those that are not. The type of harassment behaviours reported include: verbal and physical violence, character assassination through social media, stalking and sexually motivated behaviours. The most often cited reasons for the escalation in these behaviours are seen with course progression and the awarding of grades. Aim The aim of this study is to better understand the extent to which nursing academics experience contrapower harassment from undergraduate nursing students. Method A convenience sample of nursing academics were in Australia were contacted and provided with an introductory letter, a participant information sheet and a link to an online questionnaire. A 41 item Likert scale (Strongly agree-strongly disagree) was used to elicit responses to statements on academics' experiences of and the contributing factors associated with contra-power harassment. Results The main contributing factor identified from this study was seen as the consumerism of higher education; in particular paying for a degree gave a sense of entitlement with academics experiencing the highest levels of student harassment around grades. Conclusions Contra-Power harassment is becoming common place in higher education especially in nursing education. The competitive nature of obtaining employment post-university has meant that some nursing student's behaviours are becoming increasingly uncivil, challenging and unprofessional.

“I’ve had horrible things said about me”: An inductive content analysis of nursing academic experiences of contra-power harassment from undergraduate nursing students

“…For example, they explain that tribalism and consumerism of the student body in particular has contributed to the divide between students and academics, examples of which include students not pleased with their grades demanding it be remarked or as in the case of French (2018; 158) when counselling a male nursing student about his inappropriate and unprofessional behaviour whilst on clinical placement being told: "I'm not going to follow the rules, I really don't care that you have rules, this is about me" -a clear example of narcissistic non-altruistic behaviour. It is perhaps unfortunate that the approach taken by some nursing students can be viewed as sometimes overly aggressive because they see poor grades as a threat to their future endeavours (Leech, 2017;Christensen, et al, 2020). In other words, their feelings have been hurt, it is seen as a personal attack on their abilities and therefore they want some form or redress (Lukianoff & Haidt, 2018) (Figure 1).…”

“…However, this still does not fully address the experiences of academics from this study, it may identify some of the root causes, that is to say ineffectual emotional reasoning and seeing poor grades as being a threat and vis a vie the university and its academics are dangerous. Christensen, et al's. (2020) study does allude to the major contributing factors associated with contra-power harassment which include the sense of entitlement, that nursing students feel they are owed something because they are paying fees and not being adequately prepared for academic life.…”

“…The incivility being reported within the literature is across a spectrum of harassment such as that would be seen with verbal abuse to physical violence (Luparell, 2003;Sprunk, et al, 2014;Leech, 2017, French, 2018Cassum, 2018). Some have and likened nursing student incivility and harassment as an escalating tension in response to poor student performance that culminates in a 'battle of wills' (Luparell, 2003), that is to say the maintenance of professional and academics standards versus the student's feelings of wrongdoing (Lukianoff & Haidt, 2018;Christensen, et al, 2020) (Figure 1). Luparell's (2003) seminal study has been the forerunner to further work focused on nursing student's harassment and incivility and led to these types of behaviours being classified into four distinct types -verbal, isolationist, task and dishonesty (White 2010; Table 1).…”

“…Luparell's (2003) seminal study has been the forerunner to further work focused on nursing student's harassment and incivility and led to these types of behaviours being classified into four distinct types -verbal, isolationist, task and dishonesty (White 2010; Table 1). Most studies described incivility or harassing behaviour as being triggered by certain events such as the release of grades, failing course work or the perception of negative feedback (Clarke & Springer, 2010;Anderson, et al, 2019;Christensen, et al, 2020). It was then that the behaviours manifested themselves -yelling, screaming, threats of physical violence and stalking.…”

Can nursing educators learn to trust the world’s most trusted profession?

“…Students’ experiences of faculty bullying are globally documented (Prato & Del Prato, 2013; Seibel et al, 2018). The mantra that students are rights‐armed, all‐powerful consumers of the higher education ‘product’, has now emboldened contra power harassment (Christensen et al, 2020; Lampman et al, 2009) where bullying and intimidation of faculty and mentors by students is growing (Park & Kang, 2020). Faculty bullying is so ‘systemic and pervasive’ (Edmonson & Zelonka, 2019, p. 274) as to be barely remarkable (Thompson & Darbyshire, 2013).…”