Experiences of Saudi Female Students towards the Phenomena of Bullying Behaviors during Nursing Education Program

Bullying is a growing problem in nursing education from the academia area to the clinical setting that is under-reported and tolerated by nursing students. Aim: The main aim is to explain the phenomena of bullying behaviors among Saudi female students during their study in nursing education program. Design: The study utilized a cross-sectional quantitative descriptive design. Setting: It conducted in the College of Applied Medical Sciences (CAMS) at University of Hafr Al-Batin (UHB) in Saudi Arabia. Participants: The sample consisted of (130) Saudi female nursing students. Tools: The instrument consists of four parts; the first part involves personal information. The second part contains 25 items of different types of bullying and the third part covers the consequences of bullying. The final part includes four closed ended questions about widespread learning environments (4 options), sources of bullying (7 options), coping strategies (9 options) and reasons for not reporting (8 options). Results: The current study confirmed that Saudi female nursing students experienced different forms of bullying behaviors in the traditional classroom and clinical settings. Recommendations: There is a need to establish policy for identifying the legal implications of bullying and integrating the bullying issue in the curriculum of nursing education program. Conclusion: There is an evidence for presence of bullying phenomena among Saudi female nursing students that deserve to be studied in nursing education and practice.